The BBC’s Sewing Bee was back last night with the popular ‘children’s week.
The first challenge of the evening wasn’t easy, Making a hoodie. The project entailed lots of tricky features, needing good attention to detail, in particular getting the the hood attached and shaped to sit correctly.
Three different fabrics were required, stretch jersey for the outer material, a lighter stretch for lining and ribbing for cuffs & waistline.
The jersey material is easily stretched whilst being sewn and care must be taken not to lose the shape. The overlocker is essential to prevent the fabric fraying and providing a tidy finish. An overlock is a stitch that sews over the edge of one or two pieces of fabric, ideal for edging, hemming and seaming. Care must also be taken with the ribbing to prevent it gathering.
Janet stormed ahead bringing her experience to the machine, a choice of cute bunny rabbits looked great, with the judges exclaiming ” a cracking little hoodie, 1st place….. perfection”
The transformation challenge had a fun theme, and the potential for some enchanted creativity. A fancy dress outfit for a child, themed on an animal was to be made from a fake fur coat. With 90 minutes to complete the project…no pressure!
I love the idea of up cycling material and have been motivated to get around charity shops, to find some garments & material for some innovative sewing makes.
I had high hopes for Alexei, who had previous experience making a Gruffalo outfit for his nephew. He had a cute photo in the studio which looked fantastic, and I thought it put him in pole position. Alexei’s debut in sewing was interesting, in secret he made a dress for his girlfriend, which she was presented with, totally out of the blue…..boyfriends & husbands take note……on second thoughts…the garden needs weeding!
Ricardo got to work on a dragon, Mercedes didn’t listen to the requested task and made a great outfit, but not what was requested, a good learning experience. Jen came second with my favourite, an exotic bird, I couldn’t help but see the connection with a childhood memory of a fearful bird that many a celebrity came a cropper with…… Rod Hull & Emu !
First place was taken by Ben with his ant outfit, great design, attention to detail and top sewing. A clear winner in the opinion of the judges.
The ‘made to measure’ challenge this week was to produce a dance outfit.
Janet opted for a sailors outfit, which included a gorgeous swish skirt with ric-rac finishing. Alexei produced a fairy outfit, in a great choice of colours and Jen went for a Highland dance outfit with a Scottish theme which looked great with some beautiful piping done to perfection….I thought she had it in the bag…
Leah, who had previously disclosed her lack of experience with children’s themed sewing makes stole the show with a beautiful swan outfit……a worthy winner for the ‘Garment of The Week.
Unfortunately whenever there is a winner, there is usually a loser, and this week we said good bye to Sheila. Shame to see her go…….but that’s The Sewing Bee…….another great show, leaving us looking forward to more next week.
