Welcome back to
The Great British Sewing Bee.
This week, the search
for Britain's best home sewer
gets tougher. There's a place
in the semi-final at stake,
so the judges
aren't going to make it easy.
Last time, our contest started
simple - an A-line skirt,
a neckline alteration,
and a made-to-measure dress.
I've gone in the wrong way!
I'm coming out, I'm coming out.
An 81-year-old grandmother
of seven...
I totally underestimated the length
of time that this was going to take.
..and an HGV mechanic from Derby...
This is the third zip
I've ever done in my life.
..were contenders
for Garment of the Week.
I think you've pulled off
a bit of a coup here.
Savile Row's Patrick Grant
and sewing teacher May Martin...
We chose...this one.
..declared Mark the week's winner...
Never judge a book by its cover.
..and sent Michelle home.
This week, life in the sewing room
is about to get a bit harder.
This is adventurous, Stuart.
It is, it is. God loves a tryer.
The home sewers must make a pair
of trousers in just four hours...
Geronimo.
Have I done it wrong already, then?
..customise a High Street skirt
in 60 minutes...
Oh, that's a lovely pocket.
..and tailor
a perfectly fitting silky blouse.
Lauren's got hers on the model?
I'm not looking.
But who will produce
the best garment this week?
The pressure's on, and some of these
blouses are not together yet.
And which two sewers
will struggle to keep their place?
It's all gone a bit Pete Tong.
This could be it for me.
I think you could have been
more ambitious.
And I think we'll leave it at that.
Thank you.
Two days of precision sewing
lie ahead.
The machines are ready
and the shears have been sharpened.
Let battle commence.
The six remaining sewers
return to East London
for another two days
of intense sewing.
Ah... Interesting.
They have no idea what today's
two challenges will involve.
All they know is they'll have to
make three items of clothing
over the next 48 hours, at the end
of which, two of them will be
leaving the Sewing Bee.
OK, welcome back, please come
and join us at the cutting table.
Huge congratulations
for getting to round two.
It's time for the first challenge,
and the judges
would like you to make
a pair of men's trousers.
Men's trousers...
Tilly's shaking her head,
I feel bad about that.
You have four hours, good luck.
I will bring you muffins.
Off you go.
Totally lying about the muffins.
In this first challenge,
May and Patrick
will test the sewers' ability
to follow a pattern.
Today, it's for a pair of
men's trousers,
which have a waistband,
slim legs that taper
towards
the ankle,
and a zip fly,
a tricky fastening to master.
As long as they follow the pattern,
the sewers are free to make their
trousers from any fabric they fancy
from the sewing room's haberdashery.
I'm trying to avoid anything
with stripes or big checks
that I'll have to match up,
and I've chosen... I think this is
a gabardine or a twill, it's quite
heavy, it's not going to fray.
It's probably one of the better
ones to go for,
so I'm wasting time,
I'm just going to go for it.
Ooh, I need thread, though.
Can I just ask you, Mr Tailor,
and the person
who is king of trousers,
if you don't mind me saying,
what kind of fabric should they
be going for? A heavy wool?
Well, even good trouser makers
might have to do the odd bit of
unpicking and re-stitching, so a
decent, substantial weight of cloth
will allow them to work it two
or three times without any problem.
They need something firm enough
to handle,
so that they're not dealing with
fabric slipping and sliding around.
How many pieces of fabric
is in that trouser?
This bit, four.
One, two, three, four.
Yep. You know, they want to hang...
You know, that seam needs to go
down the outside, and if they don't
line the pattern up at the knee
before they start sewing, there's
a danger that they'll twist around.
Can I make red trousers
for a man?
They're going to be red wool.
Men can wear red trousers
these days, I think, can't they?
Now, what I want to see is
what they've done with the lining.
When Ann goes clothes shopping with
her eldest daughter, Sally,
she rarely buys anything.
Mum will quite often take herself
off somewhere quite nice
so that she can have a little snoop
at the way that
the professionals put their clothes
together.
She sewed for all of us
when we were little, but she still
makes stuff for me now.
She made a dress and jacket for me
for a friend's wedding.
Never says no,
nothing's too much trouble.
I've got sons. When they were
children, I must have made
trousers for them, but, I mean,
they wouldn't have been like this.
I would imagine they had elastic
waists, then they went into jeans.
Can you imagine a boy in a pair
of jeans that his mum made?
"No, thank you."
SHE LAUGHS
I'm hearing that, Ann!
Just imagine the horror!
Yeah. They'd leave home,
wouldn't they?
I've never made a pair of
men's trousers before,
so I'm really
out of my comfort zone.
I'm happy with this fabric
I've chosen. I don't think it'll
crease too badly,
it should be nice to work with.
My mum is a proper fabric hoarder.
She's got two ottomans full.
She's got some... Under the stairs.
Yeah, under the stairs,
she's got it in the loft...
Allotment-lover Sandra
is from Wolverhampton. Her husband,
Antony, is the only family member
she's never made clothes for.
Mum made everything
when we was younger, didn't she?
Yeah. Everything that we can
remember was handmade.
Seeing what Mum can do, it does make
you think, "I could do that."
I'd like to think one day,
we'd be able to do for our kids
how she's done it for us.
I've picked a fabric
with a stripe in,
and if the grain isn't right,
the stripe will go off the leg
so it'll look as if
you're walking a bit wonky.
With their fabric chosen, the sewers
can move on to cutting out
their pattern pieces.
I'm actually pleased that
it's a pair of trousers,
at the moment,
cos I've always wanted to make
a pair of trousers,
and I've always been
terrified of doing it.
Obviously, the number of garments
that a man can make
to wear himself
are more limited.
Who would I make trousers for?
Gosh, only myself. Other men
that I know certainly have
much higher standards
in what they wear than I do,
so I wouldn't dream of making them
for anyone else... Not yet.
So I'm nearly ready to put
the buttons on your shirt.
Oh, great. How's it looking? Good.
Stuart's a fitness instructor,
and lives in North Yorkshire
with his partner, Charles.
'When Stuart's sewing, he does have'
a habit of switching off
from everything else
that's going on around.
He can go a whole day
without eating.
Stuart is generally a very tidy
person. However, we can end up with
piles of fabric in virtually
every room of the house.
HE LAUGHS
I mean, really,
what an amazing opportunity -
to have a Savile Row tailor
look at trousers that I've made
and tell me
where I can make improvements.
I mean, no doubt,
that will be everywhere.
Three hours left
to make a pair of trousers.
I'm just figuring out
where all of these pieces go,
but I just need to make sure
I've got enough room.
Men's tailored trousers
are complicated.
There are two pieces of fabric
for the front, and two at the back.
And traditionally,
the waistband is split -
it has a join in the centre
of the back.
This is to allow the waistband
to be altered
to accommodate
an expanding or shrinking waistline.
But not all our sewers
are familiar with it.
I don't want a join in my...
But men's trousers have a join
in the waistband, don't they,
at the back? Do they?
Lift your waistcoat and shirt up...
Let's undress you, come on. Stop it!
No. No join. Where's this one?
Excuse me a moment.
No, he hasn't.
Has anybody got a proper
pair of trousers on?
What do you mean?
These are proper trousers!
We don't want... We need Patrick.
Where is Patrick? Get him.
Patrick, can I borrow you a moment?
Can I undress you?
Undo your jacket.
Is this unfair?
Are you getting an unfair advantage?
We've got a seam at the back.
Great.
Thank you very much, Patrick.
You've got a seam up the back? Yeah.
I've just had a look at Patrick's...
Patrick's bum. ..waistband.
I've just checked
Patrick's waistband,
and it's definitely got
a seam in the back.
A lot of jeans are waistbands
all in one,
but with tailored trousers,
they're definitely separate.
It was just an excuse
to look at his bum!
With the waistband and the front
and back sections cut out,
construction can begin...
It's going all right, I think.
Well, I haven't started sewing yet.
I can cut something out...no problem!
..starting with the zip fly.
I've never put in a zip this way,
so I'm really just trying to...
figure out what it says.
Fundamental to the challenge today
is constructing a fly
on the front of the trousers.
The fly has one job to do,
and that is to conceal the zip.
This is the fly. Underneath there,
you'll see the zip.
Sounds straightforward,
but plenty of scope for going wrong.
If you're making trousers all
the time, you don't think about it.
But if you sit and think about it,
the more you think about it, the more
boggled you will become. Yeah.
Concealing a zip with a fly
requires skill and patience.
(What...?)
On both front leg panels,
there are two curves that stick out.
These will create the fly cover.
They're temporarily tacked together
along the centre line
and opened out to create
mirrored flaps.
The zip is sewn into the right flap,
along its right side.
It's then moved onto the left side,
as far as it will go,
and stitched into place.
The right flap is trimmed down.
When the tacking is removed
from the centre line,
the fly cover is revealed.
I've never made
full trousers before.
I've always made
18th-century breeches.
The breeches I make
have always got buttons on them,
cos they didn't have zips
until 1900 and something.
You try and make them as more
periodically correct as you can.
My friends think it's weird
because my dad reckons
he wants to be a pirate.
So when he dresses up as a pirate,
that's not normal.
HGV mechanic Mark makes
historical costumes for his family.
Entering the Sewing Bee
was his wife Donna's idea.
People don't believe that he's made
the costumes that he's wearing,
and they all do a double-take,
like, "No, you've not made that!"
And I have to tell everybody,
"Yeah, he's done that himself."
This is only the fifth zip
that Mark has ever inserted -
and two of them were last week.
I've got the zip in,
it's just all the other bits.
I'm trying to work out
from the pattern
how it actually all goes together.
And he's not the only one
struggling.
Oh, man!
I've not made trousers before.
The two things about Lauren
when she sews is,
one, she drops pins everywhere,
so I have this kind of paranoia
that I'm going to step on a pin,
and the second is that she becomes
very focused on her task.
Lauren and Ayaz
spend their spare time
doing up their property
in Birmingham,
and she's already made something
for every room in the house.
She creates cushions,
curtains... Our whole house
has been totally furnished by her.
We've not had to go and buy
anything, and if we were to buy
something like that,
it would cost us a fortune.
So I'm very, very happy with that.
How's it going? I've been getting in
a bit of a pickle,
not knowing what way
to put things on.
I've never done a zip this way
before, at all.
With a man, it's the left
over the right, isn't it?
We're right over left.
So have I done it wrong already,
then? Can't give you too much help.
But Lauren thinks
she might be able to help herself.
Sorry, this isn't going to look
very glamorous.
It is the opposite to my zip.
So, I'm thinking
that's a good thing.
I think the instructions show you
the opposite way.
There's just two-and-a-half hours
remaining on the first challenge.
Creating a pair of men's trousers
for the first time
is a complex challenge -
but unbelievably, the pattern
they're based on hasn't changed
for over 200 years.
And they were inspired by one man
who wanted to put
the masculinity into menswear.
In the late-18th century,
the French Revolution
had struck fear through
the British aristocracy,
who wanted to distance themselves
from the flamboyant fashions
made popular by Louis XVI.
The stage was set for one man to
change the face of fashion forever.
That one man was him, Beau Brummell.
George "Beau" Brummell was born
in Downing Street in 1778.
The son of
the Prime Minister's secretary,
he moved in aristocratic circles
and quickly became
renowned for his razor-sharp wit
and unique way of dressing.
How were people dressing
before Beau?
The 18th century, you think,
is full of, sort of,
rather effeminate dressing -
fops, brocades, laces,
wigs, you know,
but Beau believed in
a very masculine style of dress.
Beau stood out from the crowd,
sporting a style that was
relatively streamlined,
understated, and smart.
And it was whilst at school
at Eton that he won
his most influential of admirers,
the Prince of Wales.
Prinny was mesmerised, I think,
by Beau Brummell.
He was an advocate of the style,
therefore, if you like,
it began to spread.
Beau became the Prince's oracle on
all matters of style and etiquette.
After four years in the army,
he came into his family fortune,
so left to lead
a notoriously decadent lifestyle
on London's social scene,
with his clique,
known as the Dandies.
Cos in my head, the Dandies
were full of much more pomp
and colour, if you like,
but I've got that wrong.
No, they're not effeminate,
they're not the fops.
They were much more
sort of Apollos.
Masculine. Can I use that word?
Masculine. Macho. Love it!
Rosemary, I didn't know
you had it in you!
Beau's idea for
sleek, masculine outfits
required his Savile Row tailor,
Jonathan Meyer,
to follow a radically new brief
that led to bespoke tailoring
as we know it today.
It's so close fitting, it's really
taken straight from the military.
Military collar, great coat,
lapels, military cuffs.
Sort of buttons to take the place of
the rank that would be on there.
Tell me, as a tailor yourself,
how would Meyer and Brummell
have worked together?
Jonathan Meyer must have been
a very clever cutter.
He could put Beau Brummell's mind,
what he was thinking of,
into practice.
Perfect partnership.
Perfect partnership.
Beau's life of excess
eventually led to his downfall.
He died penniless
in a French lunatic asylum.
But he'd already left an indelible
mark on the way we dress.
Beau Brummell created
a totally new look.
Together with Jonathan Meyer,
they redefined the art of tailoring.
Well done, Beau. "Thank you!"
OK, everybody, you're halfway
through. You have two hours left.
Thank you very much.
Ay, caramba!
Once the sewers
have fitted their zip fly...
..they need to stitch darts
into the front and back panels,
so the top of the trousers
can fit into the waistband.
The last thing you want on
the darts at the back
and the darts at the front
are little kind of n*pples
in the fabric poking up.
It's really important that
the darts are pressed really well
and thoroughly as you go along.
Cos once you've made it,
you can't get back in.
I'm just doing a press as I go along,
cos I think you get
a better finished touch.
See - you can't see no pucker there.
With all the darts pressed down,
the two back pieces
can now be stitched
to the front of the trousers,
along the outside seam.
Love it. Take that to Savile Row! Eh?
They're great, aren't they?
Look at that. Palazzo pants.
Chicken Caesar salad, sitting in
the sunshine, wearing those.
Who wouldn't love that?
Walking through Kensal Rise,
looking for a sandwich.
Chic. Fly open...
Have you got my trophy?
Bring it on.
Before stitching up the inside leg,
the sewer should press
the trousers to give them shape,
using a rounded tailor's ham.
On Savile Row, we're shaping the
cloth - we're shaping it with steam,
we're shaping it with
the iron itself -
and those irons,
they're incredibly heavy.
And imagine spending hours every day
working cloth. That's why
most tailors were men - cos it was
physically such demanding work.
My great-grandfather was a tailor
in Hackney, where we are now.
So...it's in the blood somewhere.
Tilly attends a weekly sewing circle
at her local pub...
Come up in the middle of the stitch
you've made...
..and also finds time
to create her unique wardrobe.
After going home from a day's work,
she comes in the next day
and she's made her own dress.
So she just makes me feel
really lazy, because I go home
and watch the telly
and she'll come in the next day
with the most amazing blouse
or something she's just knocked up.
I was never taught to sew.
I only learnt how to use a sewing
machine two-and-a-half years ago,
so nothing's been passed down,
but I'm just hoping that something
is flowing around in my veins.
Once the trousers have been pressed
into shape, the sewers
finally tackle the back seam, which
runs from the seat to the crotch.
Yeah, I'm about to
stitch the crotch together
and I have to put
one leg inside the other,
but I can't figure out
what way it goes now.
Because it needs to be the...
Oh, God.
Right, wait a minute. Start again.
That needs to go like that...
..with one... Right, right, right.
I think that's right.
The crotch should just be like
one continuous big line
right from the waistband all the way
right through up to the front
where it meets the zip,
and I'm just glad we're not fitting
it to a real person, to be honest.
Cos I wouldn't know how to
adjust it if I needed to
and...it's quite a personal area.
OK, everyone,
you have half an hour left.
Half an hour left on this challenge.
An hour-and-a-half, did you say?
Half an hour!
I'm hand-sewing the waistband
at the moment, it's just less likely
that you'll see it, so it can give
an overall neater finish.
How is it?
Well, we're getting there,
just getting the waistband done.
When you turn this...
Oh, look at you!
Oh, now, that's a delight.
There, you see!
I'm not being funny, Ann,
that is a perfect finish.
I haven't finished, but I want to
get them nice and neatly pressed.
Right, Geronimo.
I thought I'd picked a good fabric,
but it won't hold the creases.
I can't get that crease out of
the bum.
I'm not proud of these ones.
Lauren? Uh-huh.
Is that flap on your trousers
the right way?
I don't know.
Absolutely hideous.
Lauren, will you hold my body?
Have you got time?
OK, that's it, challenge finished.
Lauren... I don't know where
you're going, Sandra, young lady.
Off for a dance with Stuart?!
Please get your mannequins,
because it is time to be judged.
# I walked down the street
like a good girl should
# He followed me down the street
like I knew he would
# Because a guy is a guy... #
Ann, come forward.
The fly is doing
what a fly should do,
which is concealing the zip.
The darts are well pressed out.
The side seams are hanging
beautifully vertically.
We've got a seam line in the centre
of the back of the waistband.
This seam line is matching perfectly
with the seam line on the crotch.
They're hanging straight,
there's no twists in them.
The band's not quite deep enough.
Not a fly fastening, this is just
an ordinary zip insertion.
The fly should cover the zip.
That's what it's there to do.
Presumably, your fly's
somewhere on the inside,
where it's doing nothing
but keeping you warm.
There's a bit of fullness down here,
if you can see,
and it's not hanging quite as well.
I think it's the softness
of the fabric.
One side of the trouser leg
is just slightly buckled,
and that's because
the fabric has moved.
The first thing that strikes me,
again, is the fly fastening,
we should not be able
to see the zip at all.
You haven't had time
to press the waistband,
you haven't had time to press
the crease into the trousers.
Generally speaking,
looking from front and back,
you've got a decent
pair of trousers there.
But you're not secured
somehow on the inside
so the whole thing's trying
to pull apart,
and you've got a hole in the bottom
of your zip, a bit of ventilation.
LAUGHTER
You've got the fly
the wrong way round.
But it's opposite to me,
and I've got female trousers on.
Well, your female trousers
are the wrong way round, then...
But you have constructed
the fly correctly.
You've done a really good job,
and this row of top stitching
on the top of the fly fastening
is really good.
Patrick and May now rank
the sewers in reverse order.
Mark's is not a classic
fly fastening
so, for that reason,
Mark is in sixth position.
Stuart's in fifth position.
Sandra takes fourth position,
and Tilly third.
Lauren - second. Rats! Nearly.
It was very, very close
between the two of you.
You've both put
your fly in correctly
and you're the wrong way round.
Ann, congratulations.
Yay! Almost faultless.
That, to me, looks a little bit
small for a gentleman's waistband,
but everything else you did
extremely well,
so well done. Thank you.
# I can be happy, I can be sad
# I can be good, or I can be bad... #
Coming first
is absolutely brilliant,
I had no idea I was going to,
I wasn't watching anybody else.
It's a real morale boost,
I must admit.
I'm so annoyed with myself
for putting that fly on
the wrong way.
Definitely pipped to the post again.
Those zip flies are
incredibly difficult to do,
but now it's onto challenge two.
They've got to transform a
High Street buy in just 60 minutes,
and Patrick and May want pockets.
The judges have given you
each this skirt,
what they would like you to do
is put on two patch pockets.
You can do any shape you like,
you can use any fabric you like.
You have one hour,
and your time starts now.
This A-line mini skirt is made from
a medium-weight wool,
an ideal fabric to support
patch pockets.
I just want some trim for a pocket
to go with the material that
I've chosen downstairs.
I don't know what I'm going to do
with it yet, but we've got the trim.
What is a patch pocket?
It's a pocket that looks like
a patch. These are patch pockets.
Are they?! Mm-hm. Ooh!
You didn't know what you had there.
No. No.
I've never made a patch pocket
before, so I'm not sure whether
it's supposed to be lined, or how
the bottom sits, or anything.
But I'm just going to give it a go.
Tilly's hoping to make simple
semi-circular polka-dot pockets,
finished with white edging.
Still haven't worked out
how to actually put it together.
I'm going to make a pattern
for the pocket first.
Lauren's aiming to make pockets
with more room
by gathering her floral fabric.
I'm just going to decide
roughly what size I want them.
Need to get my hand in, don't want
them to be too big either,
cos the skirt's not a huge skirt,
so I don't want the skirt to just
turn into a big pocket.
Stuart has a completely
different approach.
I'm going to do two red tulips,
so it's going to have...
a rickrack stem going up,
semi-circular red patch pocket,
and then leaves, either side,
stitched on. So now I need to find
something circular.
That'll do.
If I was at home,
I'd probably use
something like a saucer,
or a tea plate.
That looks a bit rude, doesn't it?
Ooh, cheeky!
45 minutes to go.
I don't enjoy working against the
clock because I like time to think.
Ann is making two basic square
pockets from a light woollen fabric,
but she's adding a slight twist.
I'm going to use check fabric
on the diagonal.
Cutting on the diagonal will give
the pocket more impact,
but adds a risk of the fabric
stretching out of shape.
I'd rather do something simple
and do it well
than something complicated
and fall flat on my face.
I'm cutting out four, because...
I think we're supposed to line
the inside, I'm not sure.
Lining with additional material
takes time, but the extra weight
can help patch pockets hold
their shape and improve the finish.
This fabric is really quite flimsy,
it would have no body as a pocket.
Fine, so you're going to
give it backing?
Yes, just give it a bit of body.
What kind of shape
will they be, these squares?
We would like that,
but you know me and time.
I hear you.
It's a bit of a nightmare.
Lauren has set herself
an ambitious task.
That's one.
She's planning to line
AND gather her pockets.
Once I actually
sew something together,
then I think I'll feel
a little bit happier.
Each of Lauren's pockets
have two sections -
the base, and the band.
The base is gathered to fit
the width of the band
which will give
the pockets more room
and, at the same time,
give a distinctive look.
What you're doing is quite tricky,
With a gather like that,
you want a nice even gather,
cos if it's not,
it's not going to look great.
I love the fabric choice
because it's got the grey in it.
I think it's going to go
really well.
If in doubt, flower it out.
Is this getting predictable?
Well, I wouldn't want to say.
OK, you're halfway,
you have half an hour left.
Anybody got any black binding?
Sandra and Tilly are using binding
to conceal their raw edges.
Don't know how it's supposed to go
round the edges
to get the sides hidden.
OK, that's how I'm going to do it.
Stuart is doing
everything differently.
This is adventurous, Stuart.
It is, it is.
He's embracing his raw edges.
What I might do,
to show a different technique,
is do a free-motion raw edge round
that, so not turned raw edge...
Yeah, just experiment.
It'll look more organic anyway.
Exactly, it's supposed to be
a bit of fun. Cool, brilliant.
Stuart is going to machine
around the edge of the leaf,
and then he's just going to
cut it back
so that it can just fray
around his rough machining.
God loves a trier!
20 minutes to go.
Got to stitch the pockets on.
Mark is attaching his skull print
pockets at an angle.
What I'm trying to do is keep
the top stitch down a line.
Like everyone else, he's fixing them
into place with top stitching,
so called because it's always
visible on the top of the fabric,
so it should be neat and even
along the edge of the pocket.
You have to find yourself
a make-believe line
and try and keep it the same all
the way down, so it looks parallel.
This fabric,
I was thinking of my daughter,
she's 13 and that's what she likes.
She does like the weird things.
You have 15 minutes left.
I've really got to get a move on
because I haven't even
started stitching my pockets
onto my skirt yet,
and I've lost my pins,
I've lost everything.
I've no idea whether I can get
these on in 15 minutes.
I suspect not.
I wanted some black binding,
I want to show them nice things.
Oh, God!
Not good. I've accidentally caught
the bottom of the skirt
in the pocket
while I was stitching it
and had to unpick it.
This is going to look like
a total mess.
If I can just get this top stitching
done, I'll be fine.
If I don't get the top stitching
done, I've had it.
I've just started stitching
the pockets and I'm trying to
really carefully top stitch a curve,
which is quite tricky.
Pull all the pins out.
Throw them anywhere.
Oh, God. I've got a hole in it.
I can't have a hole in the bottom.
God!
I've just to pull the threads
through the back now.
This is the kind of thing that
you're supposed to do
on a relaxing Sunday afternoon.
It's not the kind of thing you're
supposed to do under a time pressure,
hot lights, knowing that someone's
going to pick it to pieces.
They're on, they're on, they're on.
They look rubbish, but they're on.
OK, your time's up.
Please put your mannequins at the
end of your sewing tables, please.
May and Patrick will closely inspect
the pockets on each skirt.
I really like what you've done here.
You've stiffened it inside,
which it needed,
because it's a flimsy fabric,
but you've done it well.
I love the top stitching round here,
this surface stitching here. You've
been more adventurous than some
and I think you've done a pretty
good job of making it functioning.
Danger was - because they were cut
on the cross, as a result,
the corners have drooped down
a little bit out of shape.
Therefore,
they've lost their sharpness.
Yes. I think you could have been
more ambitious.
It's competent,
and I think we'll leave it at that.
Thank you.
It's not your best work -
your top stitching
isn't as straight as
you usually do it.
I really rushed,
I really, really rushed.
But you took on a lot of work
in that hour.
What you've done,
you've actually done brilliantly.
Do they work? Have a go.
Oh, that's a lovely pocket.
Look at all the room in there.
Those pleats don't just add
decorative effect,
they're giving you
more space in there.
The simplest design in the room,
well ex*cuted, the pockets work.
I would have liked to have seen
the binding all the way round,
cos you've left a raw edge
on the end there. Yeah, I know.
I think given that
it's quite simple,
it should have been
really immaculately done.
Stuart, love it.
Brilliant. I just think
you've transformed this garment,
and I love it,
it's just kind of quirky and fun.
You've got your braiding you've sewn
absolutely dead down the middle.
You've applied your shapes
onto the background,
and I love the fact that
you've rough cut them,
and that's really effective.
Thank you very much.
Well done. Thank you.
Everyone, thank you so much
for today, two big challenges.
Go home, get some rest. Tomorrow,
there's an even bigger one.
Patrick said he loved
what I did with the skirt,
I'm absolutely
over the moon with that.
When Claudia said "pockets", my mind
went absolutely totally blank,
and the result, as Patrick said,
was disappointing.
I really don't know whether
I've got any chance of staying in
after tomorrow.
I think if it was just on today,
I think I would scrape through.
One more challenge,
at the end of which, two people
will leave the Sewing Bee.
OK, who is in trouble?
I would say that Mark's in trouble,
and I would say that
Stuart's in trouble.
But you loved Stuart's skirt.
Personally, I loved Stuart's skirt,
but his trousers were
pretty much unwearable.
He'll need to do a lot today
to demonstrate that
he deserves to remain in
the Sewing Bee.
Also, some of the front-runners
could have a bad time.
I'm expecting Ann's usual approach -
methodically working through
a pattern.
Lauren, however, panics.
She's an un-picker,
and I think today's challenge
will not favour that approach.
I think you need to be accurate
first time.
In the final challenge,
the sewers will create
an item of clothing to fit
a real person perfectly.
How are you?
How are you doing?
Good to see you again.
Welcome back to the sewing room.
Today, the judges would like you
to perform just one task.
They want you to make a blouse.
You have six hours,
at the end of which,
two of you will be asked to leave.
So, good luck. Your time starts now.
This is the one challenge in which
the sewers know what to expect,
so they've had time
to practise at home. They've just
got to make it fit.
They can really show off
their personal style
by making any blouse they want,
from any fabric they like.
So long as it's
a delicate silk or satin.
Why is silk so much harder?
Because it bruises? If you do
a row of stitching on silk
and then you unpick it,
you get drag marks
and you get holes in the seam.
You've got to handle it
really, really well.
It moves around, silk is slipping
around all over the place,
it takes really good
material-handling skills.
If you're going to be crowned
the best amateur sewer in Britain,
you've got to be able to use
all the fabrics
that you would ordinarily
be called to use. The fabric,
rather than the pattern,
is the challenge today.
Ann is making a short-sleeve blouse
in fine cerise silk,
which is fastened
with buttons at the front.
I've made quite a few blouses,
I haven't made this particular
one before
because I never ever make
the same thing twice.
I find it really boring.
It didn't occur to me
that I might make something
that I've made before.
It's an 18th-century shirt,
that's all.
Mark's chosen a blouse he's made
for himself
many times before,
so he has a male model.
The end results are somewhat
Pirate Of The Caribbean-y.
Mark scoured history books
to find the pattern for
an authentic 18th-century chemise.
When you think about making clothes,
it's nice to research
what you're making,
rather than just
throwing something up
and you think,
well, it looks about right.
But you need to try and find out,
you know, even the size of buttons,
what sort of buttons,
and what you can use.
The blouse I've chosen
has got a ruffle frill.
Well, I've had to choose
a fabric that will look
as nice on the inside
as it does on the outside.
Sandra's being daring, by using
an even more delicate fabric.
It's a long time since
I've used a lot of frills.
A lightweight chiffon,
which is a sheer silk.
My teenage years,
and when I started courting,
that was my big thing...
of making clothes,
because you don't want to go to
a club where you could walk in
and three people could have
the same dress on.
All the rara skirts were in then.
I didn't quite do the hot pants!
Sandra's frilly chiffon blouse
is fluted at the waist
and has gathered
three-quarter-length sleeves.
How's it going? All right.
Are those your puffins?
You carry on doing your thing.
They are so cute!
Have you shown them this pattern?
Did they approve of it?
They said it was a bit mumsy.
OK, well, you're a mum. I know.
Ooh, 'ello! Ring-a-ding-ding!
That, with a c*ck.
"Mr Brad Pitt, would you like
an extra pretzel?"
"Yes, I would. Yes, I would."
Are you on time?
No, am I ever?
I feel like I've got off to
a bit of a slow start.
The patterns are pinned,
time to start cutting.
I'm going for
a very feminine blouse.
Cutting out
is one of the hardest bits,
because the fabric moves
all the time
and it is really difficult to get it
to stay in the right place.
Lauren's fine silk blouse has
a peplum that falls from the waist.
The peplum is, like,
kind of mini skirt thing,
it will start at the waist band
and go down.
It's got some pleats in it. That's
what I'm making at the moment,
these little folds.
I've listened very carefully
to the comments from the judges
and it strikes me that what they want
is excellent construction.
And actually, the whistles and bells
don't matter
if the construction isn't just so.
Stuart's raw silk
Chinese-style blouse
has a diagonal front opening,
a mandarin collar
and bell-shaped sleeves.
You're making us a kind of Maoist...
Yeah, it's a sort of adaptation
of a cheongsam.
OK, but we're going to want these
bottom edges hanging straight.
I think the trickiest part
of fitting your blouse here
is getting it right so that
these bottom edges are continuous.
If you don't get that right, it's
going to look a little bit wonky.
Confident?
Yeah, I've designed
this pattern myself,
I design quite a few of
my own patterns.
I love doing that, so you're not
constricted by what
someone else has come up with.
Tilly has designed and drafted
her own pattern, which is for
a boat-necked blouse
and puffed sleeves.
Ooh, this feels a little bit tight.
Oh, no.
I just messed the whole thing up.
Because Tilly is not using
a commercial pattern which gives
different size options,
she has to rework every single part,
so that the blouse
will fit her model.
So I'm pinning it on
and I'm having to make some changes.
So, for example, originally,
the dart was here,
but because it wouldn't
point to the apex of her bust,
I'm moving the dart
so it fits her a lot better.
Or, at least, that's the theory!
Oh, God. This is going to
put me way back,
so I'm probably not going to finish.
Three hours remaining
to make a blouse.
In the last
made-to-measure challenge,
Lauren made her model a dress
that was too tight.
Last week, you had a couple of
issues, fitting round the waist.
I know, well, I re-measured the
model again today to double-check
my measurements,
and then I've gone on
the slightly bigger side of things.
It's hard, because I've never fitted
anything to anyone
other than myself,
so it's difficult.
OK, well, good luck. Thank you.
You're all over the place, darling,
how's it going?
Slowly. Unfortunately, I've had to
redraft every single piece.
Because the arm hole was
too tight on the model,
the apex of the bust on my original
dart was up here.
So I had to move it right down,
which then meant
I had to change everything else.
So it's stressful
but, you know, I'm getting there.
So are you all cut out?
Yeah, that was my last piece, yeah.
I'm going to let you get on
and concentrate. And start sewing!
A bit concerned about Tilly,
she's way behind.
She's had to redraft
her pattern completely.
Is it a complicated blouse
that she's cutting?
No, I don't think it is,
but perhaps she didn't realise
about the shape of the model.
Tilly has the same model
she had last week,
so she knew what to expect, and
it's the same for everybody else.
I think Lauren is worried
a little bit about the fit
round the middle.
If she's made it too big
on too many seams,
then it will not fit properly
because she will destroy
the shape of the blouse.
So I'm hoping that
she's just enlarged the side seams
and put some extra fabric on those.
It's too big for you.
Uh-huh.
I'm not laughing at you.
I'm just sympathising. The situation.
It's got one middle panel here
and it's got two seams here,
and these seams should sit there.
So if I do that...
..they sit in the right place.
Which means it's that much too big.
Right, pins, pins.
Two hours to go on
the final challenge.
Each week, on
the Great British Sewing Bee,
we're going to give you
a how-to guide.
How to make something simple
for the home.
This week - cushions.
Start by cutting out
four long rectangles,
two for the outer cover
and two for the contrasting lining.
Fold the lining in half
and stitch along each side.
Then make the ties by cutting
four strips of cover fabric
and four strips of the lining.
Snip off at the corner.
Stitch along the sides,
but leave the end open,
so you can push your ties
the right way out.
Give everything a good press with
steam. Next, assemble your cushion.
Place the ties about a third of the
way along the cover on each side.
Put the lining on top,
then stitch through
all layers around three sides.
Give it another good press
inside and out.
Next, stuff it with your
cushion pad,
and you have a gorgeous
tie-sided cushion.
The sewers have
an hour-and-a-half left
and most are ready to add the
collars and sleeves to the blouses.
A mandarin collar is fairly
sort of straightforward.
It's a stand-up collar,
with a gap in the middle,
that looks nice and smart.
I'm using a chopstick
to turn the points through,
which seems rather appropriate,
as it's a Chinese-style cheongsam.
Yeah, just using the point.
Sometimes, I use scissors,
but they do have a tendency to just
go straight through the fabric.
Sandra is finishing the edges
of her frilly collar
with a notoriously tricky
rolled hem.
A traditional finish for silk.
I think we've all upped our game
because we've all loved it so much,
and we all just
want to come back next week.
May, talk to me about a rolled hem.
Rolled hems are really fine,
fine hems.
Can you see this? Just a tiny...
And the fabric is turned under twice
to make the tiniest hem finish.
And how exquisite is that?!
It is quite difficult to make
a lovely parallel rolled hem
round the edge of something.
I don't do a lot of rolled hemming,
I've done it as neatly as I can.
The fact we've got to lose two,
that's what frightens me,
because two could very easily be me.
Stuart's going for a more
straightforward top stitched hem.
I think everybody knows that
I'm the real novice
when it comes to dressmaking.
I'm kind of hanging on
by the skin of my teeth.
This could be it, couldn't it?
It's all gone a bit Pete Tong.
Sewed the wrong side and it just
looks a mess on the back.
Mark should have stitched his collar
onto the inside of the blouse
and then turned it out.
But he stitched his collar onto
the outside,
leaving the inside seams
of the collar on show.
I'd like to unpick it.
If I was at home, I'd unpick it
and do it all again.
Or make another collar.
But you just haven't got the time.
I'll hide it, you won't see it.
Everyone, you have 30 minutes left,
that's 30 minutes.
At the moment, I'm still trying to
set the sleeve in,
and I'm trying to spend as much
time as I can pinning it in place
so that it doesn't move as much.
Don't you find, in all the
challenges this is what happens?
They race in at it
and then just before everything's
about to come together, quite
a few of them start to unravel.
You can hear a pin drop in here.
Everyone's suddenly
incredibly tense. I think that's
also cos two people are going home.
Absolutely.
I mean, the pressure's on
and some of these blouses are not
together yet. They're absolutely...
What's interesting is,
you watch them
and they've started
looking at each other,
going, "I'm behind, I'm behind!
They've got to somehow keep
their eyes down and just get on
with it. We're near the end,
a lot to do in the room.
I've just got to get my sleeves
done really quickly.
I haven't finished them.
I haven't done the hem.
I'll try to do the cuffs.
I didn't cut them out earlier
because, by the time I'd done
all the fitting, I thought
I just would never have time.
But I'm going to give it a go,
these are a bit shoddy.
OK, sewers,
you have ten minutes left,
that's ten minutes
to complete this challenge.
Doesn't fit her,
I can't get it to sit right
cos the fabric moves all the time
because it's a silk. I just wish
I knew how to work it better.
Today has just been
a catalogue of disasters.
Feeling a bit panicky now.
OK, let's put it on.
Don't tell me you're sitting
down, Stuart, with a cup of tea,
cos I don't want to know.
Right, let's go.
Lauren's got hers on the model!
I'm not looking.
OK, I have one cuff on
and one cuff off.
I'm really sorry, but there are pins
in there. Don't worry about that.
You have five seconds.
Five, four, three, two, one.
That's it.
Step away from your model.
Sandra, don't make me hurt you!
'I'm a bit disappointed.'
That silk was just
so hard to work with.
'I didn't finish. My sleeves look
'totally different from each other,
'but it could have been a lot worse,'
so I'm really relieved
that I actually have a blouse,
and it sort of looks nice,
if you ignore the other sleeve!
'I'm absolutely shattered.'
I want to go home!
'I think she looks beautiful in it,
'but I think that's because she's
beautiful, rather than the blouse.'
This could be it for me.
This could be it.
I mean, the first thing to note is
fit-wise, we've got
a bit of fullness in the front here
that we could probably
have done without.
I think these seams
are very, very even.
Looking down the bottom,
those are very even too,
and I think the material
is not straightforward to use,
and you've managed that well,
as well.
I have got a bit of an issue here.
Yes, I had an issue as well,
but I tried to hide it from you.
I have noticed!
You've got lots of pleats
and all sorts of stuff going on
round the back neck.
I think it's got impact, but it's
just lacking that kind of finesse
that we really would like to have
seen on a fine garment like this.
If he came rushing towards you
with a sword,
would you take
any notice of his shirt?
I'd be on the first bus home,
if that came running towards me!
I'm not sure about
the fit on the model.
I'm not sure about
the way it sits on her.
I'm looking at it and I'm thinking,
it's not stunning.
Doesn't take my breath away. No.
There's an even amount of frill
on both sides.
It looks well distributed.
This is a difficult technique
and you've handled it well.
You really have done that nicely.
I think that single line of piping
is effective.
I think it's well done.
I prefer sleeve A to sleeve B.
If you'd had two the same,
that would have been great.
Maybe just a fraction more length
on the front. It's just riding up.
You haven't quite finished the cuff.
No, you ran out of time.
Oh, we've got no hem.
OK. We're lacking processes.
We talked about this, but this
front edge runs all the way round.
You don't have it
sitting below or above.
Your top stitching around the hem
looks really even.
Your sleeve details here
are quite complex.
We're coming to expect
bold choices from you, Stuart,
and I think, you know,
it's slightly Bond villain-esque
and we're not going to forget
this one in a hurry.
And I think you've done
a sterling job.
THEY LAUGH
Thank you. 007!
The sewers take a well-earned break,
while May and Patrick decide
which two will be going home.
All right, judges,
time to deliberate,
and it's now time to decide
who should be going home.
I think I know who...
..I would send home,
but I've got to say,
it was a fairly difficult decision
to come to,
and I'm not sure I was
considering the same two people
that perhaps May was considering.
No, I think we were thinking about
different people.
So we need to talk about that.
We do need to talk about this. OK.
Let's have a look at Mark.
It definitely had impact, you said.
Yeah, it had a lot of impact,
and I think it's very much
his cup of tea.
I mean, it was a historical
pattern reinterpreted.
The technical skills in this blouse
are not ex*cuted well enough.
This is Tilly.
I think it's a very simple style
and she hasn't demonstrated
as many techniques.
I actually think
it's a well-ex*cuted piece,
with quite a lot of work in it.
And Stuart is next.
I really loved this piece, and
it's got lots of processes in it.
I just think
he's an amazing improver.
He has made improvements,
but for me,
it's not about
choosing the best improver,
it's about choosing the best sewer.
All right. We're going to
take this out back
and we're going to oil up and fight.
Thank you so much,
and I'm so sorry about the wait.
Well done on the last two days.
As you know, every week,
somebody wins the accolade
of creating the best piece, and for
that, I hand over to the judges.
We chose, for the fun factor
and the originality,
the tulips.
APPLAUSE
A huge well done to Stuart.
Now comes the horrible bit,
because two of you,
unfortunately, have to leave.
I will say this -
they had a proper row,
and we had to leave them
in a room shouting.
The first person who's going to be
leaving the Sewing Bee...
..is Mark.
We're really sorry.
Are you all right? Yeah.
At the end of the day,
it's stiff competition
and that's what it's about.
The second person who is leaving...
..is Tilly.
I'm really sorry. I expected it.
Did you?
Yeah, I did.
OK. But I've had a really
great time, so...
We will really, really miss you.
Thank you so much. Mark and Tilly.
APPLAUSE
I shall miss you, Mark.
It's been so nice to meet you.
Well done, Mark. You've been
fantastic. I enjoyed it.
'No regrets, no.'
Just happy I took part,
and I met some wonderful people.
'Just enjoyed myself.'
Oh, Mark. Can I give you a man-hug?
Go on, then!
'I entered this, you know,
to prove to people that
'no matter how you look,'
your background, what you do,
you can always do something else.
Something that you enjoy doing,
and it's good fun.
So sorry, Tilly. Why are you sorry?
'I've had a really,
really great time,'
and just to be part of this contest
has been absolutely amazing.
'I've learnt a lot.'
'I just felt that Stuart
finished the challenge.
'He finished all the hems,'
he finished the cuffs,
he put the collar on,
he put the button hole in.
Tilly didn't finish the challenge.
What are you crying about?
LAUGHTER
It's horrible to see anybody go.
Big shock to find out
who's going home, actually.
Big shock that
one of them wasn't me.
Yeah, actually. Actually, yeah.
The fact that May and Patrick
have kept me in
makes me feel like I can do
much more than I thought I could
and I've got that potential.
I'm going to go for it.
At the next Sewing Bee...
The competition is fierce,
isn't it? Fierce.
..Sandra, Lauren, Ann and Stuart
enter the semi-final...
I'm in the semi-final,
I'm in the semi...
..where they create garments
on a miniature scale.
I mean, you've not
made it easy for yourself.
Their tailoring techniques
are put to the test.
'I've got cramp in my fingers!'
And the most complex construction
challenge so far pushes them all.
Not got enough fabric.
You can smell the tension!
Feeling ready to sharpen
up your sewing skills? Visit
to find tips
and ideas featured in the series.
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01x02 - Men's Trousers, Patch Pockets and Silk Blouse
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Amateur sewers take on challenges as they compete to be named Britain's best home sewer.
Amateur sewers take on challenges as they compete to be named Britain's best home sewer.