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feather_ghyllWeek 5 - children week
In which Sara wore braids, and overdid the whispering to child-sized mannequins and then repeating the amount of time left with a shout to the contestants.
It did occur to me, as it started, that we might have reached the shock elimination stage.
I can’t say I really got into the pattern challenge – a sailor suit. The fact that they could pick any material and colours made the results hard to take in. I can see that there was a trap to find a material that would work with the pressing and visibility (couldn’t a few of them have used different coloured tape on the collar to the rest of it?) so the judges could say their outfits didn’t look very sailor-like, but I zoned out at the explanation of how the garment was meant to be put together, and my main memory is of everyone saying it was very fiddly.
Annie was done for by the falling down pants, Gill, placed just above her was, for the first time, hampered noticeably by her disability. On top was Man Yee, who was on familiar territory thanks to starting off her sewing journey with Sailor Moon cosplay, with Cristian coming second, although even they had been criticised.
Round 2: transform school uniforms into something cool to wear out of school. Two pairs went down similar routes: Cristian and Marni going for hoodies in broadly the same colours, and Brogan and Angela with gingham accents to a top and skirt. At the bottom end came Gill, who was having a bad day. The colours of her attempt were the dullest, and then Debra was penalised for not transforming it enough. Deservedly top came Angela, who’d seemed quite serene at the prospect of making clothes for children as a gran who regularly did so. Cristian continued his good week, although I wasn’t as fussed about his hoodie, myself.
Made to measure was a Halloween costume with a 3D element, and everyone’s interpretations were interesting. I’m not sure if it was the production forcing a narrative or whether they all conveniently went for fit of the base and then 3D element and then finishing touches. Two exceptions from the expected concepts (well, maybe also Annie’s dragon) in Cristian’s not scary clown, although I thought of the fashionable phobia of clowns, but the resulting costume was silly and jolly, and probably didn’t get enough praise in the judges summing up because he’d been consistently good all week. Debra slightly stunned everyone by saying she was going for Miss Havisham from Great Expectations. That seemed like a very…literary costume for a 9 year old. (I imagine she would be a terror for most parents on World Book Day. If she is a parent.)
Otherwise we had two spiders, and Man Yee’s yellow bands and detailing really showed up that Angela was doing something she’d already done for a grandchild in the past. Brogan’s bat looked cooler than the judges gave it credit for, although after all the talk of safety, no one on the show seemed worried about whether spokes from an umbrella were all that safe on a child’s costume.
Marni was despondent from the second her piping didn’t lead to the desired effect, when everyone else was going great guns. Gill’s Dalek costume was coming together spectacularly (and she badly needed it to). When I saw Annie’s dragon head, I too gasped, she’d also elevated herself from danger, and Patrick’s appreciation for Debra’s outfit made it fairly clear who’d get the garment of the week.
It felt fair that it was between Angela and Marni, and on the basis of the made to measures, and though it was tough, because of the 3D element fail (Angela’s web was a bit raggedy), former dark horse Marni was ejected. The others are perhaps reliant on a particular task suiting their strengths, but they’re generally all very good now.
Esme was good natured about the terrible impersonations of her.
Week 6 - music week
Seven of them left (has Cristian come top in anything? Surely everyone else has.) The judges stated that this was one of the toughest pattern challenges yet, which was borne out by the stress over the zip and everything. That pattern challenge was a parka of mod/Oasis fame (depending on your age.) There were lots of fiddly and precise bits and we had the almost unheard of bit where Patrick showed Sara how to do the zip, he also had to help Man Yee who’d so confidently (and wrongly?) been offering guidance to everyone, although I liked her selection of polka dots. Gill had thought that she’d nabbed the camo material that everyone else wanted, but it turned out to be a nightmare to sew with a pattern that had so many challenges. Angela had gone wrong and tried to redo it, and nearly everyone had got something wrong except for top of the class Brogan. They tried to create some drama about the positioning but it was clear from the judges’ comments that Cristian deserved to come second and for her to come first.
The transformation challenge was jeans, denim shirts and all the embellishments you liked for a country star’s stage outfit, Here Gill lucked out, as a country fan, while Man Yee was hopelessly confused. I liked Cristian’s detail with the roses, which made a change from all the stars everyone else plumped for. Fringing either worked for people or it didn’t. it was clear that Annie was stumbling around in search of an idea, which is usually fatal in this round.
Gill deservedly came first and redeemed herself, but Annie and Angela were in the bottom two and therefore in trouble. Brogan and Cristian had been consistently good, while Debra had been stubbornly middling (i.e. fourth place.)
The made to measure was a David Bowie-inspired outfit. Of course, Esme had met him. Of course she had (actually, she may have told that story before. And of course she’d dressed up as Dolly Parton at one point in her life.)
Although there were some similar details, mostly people had been inspired by different eras of Bowie, and there wasn’t such a sense of a forced narrative as in the week before. I liked the pattern of Man Yee’s jacket, although as predicted, she’d bitten off a lot. Others had their obstacles – Gill’s was fit, Brogan seemed most serene, but had perhaps challenged herself less. Debra did a sleeve wrong, but was able to save it so that she had time to contemplate where else to put the ostrich feathers, Annie was surprisingly happy, but Cristian was STRESSED as he did the most dramatic outfit.
However, he’d done enough the previous day for it not to endanger his place. The overall look was really what decided this round, not so much the sewing, although Debra’s mistake with the sleeve cost her somewhat. If I was being picky, I think she shouldn’t have bothered adding the extra feathers. Annie’s looked great to me and deserved the GotW. Gill’s last-minute decision was vindicated, but not her decision about the fit, Brogan was lightly chastised for a boring skirt, but the judges didn’t love Angela’s interpretation of the brief, and thought Man Yee’s was too unbalanced, but again, although they tried to build up the drama, Angela had been in more trouble than Man Yee all episode, so her departure wasn’t a surprise.
Week 7 – lingerie and sleepwear week
The pattern challenge was a bra and knicker set, which it seemed like most of them hadn’t done before, with lace, elastic and several small and fiddly bits. I preferred the more vibrant colours. Everyone seemed stressed, although Brogan seemed the most confident. Gill went wrong, possibly twice, Cristian was puzzled with the construction… but the judges seemed keen to emphasise in later talks with Sara that they were all good and close and not to read too much into their criticisms. Anyway, from the comments, Gill was an obvious last and Annie – to her surprise and pleasure – top.
From the mostly delicate to (pastel!) thermal wear into ye olde going out outfit transformation. Debra’s idea sounded a bit rum – fancy sweat shirt? Man Yee had an interesting idea, but not enough time to execute it and as time marched on and she hadn’t done much sewing, she panicked. I was amused at Sara calling Cristian out for producing a very Broganesque garment, although I liked it. Brogan was typically herself, using the word ‘granny’ again. Gill got done for by the lack of another sleeve, although I think this round was close. Annie, who’d plaited the trousers, was pipped by Debra – inevitable, really, once the judges landed on Chanel – I liked the contrasting trim, but I’m sure future bees noted the DOUBLE BOW
Made to measure: luxury PJs FOR MEN. Although there were a diversity of styles within the parameters, the key questions would be what material they’d used and how long the sleeves and trousers were. Silk – satiny - cotton, in decreasing order of difficulty. As far as I or the judges could tell, nobody had started on the trousers before the last hour, and I think the judges deducted points for difficulty for the people who’d gone for shots, most explicitly with Brogan.
A couple went for paisley. I loved Gill’s goldfish. Cristian didn’t have an inspiration, so Sara unhelpfully suggested Hugh Heffner, Debra had gone for Noel Coward, Annie had either been inspired by her boyfriend or a rapper or her boyfriend is a rapper, and Man Yee had been inspired by her dad. Aww.
There was lots of talk of piping at the beginning and the end, but you could tell who was up against it because of mistakes or misjudgement by how they talked about French seams. Cristian and Gill were getting ever more stressed. It soon became clear something magical was happening as Man Yee’s model started ironing what she’d done already for her, while others were sewing to the last second.
We and Gill knew that she, twice bottom, was in trouble going in, and we knew that she and Cristian were in trouble before the runway bit. There were fewer nitpicks with Annie, who we knew was, like Debra, probably safe before this challenge. Brogan’s buttons really got it, (15 pyjamas is a lot, unless if you literally wear no other nightwear, or you have lived three times as long as Brogan and kept all of them.) I liked Debra’s modern twist on Noel Coward, but she did have less to sew and the judges did have criticisms, while they had none for Man Yee, who seemed to be the only one who was surprised at her getting GotW, for the first time, and Patrick saying her sewing was way neater than it ever had been before. Probably the best compliment for her, though, will be her father insisting she makes him that set, if he’s still alive.
There was more tension about who would go, I couldn’t tell whether all Cristian’s errors added up to more than Gill’s, and he had been better in the previous two rounds. How embarrassing would it have been for him to be booted out for poor made to measure menswear!? Gill accepted her fate and gave one of the more touching leaving speeches, saying that the show had changed her life, as she’d appeared sans prosthetic and the world had not ended – if anything, she’d gained people’s respect.
[Edited for typos 25/2/25.]
In which Sara wore braids, and overdid the whispering to child-sized mannequins and then repeating the amount of time left with a shout to the contestants.
It did occur to me, as it started, that we might have reached the shock elimination stage.
I can’t say I really got into the pattern challenge – a sailor suit. The fact that they could pick any material and colours made the results hard to take in. I can see that there was a trap to find a material that would work with the pressing and visibility (couldn’t a few of them have used different coloured tape on the collar to the rest of it?) so the judges could say their outfits didn’t look very sailor-like, but I zoned out at the explanation of how the garment was meant to be put together, and my main memory is of everyone saying it was very fiddly.
Annie was done for by the falling down pants, Gill, placed just above her was, for the first time, hampered noticeably by her disability. On top was Man Yee, who was on familiar territory thanks to starting off her sewing journey with Sailor Moon cosplay, with Cristian coming second, although even they had been criticised.
Round 2: transform school uniforms into something cool to wear out of school. Two pairs went down similar routes: Cristian and Marni going for hoodies in broadly the same colours, and Brogan and Angela with gingham accents to a top and skirt. At the bottom end came Gill, who was having a bad day. The colours of her attempt were the dullest, and then Debra was penalised for not transforming it enough. Deservedly top came Angela, who’d seemed quite serene at the prospect of making clothes for children as a gran who regularly did so. Cristian continued his good week, although I wasn’t as fussed about his hoodie, myself.
Made to measure was a Halloween costume with a 3D element, and everyone’s interpretations were interesting. I’m not sure if it was the production forcing a narrative or whether they all conveniently went for fit of the base and then 3D element and then finishing touches. Two exceptions from the expected concepts (well, maybe also Annie’s dragon) in Cristian’s not scary clown, although I thought of the fashionable phobia of clowns, but the resulting costume was silly and jolly, and probably didn’t get enough praise in the judges summing up because he’d been consistently good all week. Debra slightly stunned everyone by saying she was going for Miss Havisham from Great Expectations. That seemed like a very…literary costume for a 9 year old. (I imagine she would be a terror for most parents on World Book Day. If she is a parent.)
Otherwise we had two spiders, and Man Yee’s yellow bands and detailing really showed up that Angela was doing something she’d already done for a grandchild in the past. Brogan’s bat looked cooler than the judges gave it credit for, although after all the talk of safety, no one on the show seemed worried about whether spokes from an umbrella were all that safe on a child’s costume.
Marni was despondent from the second her piping didn’t lead to the desired effect, when everyone else was going great guns. Gill’s Dalek costume was coming together spectacularly (and she badly needed it to). When I saw Annie’s dragon head, I too gasped, she’d also elevated herself from danger, and Patrick’s appreciation for Debra’s outfit made it fairly clear who’d get the garment of the week.
It felt fair that it was between Angela and Marni, and on the basis of the made to measures, and though it was tough, because of the 3D element fail (Angela’s web was a bit raggedy), former dark horse Marni was ejected. The others are perhaps reliant on a particular task suiting their strengths, but they’re generally all very good now.
Esme was good natured about the terrible impersonations of her.
Week 6 - music week
Seven of them left (has Cristian come top in anything? Surely everyone else has.) The judges stated that this was one of the toughest pattern challenges yet, which was borne out by the stress over the zip and everything. That pattern challenge was a parka of mod/Oasis fame (depending on your age.) There were lots of fiddly and precise bits and we had the almost unheard of bit where Patrick showed Sara how to do the zip, he also had to help Man Yee who’d so confidently (and wrongly?) been offering guidance to everyone, although I liked her selection of polka dots. Gill had thought that she’d nabbed the camo material that everyone else wanted, but it turned out to be a nightmare to sew with a pattern that had so many challenges. Angela had gone wrong and tried to redo it, and nearly everyone had got something wrong except for top of the class Brogan. They tried to create some drama about the positioning but it was clear from the judges’ comments that Cristian deserved to come second and for her to come first.
The transformation challenge was jeans, denim shirts and all the embellishments you liked for a country star’s stage outfit, Here Gill lucked out, as a country fan, while Man Yee was hopelessly confused. I liked Cristian’s detail with the roses, which made a change from all the stars everyone else plumped for. Fringing either worked for people or it didn’t. it was clear that Annie was stumbling around in search of an idea, which is usually fatal in this round.
Gill deservedly came first and redeemed herself, but Annie and Angela were in the bottom two and therefore in trouble. Brogan and Cristian had been consistently good, while Debra had been stubbornly middling (i.e. fourth place.)
The made to measure was a David Bowie-inspired outfit. Of course, Esme had met him. Of course she had (actually, she may have told that story before. And of course she’d dressed up as Dolly Parton at one point in her life.)
Although there were some similar details, mostly people had been inspired by different eras of Bowie, and there wasn’t such a sense of a forced narrative as in the week before. I liked the pattern of Man Yee’s jacket, although as predicted, she’d bitten off a lot. Others had their obstacles – Gill’s was fit, Brogan seemed most serene, but had perhaps challenged herself less. Debra did a sleeve wrong, but was able to save it so that she had time to contemplate where else to put the ostrich feathers, Annie was surprisingly happy, but Cristian was STRESSED as he did the most dramatic outfit.
However, he’d done enough the previous day for it not to endanger his place. The overall look was really what decided this round, not so much the sewing, although Debra’s mistake with the sleeve cost her somewhat. If I was being picky, I think she shouldn’t have bothered adding the extra feathers. Annie’s looked great to me and deserved the GotW. Gill’s last-minute decision was vindicated, but not her decision about the fit, Brogan was lightly chastised for a boring skirt, but the judges didn’t love Angela’s interpretation of the brief, and thought Man Yee’s was too unbalanced, but again, although they tried to build up the drama, Angela had been in more trouble than Man Yee all episode, so her departure wasn’t a surprise.
Week 7 – lingerie and sleepwear week
The pattern challenge was a bra and knicker set, which it seemed like most of them hadn’t done before, with lace, elastic and several small and fiddly bits. I preferred the more vibrant colours. Everyone seemed stressed, although Brogan seemed the most confident. Gill went wrong, possibly twice, Cristian was puzzled with the construction… but the judges seemed keen to emphasise in later talks with Sara that they were all good and close and not to read too much into their criticisms. Anyway, from the comments, Gill was an obvious last and Annie – to her surprise and pleasure – top.
From the mostly delicate to (pastel!) thermal wear into ye olde going out outfit transformation. Debra’s idea sounded a bit rum – fancy sweat shirt? Man Yee had an interesting idea, but not enough time to execute it and as time marched on and she hadn’t done much sewing, she panicked. I was amused at Sara calling Cristian out for producing a very Broganesque garment, although I liked it. Brogan was typically herself, using the word ‘granny’ again. Gill got done for by the lack of another sleeve, although I think this round was close. Annie, who’d plaited the trousers, was pipped by Debra – inevitable, really, once the judges landed on Chanel – I liked the contrasting trim, but I’m sure future bees noted the DOUBLE BOW
Made to measure: luxury PJs FOR MEN. Although there were a diversity of styles within the parameters, the key questions would be what material they’d used and how long the sleeves and trousers were. Silk – satiny - cotton, in decreasing order of difficulty. As far as I or the judges could tell, nobody had started on the trousers before the last hour, and I think the judges deducted points for difficulty for the people who’d gone for shots, most explicitly with Brogan.
A couple went for paisley. I loved Gill’s goldfish. Cristian didn’t have an inspiration, so Sara unhelpfully suggested Hugh Heffner, Debra had gone for Noel Coward, Annie had either been inspired by her boyfriend or a rapper or her boyfriend is a rapper, and Man Yee had been inspired by her dad. Aww.
There was lots of talk of piping at the beginning and the end, but you could tell who was up against it because of mistakes or misjudgement by how they talked about French seams. Cristian and Gill were getting ever more stressed. It soon became clear something magical was happening as Man Yee’s model started ironing what she’d done already for her, while others were sewing to the last second.
We and Gill knew that she, twice bottom, was in trouble going in, and we knew that she and Cristian were in trouble before the runway bit. There were fewer nitpicks with Annie, who we knew was, like Debra, probably safe before this challenge. Brogan’s buttons really got it, (15 pyjamas is a lot, unless if you literally wear no other nightwear, or you have lived three times as long as Brogan and kept all of them.) I liked Debra’s modern twist on Noel Coward, but she did have less to sew and the judges did have criticisms, while they had none for Man Yee, who seemed to be the only one who was surprised at her getting GotW, for the first time, and Patrick saying her sewing was way neater than it ever had been before. Probably the best compliment for her, though, will be her father insisting she makes him that set, if he’s still alive.
There was more tension about who would go, I couldn’t tell whether all Cristian’s errors added up to more than Gill’s, and he had been better in the previous two rounds. How embarrassing would it have been for him to be booted out for poor made to measure menswear!? Gill accepted her fate and gave one of the more touching leaving speeches, saying that the show had changed her life, as she’d appeared sans prosthetic and the world had not ended – if anything, she’d gained people’s respect.
[Edited for typos 25/2/25.]
