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feather_ghyllEpisode 1: first episode week
I was delighted to see that The Great British Sewing Bee was back. Much was made of the fact that it was 10 years old (although the reel in the never changed title sequence says ‘Est. 2012’, and that disparity is related to the BBC’s loss of Bake Off.) Another new presenter in Kiell Smith-Bynoe, who’d done the Christmas specials and is perfectly personable and capable of reading the gags written for him. Patrick is the only one who was there from the off.
12 new contestants and I hadn’t taken in all their names by the end of the episode, as ever. There were some types we’ve seen before, although one, Don, was a delightful gentleman in his early eighties who I am afraid to say did find timing a problem. Nobody from Wales to be an automatic favourite. And one man had brought along his ventriloquist’s doll, Neil (or however you spell it.) Yes, the fact that he sewed its clothes was impressive, but Kiell’s creeped out response echoed mine.
Like all the rounds, the pattern challenge harked back to the very first episode, where the pattern had been an A-line skirt. It was now in denim, with panels, plackets and eight buttons. And nobody finished, Patrick even had to tell them all to work on their time management. Young Pascha and Alex came top, and the ones who had done worst were left hoping that the usual rule of people who are terrible at patterns are great at transformations would apply.
The transformation challenge was three t-shirts into something with a different silhouette. I’d have ranked Marcus’s hat higher for being so different, and I preferred Comfort’s top to whatshername’s although I can see that they ranked them according to detail. As there was the ghost of a T-shirt about the one that came last, that seemed fair.
Made to measure was a casual day-dress (so it didn’t even have to be too fitted) to show the contestant’s style, skills and personality. Many of them rejected cotton, so we had a custom African fabric, a fabric that a contestant had painted themselves, a tablecloth, a duvet, something see through that required lining, a slippy satin and an unwieldy denim. Various people went wrong in different places and ways. Ailsa (the denim) barely finished. One gown was too evening (if Lauren had done the same silhouette with a summery cotton it would have been easier to sew and on brief.) A couple looked good on the runway and then wilted under closer scrutiny. The best two were black and white – I might have chosen Luke’s, because the critique was more about too much contrasting black rather than the sewing, while they did have a critique about Suzi’s, who had redeemed herself after the pattern challenge but felt it made more of a visual impact. Also clear before the camera close-ups who was in trouble, Ailsa had messed up, but Neil (however you spell it it) had been weak in all the rounds and so he went.
Episode 2: sports week.
Pattern challenge was a jersey, and Marcus went around getting a bit of material from everybody to make his, which meant he was behind, but he was ordered to follow the pattern nonetheless by the judges. Janet started doing her pocket wrong, a couple of people did their zips the wrong way, and Comfort did a lot of unpicking. Overall, more people finished it than last week, even if they’d got details wrong. Ailsa wasn’t great.
Transformation challenge was cricket whites and kit into an avant-garde top or bottom. Marcus decided to go for headgear and came last. Some people were winging it with panic in their eyes, others were gradually contriving increasingly interesting things, like Pascha using the graphic detail and creating a smart collar, Ailsa deconstructing it backwards, but getting beaten by Alex, although I think the ‘contrasting’ fabrics must have looked better in the room. Comfort was again near the bottom.
Made to measure was meant to be part of a country’s kit at whatever sport, so they had a lot of leeway, but most were dealing with stretchy fabric. Nothing major went wrong, but Suzi had too many panels and they got misaligned, Don was struggling with time, and Comfort’s collar was terrible. It was fairly obvious that Georgie’s Trinidad and Tobago athletics kit was going to get garment of the week as it had runway impact and no criticisms, and although they tried to build up the tension about Janet and Don, Comfort had been the weakest all-round and seemed the most out of her depth.
Episode 3: holiday week
Pattern challenge: turn embroidered linen tablecloths (already a star of the show) into blouses. Showing off the embroidery was a big part of this, and very early on, it was clear that Janet was going to do her own thing again. There was confusion over what to do with the bias binding around the neckline, while Marcus always seemed to be behind, and then he and Don had serious issues over the sleeves, while others were doing okay. Most of them had completed the challenge, but the bottom three were fairly clear. Some people might have been higher had they got the neckline right, but, surprisingly, Ailsa, who has so needed a boost, got joint first alongside Luke. That never or hardly ever happens. Both were delighted.
Transformation challenge: fishermen’s gear and clothes into bags and they had to do something interesting with ropes. My first thought was ‘use them for straps’ and I was surprised that so many people went for that. Other options were to weave a braid and stick that on the front or to create a purse. Some nets for pockets, Pascha got guided into doing a ducklike rucksack, which I thought was adorable. Marcus was stymied by not being able to thread his rope through as he wanted to. Janet’s bag’s greatest feature was a picture she’d drawn on the front, otherwise it was rather plain and the strap was waaaay too long for Esme. Neither she, Don nor Marcus had shone. Ailsa was up in third, Luke second, but Alex scooped first by creating a bag that could be both a rucksack and a tote bag.
Made to measure was a garment fit for the French Riviera. Ailsa and Alex stuck to one garment – a jumpsuit and trousers (with loads of volume because of pleats). Everyone else was doing an outfit (usually trousers and a top) and as they only had four hours, this was where most of them came unstuck. There was also the question of whether the look was sufficiently French riviera or any old beach. Pascha and maybe Suzi had succeeded with the first, but both their tops went awry, with Pascha having a brain freeze. Luke seemed more comfortable with the time management and he was sewing a shirt he was used to doing, but it didn’t quite shine, as the judges queried some details. Patrick’s schtick was to ask the models to tuck in their tops to show off the trousers, which he did for Don too. However, having been defeated by the machine in her attempts to make buttonholes, Janet hadn’t finished, and Esme wasn’t sure if her cocktail patterned short pyjamas were right for the Riviera, so she was clearly the worst of the contestants in danger. And only three weeks in, she was making me expostulate ‘just follow the instructions!’
The look for the Riviera seems to be long culottes or wide-legged trousers and a completed top. Although I think Alex came close with her stripy jumpsuit, from the judges’ comments, it was clearly Ailsa’s well-constructed trousers that were going to win garment of the week. After all, both Esme and Patrick wanted her to make them those trousers (she’d adapted a design), which is a high compliment. This was clearly the episode of her dreams, giving her a shot of confidence as she got challenges that showed what she could do. Luke has already had a few moments of glory. Alex also did well, while others did well enough.
Kiell is being a good sport, entertaining enough, learning about ‘darts’ and properly helping contestants out as well as ‘helping’ them for laughs.
Episode 4: reduce, reuse and recycle week
The pattern challenge seemed to be for a trendy technique, wherein you pad some georgette with scraps of fabric (the colour/pattern and thickness were important) and then quilt it in a pattern for a bag. Suzi was well behind, as the others started sewing. Tastes varied as to the colour and pattern choices, but where to put the zip puzzled Don, while others had issues with the loop or the lines to create the quilt effect, and Suzi didn’t quite finish. Suzi joined Don and Marcus (not enough padding) at the bottom. Ailsa came second, and I was glad that Pascha (who seemed quietly confident throughout although I don’t remember her saying she’d done this before) winning with her heart pattern.
Transformation challenge started with a sobering statistic about how much fabric goes to landfill, backed up by the pile of clothes they were to choose from. The brief was up to five outfits of the same colour (or colour palate) into one outfit. Marcus picked up browns, reds, oranges and multicoloured outfits and fretted his way through it. Lauren, who gets on like a house on fire with Kiell, went for pink, AGAIN. Don didn’t listen to Kiell’s hint to go bolder. Most of them were unimpressive, but Luke’s cream/ivory gown and Pascha’s goth dress had impact. I’d have put him first for the structural wow, and her second, but she was bowled over by coming top twice.
Made to measure was also a transformation challenge: a wedding dress into a party dress with some of the original features. This meant there wasn’t much material, so the cutting had to be right. Marcus seemed to be going for high risk by using his wife’s wedding gown (he had permission) and changing it into a man’s costume. Luke had also got his mother’s wedding dress and was changing it into an eighties inspired dress. Like many people, he’d dyed it. Alex and Suzi had painted it, while Ailsa hadn’t and would be adding lots of metalwork. Don seemed to know what he was doing, as it was a version of a dress he’d done for his daughters, and it, like Lauren’s was reminiscent of his effort in the previous round. Need I say her dress was pink? They were both doing ruffles.
Georgie was getting stressed, as was Marcus. Alex seemed to have been very clever in keeping the original hem, as a couple of people ran out of time for the hemming. In fact, as she was doing shorts and a top under a see through baby doll dress, she had a lot to do. Marcus’s trousers were a bit of a fail, Alex’s dress was too short and unfinished, but Don also had some quality issues. Ailsa’s dress looked like too much of a wedding gown, still. Lauren’s looked like you’d wear it to a wedding. Luke’s had structural impact, but like him, Alex got praise for the sewing.
Due to the cull in numbers, we had time for Kiell to ask the judges privately who was up for garment of the week and who was in trouble. Unsurprisingly, they named two people for each. Clever draping made me think that Luke had got GotW, but it was Alex, and well deserved too. Leaving though, would be Don, who had so often failed to keep up with the pace or the demands of the competition.
I was delighted to see that The Great British Sewing Bee was back. Much was made of the fact that it was 10 years old (although the reel in the never changed title sequence says ‘Est. 2012’, and that disparity is related to the BBC’s loss of Bake Off.) Another new presenter in Kiell Smith-Bynoe, who’d done the Christmas specials and is perfectly personable and capable of reading the gags written for him. Patrick is the only one who was there from the off.
12 new contestants and I hadn’t taken in all their names by the end of the episode, as ever. There were some types we’ve seen before, although one, Don, was a delightful gentleman in his early eighties who I am afraid to say did find timing a problem. Nobody from Wales to be an automatic favourite. And one man had brought along his ventriloquist’s doll, Neil (or however you spell it.) Yes, the fact that he sewed its clothes was impressive, but Kiell’s creeped out response echoed mine.
Like all the rounds, the pattern challenge harked back to the very first episode, where the pattern had been an A-line skirt. It was now in denim, with panels, plackets and eight buttons. And nobody finished, Patrick even had to tell them all to work on their time management. Young Pascha and Alex came top, and the ones who had done worst were left hoping that the usual rule of people who are terrible at patterns are great at transformations would apply.
The transformation challenge was three t-shirts into something with a different silhouette. I’d have ranked Marcus’s hat higher for being so different, and I preferred Comfort’s top to whatshername’s although I can see that they ranked them according to detail. As there was the ghost of a T-shirt about the one that came last, that seemed fair.
Made to measure was a casual day-dress (so it didn’t even have to be too fitted) to show the contestant’s style, skills and personality. Many of them rejected cotton, so we had a custom African fabric, a fabric that a contestant had painted themselves, a tablecloth, a duvet, something see through that required lining, a slippy satin and an unwieldy denim. Various people went wrong in different places and ways. Ailsa (the denim) barely finished. One gown was too evening (if Lauren had done the same silhouette with a summery cotton it would have been easier to sew and on brief.) A couple looked good on the runway and then wilted under closer scrutiny. The best two were black and white – I might have chosen Luke’s, because the critique was more about too much contrasting black rather than the sewing, while they did have a critique about Suzi’s, who had redeemed herself after the pattern challenge but felt it made more of a visual impact. Also clear before the camera close-ups who was in trouble, Ailsa had messed up, but Neil (however you spell it it) had been weak in all the rounds and so he went.
Episode 2: sports week.
Pattern challenge was a jersey, and Marcus went around getting a bit of material from everybody to make his, which meant he was behind, but he was ordered to follow the pattern nonetheless by the judges. Janet started doing her pocket wrong, a couple of people did their zips the wrong way, and Comfort did a lot of unpicking. Overall, more people finished it than last week, even if they’d got details wrong. Ailsa wasn’t great.
Transformation challenge was cricket whites and kit into an avant-garde top or bottom. Marcus decided to go for headgear and came last. Some people were winging it with panic in their eyes, others were gradually contriving increasingly interesting things, like Pascha using the graphic detail and creating a smart collar, Ailsa deconstructing it backwards, but getting beaten by Alex, although I think the ‘contrasting’ fabrics must have looked better in the room. Comfort was again near the bottom.
Made to measure was meant to be part of a country’s kit at whatever sport, so they had a lot of leeway, but most were dealing with stretchy fabric. Nothing major went wrong, but Suzi had too many panels and they got misaligned, Don was struggling with time, and Comfort’s collar was terrible. It was fairly obvious that Georgie’s Trinidad and Tobago athletics kit was going to get garment of the week as it had runway impact and no criticisms, and although they tried to build up the tension about Janet and Don, Comfort had been the weakest all-round and seemed the most out of her depth.
Episode 3: holiday week
Pattern challenge: turn embroidered linen tablecloths (already a star of the show) into blouses. Showing off the embroidery was a big part of this, and very early on, it was clear that Janet was going to do her own thing again. There was confusion over what to do with the bias binding around the neckline, while Marcus always seemed to be behind, and then he and Don had serious issues over the sleeves, while others were doing okay. Most of them had completed the challenge, but the bottom three were fairly clear. Some people might have been higher had they got the neckline right, but, surprisingly, Ailsa, who has so needed a boost, got joint first alongside Luke. That never or hardly ever happens. Both were delighted.
Transformation challenge: fishermen’s gear and clothes into bags and they had to do something interesting with ropes. My first thought was ‘use them for straps’ and I was surprised that so many people went for that. Other options were to weave a braid and stick that on the front or to create a purse. Some nets for pockets, Pascha got guided into doing a ducklike rucksack, which I thought was adorable. Marcus was stymied by not being able to thread his rope through as he wanted to. Janet’s bag’s greatest feature was a picture she’d drawn on the front, otherwise it was rather plain and the strap was waaaay too long for Esme. Neither she, Don nor Marcus had shone. Ailsa was up in third, Luke second, but Alex scooped first by creating a bag that could be both a rucksack and a tote bag.
Made to measure was a garment fit for the French Riviera. Ailsa and Alex stuck to one garment – a jumpsuit and trousers (with loads of volume because of pleats). Everyone else was doing an outfit (usually trousers and a top) and as they only had four hours, this was where most of them came unstuck. There was also the question of whether the look was sufficiently French riviera or any old beach. Pascha and maybe Suzi had succeeded with the first, but both their tops went awry, with Pascha having a brain freeze. Luke seemed more comfortable with the time management and he was sewing a shirt he was used to doing, but it didn’t quite shine, as the judges queried some details. Patrick’s schtick was to ask the models to tuck in their tops to show off the trousers, which he did for Don too. However, having been defeated by the machine in her attempts to make buttonholes, Janet hadn’t finished, and Esme wasn’t sure if her cocktail patterned short pyjamas were right for the Riviera, so she was clearly the worst of the contestants in danger. And only three weeks in, she was making me expostulate ‘just follow the instructions!’
The look for the Riviera seems to be long culottes or wide-legged trousers and a completed top. Although I think Alex came close with her stripy jumpsuit, from the judges’ comments, it was clearly Ailsa’s well-constructed trousers that were going to win garment of the week. After all, both Esme and Patrick wanted her to make them those trousers (she’d adapted a design), which is a high compliment. This was clearly the episode of her dreams, giving her a shot of confidence as she got challenges that showed what she could do. Luke has already had a few moments of glory. Alex also did well, while others did well enough.
Kiell is being a good sport, entertaining enough, learning about ‘darts’ and properly helping contestants out as well as ‘helping’ them for laughs.
Episode 4: reduce, reuse and recycle week
The pattern challenge seemed to be for a trendy technique, wherein you pad some georgette with scraps of fabric (the colour/pattern and thickness were important) and then quilt it in a pattern for a bag. Suzi was well behind, as the others started sewing. Tastes varied as to the colour and pattern choices, but where to put the zip puzzled Don, while others had issues with the loop or the lines to create the quilt effect, and Suzi didn’t quite finish. Suzi joined Don and Marcus (not enough padding) at the bottom. Ailsa came second, and I was glad that Pascha (who seemed quietly confident throughout although I don’t remember her saying she’d done this before) winning with her heart pattern.
Transformation challenge started with a sobering statistic about how much fabric goes to landfill, backed up by the pile of clothes they were to choose from. The brief was up to five outfits of the same colour (or colour palate) into one outfit. Marcus picked up browns, reds, oranges and multicoloured outfits and fretted his way through it. Lauren, who gets on like a house on fire with Kiell, went for pink, AGAIN. Don didn’t listen to Kiell’s hint to go bolder. Most of them were unimpressive, but Luke’s cream/ivory gown and Pascha’s goth dress had impact. I’d have put him first for the structural wow, and her second, but she was bowled over by coming top twice.
Made to measure was also a transformation challenge: a wedding dress into a party dress with some of the original features. This meant there wasn’t much material, so the cutting had to be right. Marcus seemed to be going for high risk by using his wife’s wedding gown (he had permission) and changing it into a man’s costume. Luke had also got his mother’s wedding dress and was changing it into an eighties inspired dress. Like many people, he’d dyed it. Alex and Suzi had painted it, while Ailsa hadn’t and would be adding lots of metalwork. Don seemed to know what he was doing, as it was a version of a dress he’d done for his daughters, and it, like Lauren’s was reminiscent of his effort in the previous round. Need I say her dress was pink? They were both doing ruffles.
Georgie was getting stressed, as was Marcus. Alex seemed to have been very clever in keeping the original hem, as a couple of people ran out of time for the hemming. In fact, as she was doing shorts and a top under a see through baby doll dress, she had a lot to do. Marcus’s trousers were a bit of a fail, Alex’s dress was too short and unfinished, but Don also had some quality issues. Ailsa’s dress looked like too much of a wedding gown, still. Lauren’s looked like you’d wear it to a wedding. Luke’s had structural impact, but like him, Alex got praise for the sewing.
Due to the cull in numbers, we had time for Kiell to ask the judges privately who was up for garment of the week and who was in trouble. Unsurprisingly, they named two people for each. Clever draping made me think that Luke had got GotW, but it was Alex, and well deserved too. Leaving though, would be Don, who had so often failed to keep up with the pace or the demands of the competition.
