GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE SEASON 8: Ep 5

Hello Sailor, too cool for school and (Dr) Who the Dickens is that??

We are already halfway through this series of the Great British Sewing Bee…how on earth did this happen so quickly??!! 

​I already know I am going to miss this Wednesday night TV so much when it comes to the end, it really is proving to be one of the best series of the Bee so far, but then I may have said that last year too 😂. Anyway, I don’t want to think about it ending right now as there are still 5 episodes to go hurrah!!  

So on to this week's episode and it was Children’s Week in the sewing room. 

For the pattern challenge the judges went nautical with a child’s sailor suit.  This challenge had several different sewing elements involved including a classic square sailor collar, elasticated shorts, ties, contrast trim on the collar and sleeve cuffs and snap fastenings. 

All this had to be completed in only 3 hours and 45 minutes. It was the contrast tape that seemed to cause the most difficulties for the contestants, it was very narrow and there were two rows to align just half a centimetre apart. With corners to turn this was no easy task.  

The snaps also proved difficult for some of the sewists and it was lovely to see them coming together as a group to work out how to attach them.  This may be a competition but the camaraderie and the support of fellow contestants is so lovely and always clear to see in the Sewing Bee 💓.

All the Bees produced a sailor suit which on the whole these were pretty good.. The judge issues were generally with the way the tape was attached and the corners turned.  Annie found herself in last place for choosing the wrong fabric (too bouncy for the turn ups) and for the waistband on her shorts not being tight enough which led to the trousers falling down. 

At this point Ellie, one of our Stitch Sewcial members did make us laugh with her comment in the chat of ‘Imagine how thrilled a small boy would be with the ease of those loose trousers for a quick a wild wee or moony.  They’d think it hilarious’ 🤣🤣  

​Amber Butchart was back with a little bit of sewing history in this challenge. I really do love these snippets of historical facts, and this time we learnt that it was Queen Victoria who introduced a formal outfit for the Navy in the mid 19C so they would look like a ‘powerful and patriotic force’ - and so the square sailor collar was born. 

​Then in 1846 Queen Victoria had a miniature sailor’s outfit designed for her young son Bertie, which soon became a fashion staple for children’s wear and is still made today. This is a picture of me in my version back in the late 80s.  It made me feel very swish and sophisticated!!

So with a ‘hello sailor’ it was Man Yee who won this challenge with her pale blue and navy sailor suit with white trim, which according to Esme looked ‘very sailorish’, the whole point of the challenge really!

​Next up was the transformation challenge, or as Sara Pascoe termed it ‘‘it’s back to school but make it cool #sbuniformchallenge #sewcool’.

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​For their transformation this week the contestants were tasked with making outfits from old school uniforms that a child would want to wear outside of school. There were lots of different styles of outfits made although Marnie and Cristian both opted for their take on a hoodie. 

Unfortunately, Marine sewed in her zip upside down leaving her making some hasty alterations and ending up with a zip that had no stoppers at the top, However, Cristian scored a second place with his gilet hoodie which was considered ‘cool’ by Patrick.  Early on in the challenge Gill had said about her make ‘I know that Esme is not going to like these colours’ and unfortunately for her neither Patrick or Esme liked her tracksuit top and bottoms creation. 

Esme questioned if a child would actually want to wear them and Patrick retorted ‘I think there would be an argument’.  Consequently Gill found herself in last place for this challenge.   

Annie created a wrap style dress out of  two gingham dresses using the collars as a peplum and contrasting gingham on the diagonal, which received high praise from the judges. ​

Man Yee created contrasting legs dungarees with the letter A appliqued on the bib, which caused great hilarity when Esme said she thought the A stood for Anarchy, as this garment  was probably the least anarchic garment produced itn the challenge! 

Brogan’s dress unsurprisingly had frills and sparkle, while Debra was criticised for her make still looking like a school uniform. 

It was Angela who triumphed in first place with her red gingham top with gingham trimmed wide legged trousers. Esme said it was ‘really chic’ and  ‘I would definitely wear that’!

And just like that we were on to the made to measure challenge for this week.  It felt somewhat out of sync for the time of year the programme was broadcast, as the contestants were asked to make spooky Halloween outfits incorporating a 3D element.  However the contestants again produced some amazing outfits.  I’ve said this already, but in my view the standard of the sewists this year is one of the best ever.

I loved the way some of the contestants really thought outside of sewing notions when considering how to incorporate the 3D element into their costumes, some were a real feat of engineering.  The judges wanted to really be amazed and spooked by the shapes and the design of the costumes, with Patrick saying ‘I wouldn't be surprised if one of them made an Esme Young costume which prompted the following sewing room fun!  Who do you think wore it best??

There were some ingenious ideas used for making the 3D structure with Marnie choosing to use a water pipe to give the impression of her dark fairy levitating up the catwalk. 

Gill turned to plumbing and baking supplies with a sink plunger and whisk for her brilliant Dalek costume whilst  Brogan used an umbrella for her bat wings, and Cristian picked a hula hoop for his clown’s rotund body.  One thing we learnt this week was that Patrick can’t hula hoop! ​

Annie’s amazing dragon had a 3D head and a hole through its nostrils, fortunately there was no fire breathing as Esme took up the dangerous sport of picking the dragon’s nose during her judging!!

No halloween party would be complete without a spider and this challenge had two, including a banana spider complete with fluffy yellow ringed legs. The costumes all looked fabulously spooky coming down the catwalk this week. 

​But, It was Debra with her simply amazing Miss Havisham outfit that stole the catwalk show.  Patrick described it as  ‘an absolute work of art’.  It was both spooky and stunning, and in my opinion, and that most of us in the Stitch Sewcial chat, it quite rightly won the garment of the week.  

Sadly Marnie’s dark fairy didn’t cast a spell over the judges and she was the 5th contestant to leave the sewing room.  Marnie had demonstrated some amazing sewing skills throughout the series and I was truly sorry to see her go, but again the standard this year is so high that these decisions for the judges are especially difficult this year. 

Don't forget there is a regular round up of Sewing Bee inspired patterns from the fabulous people at the Foldline each week,  and we will be back in the Stitch Sewcial facebook group as usual next week for more chat about all things Sewing Bee. 

Episode 6 next week is another first for the Sewing Bee as it will be music week, with Mod culture, country music and homages to David Bowie all making appearances on the main stage….sorry catwalk!!  

Right,  I’m off now to get ahead of Sara Pascoe and think of some sewing inspired songs….how about Celine Dion with ‘my Heart will Sew on’ …or Abba and ‘Sewing Queen’...or that Beatles classic ‘All you need is Thread’!!  

Can you tell  I’m really looking forward to this one!