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feather_ghyllAs they covered Christmas and New Year’s Eve in the challenges, I think this may be our one and only Sewing Bee Christmas special and as there were shots of lambs, I have my suspicions about when it was filmed. As ever, they just about got away with having near-novice celebrities – well, none of them had used a sewing machine before, apparently. Johannes from Strictly Come Dancing admitted to doing some hand-sewing and, classically, referred to an aunt who was the seamstress of the family. He seemed to have the most clue about putting a garment together before they had properly started. We had contestants forgetting to put the thread in or the foot down as well as picking the wrong or too challenging fabrics, which people who enter the Sewing Bee proper do.
Did you know that Penny Lancaster was married to Rod Stewart? Then you slept through this episode. Rosie Ramsey seemed to have more bows to her string than just being a celebrity wife, while Natalie ‘Sonia from Eastenders’ Cassidy counted as a proper celeb.
Sara returned to host, which was a relief - I hope she stays for a decent while - with a particularly good-humoured Patrick and Esme (who couldn’t help pointing out where things had gone wrong, which I respect) to judge.
The pattern challenge was a ‘Christmas’ apron, which you’d think would be simple – hem the main bit, sew on the pockets and the neck and waist ties, then embellish to your heart’s content. But there were the curved bits, Penny had chosen lurex, Rosie had some velvet, both bad ideas. Natalie and Johannes were doing better until he realised he hadn’t done the bottom hem quite close to the last minute, but won (Strictly pros are the world’s most competitive people, and he has yet to win a Glitterball.)
For the transformation challenge, Patrick entered carrying baby Olive who was supposed to be dressed like a fairy but was in about as much material as rich Victorians swathed their babies in. Whose is she? Patrick’s? Sara mentioned a 10-month-old. Anyway, the contestants were told to turn a bag of children’s clothes into a Christmas dressing-up outfit for a baby. The bags were all in colours that hinted in what the producers and judges thought were obvious directions.
But the contestants didn’t get it The nadir was Johannes asking ‘But what do sheep have to do with Christmas?’ and Esme asking ’But what do shepherds have to do with Christmas?’ and Patrick having to explain ‘Er, the Nativity.’ I really wasn’t sure if she was joking. Instead of a sheep, which wouldn’t have been that transformational, or a snowman, Johannes went for a candy cane, Natalie went for a Christmas pudding, depite Sara, prefiguring the judges’ reaction, thinking it was a shepherd’s outfit and Natalie herself referencing something else that is brown that an imaginary child would grumble about wearing. Penny had green clothes and a bauble in mind, but no idea how to create it. (Actually, all her choices in the first two rounds would make more sense when we learned what her made to measure design was - she was practising for it.) Rosie had red and had been thinking of doing a bauble too, but when she overheard Penny, changed her mind and went for a Christas gift. It was simple, but she won by default, because the judges knew what she was getting at. I know Esme is swayed by a bow, but I thought that such ribbons would be asking for trouble in a baby’s outfit.
That was a bit of a car crash – normally even the worst celebs at sewing can come up with more creative transformations.
The made to measure challenge was where I really wanted to know how much help they’d had. They were asked to produce a fancy dress outfit as a pop star for New Year’s. Penny, banned from doing a Rob Stewart outfit, went for eighties Madonna, Natalie for Liam Gallagher with an embellished parka (and lots of attempts to teach her model to walk like LG, which he never got the hang of). Rosie was doing Dolly Parton – or a red dress with lots of fringing, while Johannes was doing a sparkly jumpsuit that Harry Styles might wear.
They all fashioned wearable outfits. I was mildly worried by where Johannes’s model was placing his hand until he did the catwalk and basically showed that the outfit was all in one piece and fitted him well enough to do all sorts. Despite all the praise heaped on Rosie for her first zip ever, Penny for sewing sequins on top of fake fur and a sensible material, and Natalie for her hood, Johannes won garment of the week, and proceeded to clutch his trophy for the rest of the episode.
Respect to Sara, Esme and Patrick for dressing up as Sonny and Cher respectively. Rosie sang us out and the others danced. I expect Johannes will be wearing a jumpsuit on next year’s Strictly Come Dancing – as to whether we’ll see Esme or Patrick as contestants after their game attempts at a cha cha, I don’t know.
[Edited for typos 28/2/25.]
Did you know that Penny Lancaster was married to Rod Stewart? Then you slept through this episode. Rosie Ramsey seemed to have more bows to her string than just being a celebrity wife, while Natalie ‘Sonia from Eastenders’ Cassidy counted as a proper celeb.
Sara returned to host, which was a relief - I hope she stays for a decent while - with a particularly good-humoured Patrick and Esme (who couldn’t help pointing out where things had gone wrong, which I respect) to judge.
The pattern challenge was a ‘Christmas’ apron, which you’d think would be simple – hem the main bit, sew on the pockets and the neck and waist ties, then embellish to your heart’s content. But there were the curved bits, Penny had chosen lurex, Rosie had some velvet, both bad ideas. Natalie and Johannes were doing better until he realised he hadn’t done the bottom hem quite close to the last minute, but won (Strictly pros are the world’s most competitive people, and he has yet to win a Glitterball.)
For the transformation challenge, Patrick entered carrying baby Olive who was supposed to be dressed like a fairy but was in about as much material as rich Victorians swathed their babies in. Whose is she? Patrick’s? Sara mentioned a 10-month-old. Anyway, the contestants were told to turn a bag of children’s clothes into a Christmas dressing-up outfit for a baby. The bags were all in colours that hinted in what the producers and judges thought were obvious directions.
But the contestants didn’t get it The nadir was Johannes asking ‘But what do sheep have to do with Christmas?’ and Esme asking ’But what do shepherds have to do with Christmas?’ and Patrick having to explain ‘Er, the Nativity.’ I really wasn’t sure if she was joking. Instead of a sheep, which wouldn’t have been that transformational, or a snowman, Johannes went for a candy cane, Natalie went for a Christmas pudding, depite Sara, prefiguring the judges’ reaction, thinking it was a shepherd’s outfit and Natalie herself referencing something else that is brown that an imaginary child would grumble about wearing. Penny had green clothes and a bauble in mind, but no idea how to create it. (Actually, all her choices in the first two rounds would make more sense when we learned what her made to measure design was - she was practising for it.) Rosie had red and had been thinking of doing a bauble too, but when she overheard Penny, changed her mind and went for a Christas gift. It was simple, but she won by default, because the judges knew what she was getting at. I know Esme is swayed by a bow, but I thought that such ribbons would be asking for trouble in a baby’s outfit.
That was a bit of a car crash – normally even the worst celebs at sewing can come up with more creative transformations.
The made to measure challenge was where I really wanted to know how much help they’d had. They were asked to produce a fancy dress outfit as a pop star for New Year’s. Penny, banned from doing a Rob Stewart outfit, went for eighties Madonna, Natalie for Liam Gallagher with an embellished parka (and lots of attempts to teach her model to walk like LG, which he never got the hang of). Rosie was doing Dolly Parton – or a red dress with lots of fringing, while Johannes was doing a sparkly jumpsuit that Harry Styles might wear.
They all fashioned wearable outfits. I was mildly worried by where Johannes’s model was placing his hand until he did the catwalk and basically showed that the outfit was all in one piece and fitted him well enough to do all sorts. Despite all the praise heaped on Rosie for her first zip ever, Penny for sewing sequins on top of fake fur and a sensible material, and Natalie for her hood, Johannes won garment of the week, and proceeded to clutch his trophy for the rest of the episode.
Respect to Sara, Esme and Patrick for dressing up as Sonny and Cher respectively. Rosie sang us out and the others danced. I expect Johannes will be wearing a jumpsuit on next year’s Strictly Come Dancing – as to whether we’ll see Esme or Patrick as contestants after their game attempts at a cha cha, I don’t know.
[Edited for typos 28/2/25.]
