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feather_ghyll) wrote2025-09-19 07:46 pm
feather_ghyll) wrote2025-09-19 07:46 pm
TELEVISION: The Great British Sewing Bee - episodes 9 and 10
Episode 9 – semi final
And 1920s week, so we had a silent movie homage at the top. The pattern challenge was plus fours, and you could argue that the choice of material settled the results before anyone had even started sewing. Kit had gone for colour, but his wool was the heaviest and most difficult to sew, Yasmin and Caz had gone for checks, Yasmin decided not to pattern match, which was easier for time, but not great for the final look, while Caz, who was pattern matching, took longer to cut out and always felt she was behind. Orla, who’d gone for a plain, lightweight wool, breezed through in comparison – and because she and Kit were cutting on the same table, he felt it, for all that he’d been confidently going ‘Oh, it’s just a trouser.’ They all found the fly difficult, all panicked as time ran out, and Kit had a nightmare with the buckle at the bottom of the legs.
Relatively speaking, the judges said they were quite close, but found something to criticise in all the garments. Being able to see the zip was the worst error, and it was no surprise that Kit came last, but Orla came first, winning the pattern challenge for the very first time. A semi-final is an excellent time for that.
The transformation challenge was up to five polo shirts (cue their history) into a colour-matched outfit. They all had different ideas, with Kit honouring Esme’s amorphous dress, Orla going for spirals, Caz a dress and Yasmin a top. Yasmin started off by using the plackets for the back – and to create actual fastenings. Caz came to that after getting most of the shape ready. Yasmin was late to actually sewing things together. Kit was happily within time. They all looked pretty good. On closer inspection, Caz’s was both too busy and with not enough going on at the same time. The judges made some fair points about where colours should or shouldn’t have gone for both her and Yasmin that were obvious once the garments had been done. Orla’s neckline and hem hadn’t been well attended to, because of all the effort the spirals had taken, so Kit’s was the more finished outfit and – even though it was sucking up to Esme – deservedly came first.
As the judges acknowledged, Orla had had a good first day (first and second places) but it was very close and the made to measure would probably swing it.
The brief was a dress for a gala at a very specific 1920s moment. All four contestants had a good story, Kit’s drawing (self-drafted, of course) looked great. Caz was replacing Gaynor in the ‘not ambitious enough’ category. Yasmin was the only one to eschew slippy materials, but her challenge was achieving precision for her sailor dress. Lots of them were meant to be doing headwear, but one wondered if they’d have the time. Kit was soon unhappy with various elements that he’d done, but had to get on with it. Orla was happier, Yasmin was slow because she had to take care for the precision.
By the final stretches, Orla was doing okay, Caz was having trouble with adding binding to some lace, Kit was hand-sewing beading on, knowing it was to hide some messy sewing, while the judges weren’t sure about the look of his outfit, and Yasmin was battling to make a hat in very few minutes.
Orla’s dress was an almost ugly green, and Esme was right, the drama came in the back, although it was pretty decent overall. Caz’s was too tight, and one or two bits were not beautifully sewn, but Kit’s had more issues. Meanwhile Yasmin had pulled it off, mostly, achieving precision, the extra special pleating had come off, and the fit was good. She was a certainty for GotW, and the judges admitted to Sarah that she and Orla had done enough to go through to the final, but that they’d have to decide between Caz and Kit, which was a mild shocker, because they’ve been the strongest – or it would be if you’ve never seen the show before, where favourites fall at the last. It was Kit, who’d had a poor show (despite the transformation challenge) at a terrible time for it, who would leave, meaning the other three were in the final.
Episode 10 – final
There was no real theme, exactly. There was a nice camaraderie between the contestants. The last pattern challenge would be a bias cut dress with spaghetti sleeves and French hems, and Caz, going for a pattern, chose the lightest fabric and thus was in trouble from the cutting out onward, as the material kept stretching on her. As they got further in, things started getting tricky for Yasmin, who redid one attachment of a strap, while Orla seemed to be sailing through. Both Caz and Yasmin had managed some sort of hem, but the judges had the fewest criticisms for Orla, so she came first, Yasmin second, and Caz last.
The last transformation challenge was sheer materials into something elevated. They could take four outfits to make one from them. Caz and Orla had at least one see-through mac, Yasmin had got black outfits, including the initial dress modelled when they were given the challenge. She started well with the bustier she’d fashioned, but then seemed to run out of ideas, and it ripped so she had to deal with that. Orla had an idea, but when it came to making a 3D heart out of brownish materials, she decided to go for flowers (‘brown flowers?’ as Esme later queried) and had to decide where to place them, not going for modesty. Caz was in much better humour, turning her mac into a dress, and every step a happy addition – Sarah said it reminded her of a French maid’s outfit.
Yasmin’s clearly was the weakest – 25% good, 75% meh. The judges didn’t like the black waist tie in Orla’s dress, as it didn’t go with anything else, but they rhapsodised over Caz’s graphic number. She came first, Orla second, Yasmin third.
So, after day one, you could say that Orla was top, Caz second and Yasmin third, but the judges emphasised that it was very close.
The final made to measure would probably decide the winner and the challenge was to design something ‘trompe l’oeil’ for a loved one – suddenly it was revealed that Orla is a Gaelic speaker (but doesn’t speak to herself a la Gaynor.) They all had interesting designs in mind, Caz was going to commemorate her open heart surgery with a dress surrounded by a ribcage, modelled by her daughter. Yasmin was also going to reference the human body (kind of) with a fake tie (or something) and a fuzzy black outline over an orange dress (look, it was inspired by something off a catwalk) that her fiancée would wear. Orla was going to do what looked like a black dress front-on, but side-on you’d see colourful little pillars coming out of the chest worn by her non-binary sibling/sister. They all sounded impressive, but could the finalists pull them off?
Yasmin started getting flummoxed and wasted 30 minutes to an hour over what a collar looks like. (She’d got it right first time, talked herself into redoing it and wasted time doing it back the other way, using a cameraman as a reference point. We never see the cameramen on this show!) Caz’s daughter seemed very calming.
It became apparent that Orla hadn’t really tested what she was doing, because getting the angle right and getting these pillar things to stay up enough for the crucial trompe l’oeil effect was very tricky, and it seemed like she only attached them very late. Yasmin was machine sewing something she’d intended to hand sew to gain time, and Caz was finding sewing the ribcages on very tough because of the boning, so it all got a bit tight.
On the catwalk, you could see a flash of blue amid the black from the front-on of Orla’s dress, though the judges liked the ‘big Orla energy’ and the soft pleats and outline of the dress. Yasmin’s dress more or less worked, although the black outline thing did look a bit wonky. Caz’s had the most wow factor (though in close up you could see some threads sticking out where they shouldn’t have because of time.) The judges were complimentary about everyone and again told Sarah it was close, as family, friends (seen in earlier VTs) and former contestants turned up to gape at all their work.
Sarah had seemed like she could burst into tears all episode, but now had to make the big announcement. The trophy is not very grand, is it, although maybe that’s just me watching too much tennis. It was, quite rightly, Caz, who has always had bundles of talent and impressed for her larger than life ideas, which she so often pulled off. I am glad to learn that Orla has switched subjects to focus on fashion, though. As ever, I love the catch-up photos, showing that some of the contestants have met up and what they’ve been sewing.
And 1920s week, so we had a silent movie homage at the top. The pattern challenge was plus fours, and you could argue that the choice of material settled the results before anyone had even started sewing. Kit had gone for colour, but his wool was the heaviest and most difficult to sew, Yasmin and Caz had gone for checks, Yasmin decided not to pattern match, which was easier for time, but not great for the final look, while Caz, who was pattern matching, took longer to cut out and always felt she was behind. Orla, who’d gone for a plain, lightweight wool, breezed through in comparison – and because she and Kit were cutting on the same table, he felt it, for all that he’d been confidently going ‘Oh, it’s just a trouser.’ They all found the fly difficult, all panicked as time ran out, and Kit had a nightmare with the buckle at the bottom of the legs.
Relatively speaking, the judges said they were quite close, but found something to criticise in all the garments. Being able to see the zip was the worst error, and it was no surprise that Kit came last, but Orla came first, winning the pattern challenge for the very first time. A semi-final is an excellent time for that.
The transformation challenge was up to five polo shirts (cue their history) into a colour-matched outfit. They all had different ideas, with Kit honouring Esme’s amorphous dress, Orla going for spirals, Caz a dress and Yasmin a top. Yasmin started off by using the plackets for the back – and to create actual fastenings. Caz came to that after getting most of the shape ready. Yasmin was late to actually sewing things together. Kit was happily within time. They all looked pretty good. On closer inspection, Caz’s was both too busy and with not enough going on at the same time. The judges made some fair points about where colours should or shouldn’t have gone for both her and Yasmin that were obvious once the garments had been done. Orla’s neckline and hem hadn’t been well attended to, because of all the effort the spirals had taken, so Kit’s was the more finished outfit and – even though it was sucking up to Esme – deservedly came first.
As the judges acknowledged, Orla had had a good first day (first and second places) but it was very close and the made to measure would probably swing it.
The brief was a dress for a gala at a very specific 1920s moment. All four contestants had a good story, Kit’s drawing (self-drafted, of course) looked great. Caz was replacing Gaynor in the ‘not ambitious enough’ category. Yasmin was the only one to eschew slippy materials, but her challenge was achieving precision for her sailor dress. Lots of them were meant to be doing headwear, but one wondered if they’d have the time. Kit was soon unhappy with various elements that he’d done, but had to get on with it. Orla was happier, Yasmin was slow because she had to take care for the precision.
By the final stretches, Orla was doing okay, Caz was having trouble with adding binding to some lace, Kit was hand-sewing beading on, knowing it was to hide some messy sewing, while the judges weren’t sure about the look of his outfit, and Yasmin was battling to make a hat in very few minutes.
Orla’s dress was an almost ugly green, and Esme was right, the drama came in the back, although it was pretty decent overall. Caz’s was too tight, and one or two bits were not beautifully sewn, but Kit’s had more issues. Meanwhile Yasmin had pulled it off, mostly, achieving precision, the extra special pleating had come off, and the fit was good. She was a certainty for GotW, and the judges admitted to Sarah that she and Orla had done enough to go through to the final, but that they’d have to decide between Caz and Kit, which was a mild shocker, because they’ve been the strongest – or it would be if you’ve never seen the show before, where favourites fall at the last. It was Kit, who’d had a poor show (despite the transformation challenge) at a terrible time for it, who would leave, meaning the other three were in the final.
Episode 10 – final
There was no real theme, exactly. There was a nice camaraderie between the contestants. The last pattern challenge would be a bias cut dress with spaghetti sleeves and French hems, and Caz, going for a pattern, chose the lightest fabric and thus was in trouble from the cutting out onward, as the material kept stretching on her. As they got further in, things started getting tricky for Yasmin, who redid one attachment of a strap, while Orla seemed to be sailing through. Both Caz and Yasmin had managed some sort of hem, but the judges had the fewest criticisms for Orla, so she came first, Yasmin second, and Caz last.
The last transformation challenge was sheer materials into something elevated. They could take four outfits to make one from them. Caz and Orla had at least one see-through mac, Yasmin had got black outfits, including the initial dress modelled when they were given the challenge. She started well with the bustier she’d fashioned, but then seemed to run out of ideas, and it ripped so she had to deal with that. Orla had an idea, but when it came to making a 3D heart out of brownish materials, she decided to go for flowers (‘brown flowers?’ as Esme later queried) and had to decide where to place them, not going for modesty. Caz was in much better humour, turning her mac into a dress, and every step a happy addition – Sarah said it reminded her of a French maid’s outfit.
Yasmin’s clearly was the weakest – 25% good, 75% meh. The judges didn’t like the black waist tie in Orla’s dress, as it didn’t go with anything else, but they rhapsodised over Caz’s graphic number. She came first, Orla second, Yasmin third.
So, after day one, you could say that Orla was top, Caz second and Yasmin third, but the judges emphasised that it was very close.
The final made to measure would probably decide the winner and the challenge was to design something ‘trompe l’oeil’ for a loved one – suddenly it was revealed that Orla is a Gaelic speaker (but doesn’t speak to herself a la Gaynor.) They all had interesting designs in mind, Caz was going to commemorate her open heart surgery with a dress surrounded by a ribcage, modelled by her daughter. Yasmin was also going to reference the human body (kind of) with a fake tie (or something) and a fuzzy black outline over an orange dress (look, it was inspired by something off a catwalk) that her fiancée would wear. Orla was going to do what looked like a black dress front-on, but side-on you’d see colourful little pillars coming out of the chest worn by her non-binary sibling/sister. They all sounded impressive, but could the finalists pull them off?
Yasmin started getting flummoxed and wasted 30 minutes to an hour over what a collar looks like. (She’d got it right first time, talked herself into redoing it and wasted time doing it back the other way, using a cameraman as a reference point. We never see the cameramen on this show!) Caz’s daughter seemed very calming.
It became apparent that Orla hadn’t really tested what she was doing, because getting the angle right and getting these pillar things to stay up enough for the crucial trompe l’oeil effect was very tricky, and it seemed like she only attached them very late. Yasmin was machine sewing something she’d intended to hand sew to gain time, and Caz was finding sewing the ribcages on very tough because of the boning, so it all got a bit tight.
On the catwalk, you could see a flash of blue amid the black from the front-on of Orla’s dress, though the judges liked the ‘big Orla energy’ and the soft pleats and outline of the dress. Yasmin’s dress more or less worked, although the black outline thing did look a bit wonky. Caz’s had the most wow factor (though in close up you could see some threads sticking out where they shouldn’t have because of time.) The judges were complimentary about everyone and again told Sarah it was close, as family, friends (seen in earlier VTs) and former contestants turned up to gape at all their work.
Sarah had seemed like she could burst into tears all episode, but now had to make the big announcement. The trophy is not very grand, is it, although maybe that’s just me watching too much tennis. It was, quite rightly, Caz, who has always had bundles of talent and impressed for her larger than life ideas, which she so often pulled off. I am glad to learn that Orla has switched subjects to focus on fashion, though. As ever, I love the catch-up photos, showing that some of the contestants have met up and what they’ve been sewing.