Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3
Claudia It's the semi-final of The Great British Sewing Bee, and the pressure is on. After last week's agonising decision about who created the perfect zip-fly and who rolled the finest silk hem, we're down to four contestants, all of whom want to stitch their way to victory and be crowned Britain's Best Amateur Sewer. They get a crown, right?
Voiceover Last time, making a pair of trousers separated the men from the boys.
Patrick And you've got the fly the wrong way around.
Voiceover Fitness instructor Stuart…
Stuart Oh, cheeky!
Voiceover …surprised the judges with his tulips.
Patrick Love it. Brilliant!
Voiceover For the first time, Ann disappointed with her patch pockets.
Patrick I think you could have been more ambitious. Then I think we'll leave it at that.
Voiceover And after the silky blouse challenge…
Mark It's all gone a bit Pete Tong.
Voiceover …and much debate…
Patrick So, we need to talk about that.
May We do need to talk about this.
Voiceover …Tilly…
Tilly I've lost my pins. I've lost everything.
Voiceover …and Mark were asked to leave The Sewing Bee.
Tilly Oh, no!
Voiceover This week:
Claudia I'm in the semi-final♪ I'm in the semi-final♪ Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3
Voiceover The semi-finalists face three more challenges set by Savile Row's Patrick Grant and the nation's most experienced sewing teacher, May Martin.
Ann The fabric itself has got a mind of its own.
Voiceover But how will they cope with sewing on a miniature scale?
Stuart The competition is fierce, isn't it? Fierce.
Voiceover What can they possibly do to transform this shapeless dress?
Lauren I want to do something drastic like chop the skirt off.
Ann And after the most tricky made-to-measure challenge yet…
Ann I've got cramp in my fingers.
Voiceover …which one of them will be asked to leave The Sewing Bee?
Sandra They're just going to crucify me.
Lauren I've not got enough fabric.
Stuart I can smell the tension.
Claudia The tasks are getting harder. Only the best three will make it through to the final. This is The Great British Sewing Bee.
Voiceover We're back in east London, where the four remaining contestants are facing two solid days of sewing. 81-year-old yoga devotee Ann is hoping her 75 years of sewing experience will hold her in good stead.
Ann Back again! This is absolutely amazing. Brilliant!
Patrick She is very measured and knows her capabilities which are great. But she never takes big risks.
Voiceover Up against Ann is 41-year-old fitness instructor and creative maverick, Stuart.
Stuart I want to up my game. I want to be good enough to stay in. Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3
May I really, really fought for Stuart last week because he showed flair, he showed individuality, but today there are some technical challenges.
Claudia 48-year-old hospital cleaner Sandra has honed her sewing skills making clothes for family and friends.
Sandra I can't believe I'm here for the semi-final. The judges will not give you a second chance for getting it wrong. Not at this late stage.
Patrick Sandra needs to demonstrate to us that she knows how to fit. She needs to show us that the eye for fitting, as well as technical excellence, are there.
Voiceover And the fourth semi-finalist is 27-year-old perfectionist Lauren. lauren Everything definitely feels much more tense. Everyone knows the levels of what you've got to do have just been pushed up a little bit. There's no corner to hide.
Patrick I think Lauren needs to just show there is more about her than florals and frills. I think we need to see she's got a broader range of capabilities.
Stuart Oh, Lordy!
Voiceover The semi-finalists have no idea what today's challenges will involve. lauren （聴き取り不能）
May I'm really excited about today, and I'm really looking forward to watching all of them do their best work.
Patrick We are looking to expose any weaknesses and to celebrate all the brilliant techniques they can bring to bear.
Claudia Welcome back to The Sewing Bee and huge congratulations for getting into the semi-final. We always start with a challenge about following a pattern. The judges today would like you to make a child's dress. You can use whatever fabric you like. Lauren, you look terrified.
Stuart Absolute nightmare.
Lauren Just a bit. Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3
Claudia Is it? Good luck. Off you go. Two and a half hours. It starts now.
Voiceover In this first challenge, the judges want to test the sewers' ability to follow a pattern. As it's the semi- final, they want to see couture techniques carried out on a small scale. The pattern itself is for a toddler's summer dress. It's straightforward but the finishing needs to be exquisite. Two pieces of fabric are sewn together with a special French seam, then gathered into fine pleats at the top with rows of shirring elastic. It's joined to form a tube and stitched on to the other side. Then rouleau loops are made by rolling two strips of fabric which are then attached to the shoulder and tied in a bow.
Claudia What kind of fabric should these guys be choosing?
May Thay should be choosing something that's soft.
Claudia Like that.
May We want this to gather up.
Claudia Yeah.
May If the fabric's too stiff, it won't sit well. We want it to ruche up.
Stuart It's a nice, light, fine cotton fabric. So things like the shirring, where everything is sort of elasticated and gathered up, if you had a fabric that was very thick, it would sort of be lumpy and wouldn't hang nicely.
Claudia Is this a good fabric, May?
May Yes, you need something soft.
Lauren I wanted something lightweight.
May A good choice. It's soft, so it'll move nicely.
Lauren Yeah.
May It’s plain, so you don't have to worry about a pattern. lauren Mm-hmm. Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3
Voiceover But not everyone has gone for a simple option.
Sandra I thought, with a stripe, a little check on the flimsy, the bottom would look as good as the top. First thing I've got to do is find the rest of my pattern.
Ann I wanted a fine cotton and also that I thought would look pretty on a child. And I think a child might be quite happy with all these flowers on this print. I think it's rather fun.
Voiceover Once the sewers have cut out the back and front of the dress, they need to stitch it together on one side, using their first couture technique.
Lauren Using a French seam, join...
Stuart Ah, now, French seams. I know what a French seam is. Phew! That's good.
Claudia What is a French seam?
Patrick Well, French seam is a seam you sew wrong side to wrong side, one row of stitching, then you turn it back, fold it, press it, and then you resew it again on the top, so you've got two rows of stitching. So the raw edges are all enclosed inside, and you've got a very, very strong seam that’s not going to come apart.
Claudia Why is that important?
Patrick One of the things about kids' clothes is that they get washed a lot. You need a robust garment. lauren It's almost like you sew the seam twice so that it hides any raw edges. And it's just a neater way of finishing something off. An it also means it's nice and soft on the inside for kids. When I've made children's clothes before, it's really just been as a little practice to myself. I've not actually made them for a child. Just because they are kind of cute.
Ann What have you been practising for, Lauren?
Lauren You're starting to sound like my mother in law now.
Ann It's many years since I did anything like this. Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3
Voiceover Mother of five and grandmother of seven, Ann has an advantage over the other sewers in the semi-final, having made clothes for two generations of children.
Ann Funnily enough, we were talking about this last week. And they reminded me of special dresses that I'd made for them and the excitement they felt in seeing them. It was great!
Stuart Years ago, a friend of mine had a baby and I made two absolutely revolting baby dresses. Disgusting fabric. You know, really bizarre, like curtain fabric. I thought, I think, it was a bit of a Sound Of Music moment, you know. "That would look cute." Not cute. Not cute. Not clever. Poor child! It'll probably grow up psychologically damaged and it'll be all my fault. Every time they see a pair of curtains, they'll freak out.
Claudia One hour 30 minutes left. That's one hour 30 minutes. Don't panic.
Stuart I won't.
Lauren I thought I would be further on by now. Time's flying past.
Voiceover Patrick and May's pattern doesn't specify how many rows of shirring elastic the sewers should use to gather the tops of their dresses.
Ann I don't know if there's an indication on the picture.
Stuart I've got to shirr between here and here, so I reckon probably one, two, three, four lines of shirring should do it. Shirring shmirring.
Lauren If I was to have five…
Ann One, two, three, four, five. That'll do.
Sandra One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. About seven to eight rows of elastic, I would like in there. It might be too much for some people, but you know what? It's not going to make any difference until Patrick gets his tape measure out.
181 Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3
Voiceover The elastic has to be wound on to a bobbin before putting it into the machine.
Stuart I'm just going to keep winding.
Claudia That's the shirring elastic.
Ann That's the elastic.
Ann You reel that onto there. But you have to wind it on by hand. If you wind it on the machine it stretches as it goes on. So you have to wind it on relaxed.
Claudia Ah!
Sandra I'm not going to tell anybody. I'm going to put some shirring elastic on by machine. I've done it by machine at home in the past. Everybody else will be horrified. I think, if I hold it like that in my hand, I can guide it so it's not too tight. Ahmm… There we go. It just… By hand, it can be just too loose.
Voiceover With the bobbin of elastic in the machine, the fabric should ruche up easily.
Ann You are shirring. You are pushing a row of elastic along and, as you machine-stitch, the elastic gathers up the fabric.
Voiceover Crucial to perfect shirring is an even tension when holding the fabric as it passes under the machine foot.
Sadra Making this little dress, it just brings back the memories of… When you have got three to do, the first one's a pleasure. The second one goes OK. By the time you get to the third one, you've had enough and want to get it finished. The unlucky person got the third one. It might have been a bit more roughly done.
Voiceover Even when a row is finished, tension is still critical.
Sandra The trouble is, when you finish sewing, you've got to make sure you pull enough elastic through that you don't lose it. As you pull it and you cut it, it just springs back into the machine.
Lauren My elastic just keeps pinging back into the…, into the bobbin, though. Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3
Voiceover Each additional row of elastic needs to be stitched at precisely the same tension and perfectly parallel to the last.
Ann This has got to be done quite by eye. I suppose I could draw a line, but I'm not going to.
Stuart Is that in a straight line?
Stuart Yeah. I've pressed a crease so I have a crease to follow.
Claudia Yeah. Because they’re up and down, are they are really into their parallel lines?
Stuart They're really into parallel lines. Absolutely.
Claudia They're like Blondie. lauren I put sticky tape on my machine so I could line up the fabric as I stitch.
Claudia Well done.
Stuart Check it out!
Claudia Shirring elastic, stage one.
Sandra How are you getting on, Ann?
Ann Well, I'm getting there.
Sandra I think I've ventured too many rows of elastic. A bit ambitious.
Ann I've done four. How many have you done?
Sandra Oh! I’ve done one, two, three, four, and I've still got about four to go.
Ann Oh!
Lauren Blooming heck! You're doing eight? Sandra!
Stuart How many have you done?
Sandra Oh, shut up! Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3
Stuart Get out of town!
Sandra It'll be fine. lauren How many have you done, Stuart?
Stuart Three.
Sandra The little girl doesn't want it falling down, does she?
Stuart No, but at the same time, it doesn't want to be like a tourniquet, Sandra.
Sandra Sorry?
Stuart Doesn't want to be like a tourniquet, either.
Stuart Got to think about that child's comfort.
Voiceover Once the dress is joined together to form a tube…
Stuart At the moment, I'm doing the second French seam.
Voiceover …the next couture technique is to create rouleau straps.
Sandra Just turning my straps the right way. I've done the one fine. This one, I'm all fingers and thumbs. I think the pressure is getting to me.
May Rouleau straps are round tubes of fabric.
Claudia How do you make it loop?
May You have a piece of fabric which you've cut…
Claudia On the bias.
May Yes, on the bias. Oh, I like it! On the bias! You have a piece of fabric that you cut at a 45-degree angle to the straight line. And then, fold it in half…
Claudia Yeah. OK.
May …you machine your tube, and then, they've got a metal gadget with a hook on the end, which you feed up through the tube, hook on the end, and pull it through.
Claudia You pull it inside out! Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3
Lauren Got it, just!
May If you look at the way Ann is making hers, she's hovering with the iron over them, so the steam is going in and giving them a little press but she's not squashing them flat.
Voiceover But Sandra has other ideas.
Sandra I'm not doing rouleau straps. I have done the one. I can demonstrate why I prefer to go with my own. There is never a completely right way of doing anything in sewing. You do what you are happy with.
Voiceover With a place in the final at stake, Sandra's decision not to follow the pattern could be dangerous.
Claudia They want the rouleau strap.
Sandra They are not getting a rouleau strap.
Claudia Well, what's this? What's this finickety thing?
Sandra I don't like it.
Claudia What are you talking about? Turn this inside out!
Sandra I haven't got time.
CLaudia Everyone, you have ten minutes. That's the ten-minute call.
Voiceover The final instruction on the pattern is to find and add an embellishment.
Ann It hadn't occurred to me to do anything outside the instructions because I thought that the test was to follow the instructions. Oh, embellishment of your ch… I didn't read that.
Lauren I wanted to add something, and I'm thinking…
Claudia Yes!
Lauren …another button.
Claudia There are other buttons going on. Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3
Lauren OK.
Claudia So button up.
Lauren OK.
Ann I'm just going to make another bit of rouleau and tie a bow on the front. I haven't got time to think of anything else.
Stuart Two little buttons. And I had time so I'm putting a patch pocket on the front as well.
Claudia Let's never forget your success with the patch pocket.
Stuart Just call me the Patch Man.
Sandra I'm not really sure what I'm doing there.
Lauren My pins are in the wrong way. I'll do it this way.
Claudia You have 30 seconds, please, to put your beautiful dresses on the mannequins.
Stuart How are you doing, guys?
Claudia 15 seconds. Sandra, I'll be honest, I am talking to you.
Thank you. Finito. Stand away. Stand away. Look somewhere else. Finished. Massive well done. These are adorable.
Claudia May, first impression?
May We've got even spacing with our shirring here. This is a lovely French seam. Yes, it is very well-executed.
Patrick I mean, I like the detail. You've tied a knot on the end of your rouleau, which I think is really precise. The little bow on the front is a beautiful detail. Very delicate. It's very beautifully done.
Claudia Ann, well done. Are you happy with that?
Ann I’m very happy with that. Yes. Thank you.
May First impression. Really, really cute. However, the problem up here is, if you were putting this on and off Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3
a child and you only had two rows of shirring, it's weak and it would take no time at all for the shirring to break. And it’s, by having several rows of it, that you get the strength in the garment. Right. Now then, French seams. Quite a generous seam. One might say sort of on the elephant side. And I think you need to refine your techniques a bit. Just scale them down a little bit.
Patrick This is a beautifully executed rendition of this pattern. The obvious thing to say is just how beautifully delicate these straps are. I mean, this is just exemplary handling skills. I mean, really, really fabulous. It's extremely neatly sewn through the bodice, reall. A fantastic piece of sewing.
May I think you've done a really, really good job. And your French seam is really fine. Smaller than Ann's. Good job.
May I've just been really impressed with the way those stripes are sitting around the garment. They are all sitting vertically, and it's so easy to twist them if that shirring hadn't been done nicely. A brilliant technique.
Patrick You haven't made rouleau loops.
Sandra I have. I’ve made one.
Patrick Well, you've made one and you've kind of… "Here's one I didn't make earlier."
Sandra If my child was wearing that, they would want a strap that would stop on.
Patrick I think, in many senses, you're right, but we did ask you to follow a pattern.
Sandra I know. I know.
Patrick We've got to be strict on it. But what you've done through here is exemplary.
Voiceover Patrick and May will now rank the sewers' attempts from fourth to first.
May Sadly, Stuart, yours is number four. A little bit more shirring required. Sandra, you come in at number three. Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3
Beautiful shirring, but you had flat straps.
Claudia Patrick, who is in at two?
Patrick Very, very difficult to choose between the two of them because both beautifully executed. But second, Ann. Congratulations to Lauren!
Claudia Yey!
Patrick You won it because those straps are just exquisite. Congratulations.
Claudia A huge well done. Go and have a rest before challenge number two, cos it's a biggie. You might want to have a sit down.
Lauren I've not had anything up until now, and to finally get top in something, I'm really, really chuffed.
Ann I could have made rouleau that small but I didn't.
Stuart I need to get myself a little higher, don’t I, in the league tables?
Sandra I'm gutted. I can't help but say I'm absolutely gutted. It's the semi-final. I've got to up my game. If I don't, I'm really jeopardising my place.
Claudia Four beautiful little girl's dresses. Now it’s time for the alteration challenge. Our sewers have just 90 minutes to transform the trickiest high street buy yet.
It's time for your alteration challenge. You've got an hour and a half to dramatically alter this dress. At the moment it's quite shapeless. You can use pleats. You can use darts. You can use whatever you want. You've got an hour and ahalf. Your time starts now.
Voiceover This shift stress is made of viscose: a fluid fabric commonly used in high street dresses.
Lauren Wait a minute. I need to think a bit more. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute.
Voiceover Off the peg, it's very loose-fitting, so it's a perfect garment for a radical alteration. Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3
May Being able to take a very straight-forward dress like this and give it some style and changing its shape is a really useful thing to be able to do.
Patrick One of the most obvious things to do is to create a waist. We can put a couple of darts into the front. We can do the same at the back. We can take away in the side seams. We want to see innate understanding of how to create shape in a garment.
Lauren I have no plan yet. I know what I want to do. I just I can't figure out the best way to do it.
Ann I'm going to taper the hem so that it fits in more closely at the side. I'm going to put some tucks at the front. And I'm going to dart the back so that it fits more closely here.
Lauren I almost want to do something drastic like chop the skirt off, but I think it would be quite a big…
Claudia You can!
Lauren I would feel quite nervous about doing it.
Claudia Don't! They want alteration. I think you would get points. I’ll say this to everyone for being a bit dramatic. So, you’d chop it off and then what? Attach it again? Almost with a band?
Lauren Like a belt that's attached.
Claudia I'm obsessed by that idea!
Stuart If there is any credit for being just a little innovative, I want to try and get it. I'm doing like a sort of almost like a zigzag ripple effect down the outside. Hand-sewing on the outside. If in doubt, call it punk. That's what I say.
Claudia Sandra, how are you, darling?
Sandra I'm fine. I'm putting some darts in.
Claudia I mean, this is an alteration challenge, but all I'm saying, I've said it to Lauren because it's the semi- final, I think the judges want bravery. Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3
Sandra You need a lot more time for more bravery.
Claudia Do you?
Sandra I think so. Well, I do.
Claudia Don't say that. I’ve just persuaded Lauren to cut her skirt off.
Stuart What have we had? An hour and 25?
Sandra I bet we've only got an hour now.
Stuart “Contestants, you have three minutes. That’s three minutes.”
Voiceover While Stuart, Ann and Sandra can repin their alterations if they aren't happy…
Sandra If the dart's positioned wrong, it’s going to look dreadful.
Voiceover …Lauren is about to face the point of no return. lauren What I'm going to do is make the top of the dress fitted but make the bottom of the dress pleated. So, I’m going to chop it off, but I want to make sure I chop it off straight. Here goes, chop, chop, chop. No going back now. I've just got to go for it, I think.
Voiceover 30 minutes gone and 60 to go.
Claudia 40 years ago, it wasn't unusual to make your own clothes. Most homes had a sewing machine, and most high streets had a haberdashery. During the Second World War, home sewers were called on to play a vital role for King and Country. And they had quite an illustrious role model.
Voiceover In 1939, the Queen Mother gathered the members of her staff in the Blue Drawing Room of Buckingham Palace twice weekly to make clothes for the troops fighting in World War Ⅱ. She showed the world that when faced with the terrible prospect of war, everyone would have to do their bit. Women from all walks of life were encouraged to gather together to form sewing work parties, known as Sewing Bees, using their skills to contribute to the war effort. Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3
Meridith The Queen Mother was a big role model at the time Towne, because she was the patron of the Women's Voluntary costume Service. And they actually organised a lot of these historian Sewing Bees. They were a powerhouse of activity where women could come and really contribute to the war effort with something they had skills to do. So, they’d be quite noisy and boisterous but a real sense of community and a real sense of helping the home front as well.
Voiceover The sewing work parties were often led by a more experienced sewer, who instructed the group on what was to be made that day.
Meriidith The Government actually produced patterns for things like scarves, balaclavas and sweaters that could be sent out to the Army and the Navy. They also started making camouflage nets and things really specifically for the war front. I always think it must be hard for the women who already knew their husbands were lost to keep producing those things for other people's husbands and fiances who were out there.
Claudia In 1941, wartime sewing took a desperate turn as industries became more focussed on the war effort. Fabrics were scarce and clothes rationing was introduced.
Voiceover If you weren't wealthy enough to have a wardrobe full of clothes, it was a case of make-do-and-mend.
War-time When it comes to clothes, make-do-and-mend needn't be at broadcast all unfashionable. Listen to what you can do: “Mrs Clarke made her frock from her husband's old plus- four trousers. “
Claudia To help people cope with clothes rationing, the Government issued leaflets, posters, and newsreels, which gave women ideas about how to make their clothes last longer and get creative with whatever material was to hand.
Amanda Make-do-and-mend is about using your existing clothes or Mason, anything you have lying around the house to make new historian clothes.
Voiceover Clothes rationing continued until 1949, by which time Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3
Britain's make-do-and-menders had become increasingly resourceful.
Claudia Tell me about this dress.
Amanda Well, these dresses, they’re made of silk maps which were issued to aircrews during the war. At the end of the war, these maps were sold off in department stores, and people used them to make all sorts of clothes for themselves.
Claudia Absolutely beautiful.
Amanda People must have had amazing creativity and learnt a lot of new skills in a fairly short time to be able to produce this sort of thing. I suppose necessity breeds invention. People had no choice than to really improve their sewing skills.
Voiceover And there is one person in our own Sewing Bee who developed her sewing skills thanks to clothes rationing.
Ann When I went off to college in 1949, I was wearing what, to me, looked a very smart, straight skirt made out of an old pair of my father's trousers. Well, in those days, men's trousers were Oxford bags, so they had lots of pleats at the front, lots of room in the seat. And I think that he'd probably worn out the cuffs, so I was given these trousers to unpick and I made myself a skirt. That's what I wore when I went up to college as a student at 18. I hate having to make-do-and-mend. I think because I had to do it for so long.
Voiceover 45 minutes to go, and with the new dress shapes pinned into place, sewing can begin.
Ann It's quite tricky, this is.
Voiceover Having removed the middle of her dress, Lauren is reattaching the top to the bottom.
Lauren I should be able to just get everything done, but it's not going to be neat on the inside.
Stuart Let's assume I'm going to be fourth in terms of skill. Can I raise my game by being different to the others? Well, this is my attempt. Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3
Sandara I wanted more of an A-line dress. I’ve put two darts in the front… patrick yeah.
Sandra …two in the back…
Patrick Yeah.
Sandra …taken the side seams in…
Patrick yeah.
Sandra ..took that in a bit more there around the waist…
Patrick yeah. sandra …whether she'll ever get it off or on, no doubt.
Patrick Has it got a bit of stretch in it?
Sandra Yes, it does got a bit of stretch.
Patrick So, you should get it over the top.
Claudia OK, everybody, half an hour left. That's half an hour.
Sandra That will give me a little bit of time to try and tart it up a bit.
Voiceover Once they've managed to change the shape of their dress…
Lauren Don't be too small!
Voiceover …the sewers can use any remaining time to embellish their alteration.
Lauren Sandra, I'm just nicking your scissors.
Sandra OK. patrick How are you going to finish it off? Are you going to put that band around?
Lauren I'm still not 100% on that red. I feel like it looks like an air hostess there. Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3
Patrick I’m glad you said that. I'm not 100% on it. I think something solid and bolder might look better.
Sandra I'm just putting some braiding around just to make it look a little bit different. But when I've held it up, it's like something my nan used to wear.
Claudia What are you doing?
Stuart It’s got a zip on the back anyway, on the outside. I'm just wondering if I can make…
Claudia A zip belt?
Stuart A zip flower.
Claudia You're thinking of just making a zip flower.
Stuart A zip flower.
Claudia Why wouldn't you?
Stuart Just to go on. I know.
Claudia It's like Debbie Harry's in the…
Stuart I know.
Lauren I wasn't happy with my ribbon cos I felt like it looked like an air hostess, so I've gone for something a bit disco.
Claudia Five minutes, everybody. That’s five minutes left.
Lauren Bloody hell!
Ann I was thinking of putting that round the neck, but I can't do it to my satisfaction in the time. Rather than having it put on badly, I'm not going to put on at all.
Claudia Guys, you have one minute left.
Lauren Somebody's watch is wrong.
Sandra That ain't bad for free-hand, is it?
Stuart The judges said, “Radically change the dress. Radically change the look of it, the fit of it.” It is a radical Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3
change.
Lauren Oh, God! Please get on!
Claudia OK, that's it. Your time's up. Please put your dress on your mannequin. Place your mannequins at the end of your workstation.
Lauren She can't breathe in this one, I reckon.
Claudia The judges are going to judge.
VOiceover The challenge was to dramatically change the shape of this dress. May and Patrick are about to discover who succeeded.
Stuart OK. Um… A few thoughts went through my head. Where's the nearest exit? That was the first one. I wanted this kind of rippled effect down the outside. You can make it…
Patrick Reshape it.
Stuart …more fitted by pulling the zips down.
Patrick You fulfilled the brief, and you've created something that's quite bonkers-looking.
Stuart Yep. patrick I'm not saying that this is something we'd put down a catwalk, but you've taken a big leap and you've done a load of work, and actually, it kind of almost makes sense.
May Have you machined that on the inside?
Stuart No, I hand-sewed it.
May On the outside?
Stuart Yes.
May Because you found it was easier to control by working on the outside? So it wouldn't stand up to any strain? However, it's really wacky.
Patrick If Stuart's dress is cheese, this is chalk. I mean, it couldn't be more different. Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3
Ann No.
Patrick But it is equally, in my mind, impactful. It’s precise and elegant. It's lovely.
May The only thing I would say, Ann, it's absolutely beautiful, but you played safe.
Patrick What's interesting is you've done a lot of things that are similar to Ann's, but you've decided to take the dart all the way through. I don't think they are quite as symmetrical, perhaps, as they could be.
May Your points on your dart, they might not be straight, but they are superb.
Claudia Show me.
May They blend in beautifully with the garment. We've got no pokes or puckers. Not all absolutely perfect. This one's a bit drunk here. But you displayed some good techniques.
Patrick I… I really like it. I think, you know, you've adhered to your brief, which is you've dramatically changed the shape of this dress. The fact you've got a seam here and this pleat popping out has produced this almost, kind of, bustle-like effect on the back, which really gives it a beautiful silhouette from the side, as well as from the front. It really creates a very dramatic shape. You know, this is very different to what we've seen from you so far, and I really like it.
Claudia A huge well done on your second challenge. Normally, you'd be going home at this point, but your third and final challenge of the semi-final is a really big one. So, if you don't mind, we'll start on it tonight. Go, have a cup of tea, then come back to the sewing room and we will begin.
Patrick At this point in the competition, there are two people that are incredibly closely matched. Both Ann and Lauren have delivered two excellent challenges.
May Lauren is excelling. She has stopped being a rabbit in the headlights. She’s taken on board everything we have said to her, and she is really doing some wonderful work. Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3
Patrick I think, for me, at this moment in time, Stuart is the guy whose sewing across the two challenges has not been as high as the others.
May He's fun. He enjoys himself. He has a go. And he's grown throughout the competition, and he just keeps surprising us with his style. Sandra is playing a bit safe. I think I'd like to see her take a few risks because she's such a good needlewoman and she needs to believe in herself.
Voiceover For the last challenge of the semi-final, the models have returned…
Ann Hello!
Voiceover …to be fitted with a garment that will test the sewers' tailoring skills.
Claudia The judges wanted to give you tonight just to measure your models and cut your fabric. They would like you to make a jacket. Your time starts now.
Voiceover The sewers have an hour-and-a-half on the clock tonight. They’ve chosen the pattern and fabric for their jacket and had the chance to practice making them at home.
Sandra I did do a pre-run and used my daughter. She was over the moon when it was on. It's still half-finished, but there we go.
Voiceover But with so many parts to each jacket, constructing it to fit their model perfectly…
Stuart If you inhale, breathe in.
Voiceover …means there are plenty of opportunities for mistakes to be made and the Savile Row judge will spot any errors.
Claudia Is this the hardest thing you've asked our sewers to do?
Patrick I think, so far, it is the most technically demanding. We've been testing dress-making techniques. Today, in this challenge, we're going to test their ability to tailor a garment.
Claudia What are you after? Simplicity or beautiful execution? Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3
May Both. The more ambitious they are, the more we will credit them.
Ann Although it looks simple, there is a lot of work goes on inside this. I mean, I’m going to have to cut corners. A lot of corners.
Voiceover Ann's jacket is the classic boucle tweed: edge-to-edge style with no collar.
Ann This is the fabric that I'm using, and it comes from Linton Tweed. I bought it over the Internet.
Patrick That famous boucle tweed that everybody knows and assumes is French, it's made in the north-west of England. And it's wonderful. And there are so many mills in Yorkshire and across Scotland that are making for the very best couture houses and fashion houses in France and Italy. And we don't celebrate it. We don't know about it.
Claudia Yeah. It’s beautiful.
Patrick It's something to be incredibly proud of.
Sadra I've tried to do something on the jacket that I haven't done before. The collar overlaps and the jacket just comes edge to edge.
Voiceover Sandra's softly tailored fine burgundy tweed jacket has a wrap collar. But the fabric is already giving her problems.
Sandra It is going to fray rather badly. My first step, I wasn't going to, will be to neaten all the edges before I even do anything else, to stop it fraying.
Stuart The fabric that I'm using for the main part of the jacket is what's called boiled wool. The benefit of it is when you cut it, the edges don't fray.
Voiceover Stuart's boiled wool will become a boxy loose-fitting Alpine-style jacket with a stand-up Nehru collar.
Patrick Stuart and, to a certain extent, Sandra are making their garment and going to fit it on the fly, which may work, it may not. Ann is taking the approach we would take in Savile Row, which is she is basting the jacket together, Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3
very lightly sewing it together, and then it's not sewn properly until it fits correctly. So you can make quite substantial adjustments very simply.
Lauren This won't be my actual jacket. This is the toile, which is a sort of practice jacket so that you can get the sizing right.
Voiceover Lauren is first making her jacket in a cheap calico cotton. Once it fits perfectly, she will use this toile as a template.
Lauren I've had so many issues with fit before that I wanted to try and do every attempt to make the jacket fit.
Voiceover Her tweed-fitted hacking jacket will be lined with pink satin.
Lauren I've almost made the toile.
Stuart Wow! That's good going.
Lauren But then, I've not cut out anything else.
Claudia That sounds so much lengthier process than Stuart or Sandra. At this point, your impressions are that Lauren and Ann are doing it classically and will create a better garment.
Patrick They've got a much better chance of creating a better garment.
Claudia Guys, you have one minute left, and then, you can go home and have a lie down.
Ann I'm going to cut the lining and then I'm ready for construction.
Sandra I'm just hoping a good night's sleep will bring me back refreshed. And I hope everybody else gets a bad night's sleep.
Voiceover Six hours remaining in the last challenge of the semi- final.
Stuart Stitch the shoulder seams, that's the next thing I've got to do. Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3
Voiceover Stuart and Sandra start sewing their jackets. But Ann and Lauren are still fitting their garments to their models. They've got a way to go before their fabric goes under the machine.
Claudia Lauren, how are you feeling?
Lauren Not great, to be honest.
Claudia Why?
Lauren All I can hear is the buzz of sewing machines.
Claudia So do you feel behind?
Lauren And here I am, cutting out.
Claudia You've got about ten minutes left. I'm kidding. You're going to be absolutely fine. Good! Brilliant! Done!
Voiceover Sandra is now having to go back and neaten her fraying fabric with an overlocker. It cuts and encloses the edges but can cause the fabric to stretch.
May Are you finding it falling apart and that's why you are doing all the overlocking?
Sandra I'm gutted I had to overlock. I hadn't planned time for overlocking.
May The problem is it takes so long, doesn't it?
Voiceover Stuart has already machined the front and back of his jacket together.
Claudia Stuart's making a jacket that isn't totally fitted. It’s a more casual jacket. Does that still have to have the same fit?
Patrick It’s not going to fit the body in the sense that this one has that very sculpted Savile Row shape to it through the side seam, but we're still going to be expecting it to hang straight up and down. A standard jacket off the rack is cut for an idealised form, but everyone is different. If we take Stuart's model, for exampl. If you just come in…
Claudia Hello, Alfonso. Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3 patrick If you look… Right. What you see, looking at him, come here and have a look, is this shoulder is significantly lower than that one.
Claudia Yes! Oh!
Patrick And what's going to happen there is the jacket is going to drop and swing away that side. We are going to be looking for that today.
Ann Yeah, OK. Thank you.
Voiceover Ann is fitting her model for the second time with her loosely sewn jacket. And she has realised she needs to make an adjustment.
Ann This is called a floating chest piece, and it's a piece of canvas that you put in this area. And because my model is quite full-busted and has a sort of hollow in the chest there, this fills up that hollow.
Patrick She is very methodically going through it. I mean, I love her process. Of everyone here, it's as close to the way we do it. I just hope she gets it finished. Stuart is going to have to finish his to a quite exceptional standard. I mean, the fitting he did, he chucked it on the model for two and a half seconds and said, "That looks fine."
Stuart Turn around.
Patrick So it really had better be a good fit.
Stuart Yeah!
May Sandra is actually overlocking everything, and I think, only because her fabric, when she cut it out, it just started to fall apart.
Voiceover Three hours have gone in the challenge and Lauren still hasn't started sewing her jacket together. And that's not her only problem.
Lauren I've lost… Basically, I've lost a bit of my jacket. I've not got enough fabric.
Voiceover With one vital piece missing, she’s at a standstill and might not be able to finish the challenge. Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3
Stuart I can smell the tension.
Voiceover Four and a half hours to go.
Claudia Every week on the show, we give you a how-to guide. How to make something lovely for the home. This week, curtains.
Voiceover Cut your fabric and lining material to size. Press and hem both panels. Place them on top of each other, leaving the lining around five centimetres shorter than the curtain fabric at the bottom. Pin together, then stitch the lining to the curtain along the side seams. At the top edge, fold in both layers and pin the heading tape along the width of the curtain. This is where you will attach the hooks. Fold the raw edges under the tape and stitch it in position. Tuck in curtain weights along the bottom hem and hand-sew them in. This will help it hang smoothly. Neaten the edges by folding in the hem on all remaining sides and corners and hand finish. Press and lightly steam on the wrong side up. Finally, draw up the strings from both ends of the tape, distributing the gathers evenly, and secure with a knot. Your curtains are now ready to hang.
The sewers have four hours left to finish their jackets. And Lauren needs to make up valuable time.
Lauren I just thought I'd lost a bit, but I found it. So, panic over. I do really want to win. I know I can do it. It's just doing it in the time. It's just really hard.
Sandra One of us is going to be leaving. I don't want to see anybody go and I don't want to see myself go. I'm pretending it's not going to happen, and I'm just trying to keep as focused as I can.
Voiceover Ann is the only sewer to have chosen a tweed fabric with a pattern.
Ann When I put this on, the stripes of the jacket match up with the pink stripes going across that way. With Patrick's eagle eye on us today, then, they’re going to match. They're going to match as well as I can get them to match.
Voiceover Once the main body of the jackets are sewn together, the sleeves can be fitted into the armholes. Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3
Stuart This is the bit that I'm most nervous about messing up.
Lauren I'm putting my first sleeve in.
May The sleeve head is bigger than the hole it's going into.
Patrick So this bit here is bigger than the bit it is being inserted into.
May So it literally needs to curve and be gathered round to actually mould and sit into the armhole. And that is quite a skilful thing to do because you are making a large area sit smoothly and roundly into a smaller area.
Voiceover It's a delicate process called easing. Most sewers pin the fabric in place before machining to ensure the sleeve head is gathered without puckers or pleats into the smaller armhole.
Stuart The fabric, because it's stretchy, all the way through the construction that's been a little bit of a pain, but now, I can actually stretch and put them together. And that's where a bit of give in the fabric is actually really helpful.
Voiceover But not everyone is having to ease their sleeves.
Sandra Bit tight around the back?
Voiceover Sandra's raglan sleeves attach higher up at the collar ,and that's where her easing issue lies.
Sadra It fits around the jacket like that.
Voiceover But overlocking all the edges of her fraying fabric has caused the hole for Sandra's collar to stretch out of shape.
Sandra It fits but not as nicely as I would have liked it to.
Voiceover It's now larger than her collar piece.
Sandra I shall just ease that in. We will have to sort of stretch it a bit. It will stretch because it's wool, but I don't really want to give it that much.
Claudia OK, sewers, you have half an hour left. That's half an hour. Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3
Voiceocer There is just time for hemming and any decorative touches.
Ann The fabric itself has got a mind of its own. So I'm having to speak to it very, very firmly.
Lauren I'm feeling rushed.
May The nature of the jacket is the fact it's an outer garment that has to look smart.
Patrick We're looking for really beautiful, clean lines. We're looking for a very, very even distribution of fullness.
Claudia Everyone, you have ten minutes left. That's ten minutes.
Ann Talk about working fast!
Lauren I'm going to be sewing right to the end.
Patrick We are looking for beautiful shaping and beautiful shoulders.
Sandra I've got another sleeve to do. I shan't get the lining fastened down, and they’re just going to crucify me.
May It can't be a soppy garment. It's got to be precise.
Stuart All right, then!
Ann I've got cramp in my fingers!
Lauren I know it's not perfect, but I think I have done enough.
Claudia You have one minute left. One minute.
Ann More haste, less speed.
Stuart Take that to Savile Row, Patrick!
Claudia Five, four, three, two, one. Brilliant. Well done!
Stuart Absolutely exhausted. Really exhausted. It was a sewing marathon.
Lauren I don't think I've pressed it as much as I could. And my hand-sewing isn't neat because I was doing it so quickly. Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3
Ann I think my jacket looks OK on my model. In fact, I think she looks rather good in it.
Sandra Everybody else has managed to finish and I haven't. I would say I'm going home.
Claudia Lauren, please bring your girl up.
Patrick OK. It is sitting quite level all the way around. The shoulders look like they are nicel fit. You’ve kept the softness in the front, which I think is nice. Can I just have a quick look at the back?
Lauren It’s a bit full here.
Patrick No, I think that’s fine. You need a bit of back drape there to give you a bit of movement. If it's drum tight across the back, that's not going to work.
May Can we have a look at the inside? The finish on the inside is good. You'd neatened absolutely everything so there's no falling apart with this jacket, is there?
May Initially, I'm looking just at the front tipping up, which is a shame, because this bit is just sitting up a bit.
Sandra I know.
May So, the collar, sitting really well at the front. Nice and flat. Your sleeve seam is just slightly tipping forward, isn't it?
Sandra Yes.
May Because you have overlocked the fabric and it stretched slightly.
Sandra Yes. Overlooking stretched everything.
May So it’s pulling it out of shape as you were working it, which is a shame.
Patrick Are we going to have a look inside?
May So, the lining has been put in nicely. Not finished, bu. Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3
Patrick Obviously, we've run out of time, but what you have managed to do inside is neat and well managed.
Slightly out of balance but not horrendously so. We're just not quite the perfect circle around the neck, but a really nice curve into the back.
May So, we've got a vertical line coming down here which means that your sleeve has been set in really symmetrically and you've got a lovely vertical line, so it's got balance. And your fabric is just shouting, "this is a straight line", and you've done it. Round the back, you've got a horizontal line going across the back here, balancing across from shoulder to shoulder. Shall we have a look at the inside?
Patrick I think the finish inside is worthy of the finish on the outside. So, there’s a lot in here that is done very much to the standard that we would do it on Savile Row.
May The sleeves seem to be tipping off the shoulder is a little bit and perhaps could come across a bit. I think they're supposed to be a bit higher up, aren't they?
Stuart Yes.
Patrick I'm a bit disappointed that the binding around the top hasn't gone right into the seam. You have done that both sides. I'm going to undo it and just see how it falls when it is not buttoned up. What we are seeing now is what I suspected. I think, when you did your fitting, I was watching, I don't think you spent long enough fitting it. It's here where, because he’s significantly dropped that side, you know, you can see it at the bottom there quite clearly.
Stuart Yeah.
Voiceover The sewers can do no more. They can only wait for Patrick and May's decision.
Ann Of course It would be wonderful to be in the final. Just being part of it. I think… I think that is what will be so great. "Oh, I've got through to the final!"
Sandra I think I would feel a little guilty if I went through in the fact that Stuart did as well as me. Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3
Stuart I'm sad that the challenges have come to an end, but I hope against hope that, maybe, I will get the chance to do it all one more time.
Lauren I want one of those places in the final. I've put so much effort in. To not get one of those places, I would be devastated.
Claudia You are about to choose who goes into the final. Why don't you take out the pieces that have worried you the most. There goes Sandra's jacket. And for you, Patrick?
Patrick I think we have to put Stuart's dress alteration.
Claudia Let's talk about Stuart in general. Sometimes he's completely wowed you.
May I've loved watching him develop and I have loved watching him sew. But I think, in the final, we need three people who are going to wow us with their sewing capability.
Patrick Sandra is clearly a better sewer, but she continually leaves things incomplete. And I think that is her great difficulty. Stuart is not such a great sewer but he gets the job done. And I think therein lies the difficulty that we face because we don't want to get into the last week and see half finished garments.
Claudia As you know, every week, the judges choose their best piece.
Patrick Our favourite piece for this week was Ann's jacket, which was, quite simply, beautiful.
Ann Oh, how lovely!
May Gorgeous.
Claudia Now, somebody's going to be leaving The Sewing Bee. The judges found it incredibly difficult because you've all just done extraordinary things at such a high standard. So I'm incredibly sorry to say the person who is leaving us is Stuart. I'm sorry. I don't want you to go.
Stuart Well done. Well done.
Ann We will miss you. Transcription THE GREAT BRITISH SEWING BEE Series 1, Episode 3
Stuart Absolutely fine.
May We wanted to say how hard it was because you have listened to everything we said.
Patrick You've brought so much of a sense of fun to sewing that you need to be applauded for doing that because, you know, there is a joy in everything you do here.
Stuart Thank you very much. Thank you for letting me have the opportunity to stay as long.
Claudia Are you crying, Sandra?
Sandra No.
Stuart Thank you so much for the opportunity. I really appreciate it.
For the judges to say that I brought a sense of fun and a joy to sewing, that's why I do it.
Lauren Well done, stuart.
Stuart And if I’ve communicated that, fabulous.
Ann We shall really miss you.
Stuart Oh, no.
Stuart Ann, Lauren and Sandra will see this journey through right to the very end. And I'm sad I won't be there with them, you know. But the bigger picture is that I've made friends here that I'll have for the rest of my life.
Stuart Come here, Mom! Well done. Well done. I’m so pleased.
Stuart Now, that, I will take you up on!
If you want to sew or be creative or do anything else, do it. Enjoy it, because anyone can be creative. It doesn't matter how old you are, male, female, or what your experience or how much money you've got or how little. You just enjoy it.
Sandra I've just got to try and do it for him. I've got to try and win for Stuart, to justify my place here.