I must say, I was very much looking forward to this week’s episode. I do enjoy it when they go a bit “historical” and the 1920s-40s have always been one of my favourite eras for fashion.
The Pattern Making Challenge saw the contestants make sailor trousers, which in actual fact look like the most difficult-to-make trousers known to man!! Who knew that some trousers have to be assembled like a jigsaw puzzle and excuse me, but exactly how long will it take to go for a Jimmy Riddle when you’re undoing and re-doing up all those buttons?! Talk about earning your trip to the loo. You wouldn’t want to wear these if your pelvic floor’s a bit dodge!!! 😂 If you thought a pair of dungarees were a challenge, you ain’t seen nothing yet! I have to say though, I loved the style of them and would very much like to try making a pair for myself. I do like to have a project that’s a bit more substantial on the go, so this might be a good one. I’m struggling to find the actual pattern they used though, so if you know what it is, hit me up!
Kudos to every single one of them in this challenge; they all managed to sew something that half-resembled a trouser in only 4 hours! Not surprisingly, there wasn’t one pair that Patrick and Esme didn’t find a few faults with, but come on – that had to be one of the hardest Pattern Making challenges we’ve ever had, surely?!
The Transformation Challenge had them making a 1930s style women’s blouse using two men’s shirts. The dog managed to sum up my general Transformation Challenge feels this week:
That was until Cristian made this fantastic expression:
Man Yee won with an actual wearable garment that you might be tempted to wear in public! Who’d a thunk it?! Very stylish it was too!
Finally, the contestants had to make a bias cut dress fit for a Hollywood starlet in the Made to Measure Challenge. At least they had a reason to make a fabulous dress; you never really get the chance to wear owt like that ordinarily, do you? You’d get a few funny looks tramming around Morrisons in one.
Even though this was a challenge for woven fabrics, Cristian mysteriously decided to choose a fabric with lycra in it, which was a novel take on the challenge. He used a stretch velvet to make a dress which I have actually made for myself for a bridesmaid’s dress for my BFF’s wedding! I had the sense though to not make “so many changes to the pattern” as admitted by Cristian. That’s the kiss of death on this programme! Stick to the script, Cristian!!
It was nice seeing more French Seam love this week; again Debra chose to use them throughout, as did Annie who called them “therapeutic”! Yes, Annie, you’re bob on, love!! Not many believe me, but it’s nice to get lost in a French Seam. Or a whisky and coke. Or both if you really want to live life on the edge. Annie took Garment of the Week with her gorgeous red number (I think Patrick and Esme must love a French Seam as much as me!).
I think the writing was on the wall for Cristian to be sacked off this week as soon as he started hacking into his sewing pattern and decided on a stretch fabric! It’s a shame because he was one of my favourites to win and if he hadn’t have done that, I reckon he’d have gone through as he wasn’t at the bottom before that challenge.
This was the first week when we’ve really seen Brogan under threat, so it will be interesting to see if she bounces back next week.
Is anyone else finding this series a bit of a drag?! They’re all nice enough, but there doesn’t seem to be any characters in it this year and the ones that are left are all very similarly skilled, so it’s going to be hard to separate them. Never mind, onwards and upwards and I’ll see you next time!
Philippa
The Introverted Sewist 