Anyone else going to join me on the Sewing Bee watch?

[flubba]

A bit excited about it

:o

Only watched it last night and not caught up properly on the thread.

Sorry to see Mark go but it was the right decision. Right time for Tilly go to too.

Loved Stuart's tulip pockets and Lauren's gathered pockets.

During the trousers challenge, I would have quite happily volunteered to keep checking Judge Patrick's trousers for fit and details

And Claudia made me laugh a lot

My mum had her sewing machine out on Monday and DS1 looked even more keen to have a go. I think a lot of the sewing patterns have been given to one of my sisters so I shall have to ask what she's got.

My sewing machine is quite old but it has a darning foot (one with a great big lever sticking up from it) and a little cover for the feed dogs. After some experimenting with tension I have managed to do some of that free motion wiggling quilting - it's quite fun actually. Have to say that having someone show me how to do it was a big help, perhaps that's on the video.

I think Lauren may be in with a chance too although all of the remaining four are good. I was as good at sewing in my mid 20's as I've ever been, by then I'd made tailored trousers, a wedding dress and ballgowns and loads of tops, blouses etc. Just stagnated since!

I tried the darning foot and feed dogs' cover a while back but I couldn't work with it very well - I did squirls and all sorts on my first ever quilt, but I couldn't get the tension right - but might give it another go.

I agree that Lauren could be in with a chance - although she's still learning, she might be able to pull it out of the bag.

Hello Stretch!

No useful advice I'm afraid! I'm a knitter not a sewer stitcher

The only thing I've sewn was an outfit for the knitted Jimi Hendrix I made for DH's last birthday. Took me hours and I got fed up half way through and deviated significantly from the pattern

I prefer not to cover the feed dogs. (except maybe with silk)
you can change their height (there's a button marked silk darn normal)

also, my best investment so far (well, my mummy bought it for me) is a rolling foot. it's just a normal foot but with little rollers in it.
I've always had problems getting the fabric through and lining up both at beginning and end - nomatter gow perfect my pattern and cutting, even if the same fabric. but this rolling foot has made it perfect every time.
it's aimed at stretch fabrics but I'm using it on everything.

I think what lets/will let Lauren down is that she's only sewn clothes for herself -- critically both Ann and Sandra have sewn a lot for other people so are used to fit issues.

Interesting insider perspective from Tilly yesterday

Sounds like she (they) had a whale of a time :)

Tilly's sewing looks perfect on her blog, she probably just didn't do well under the time pressure.

What nice comments on her blog. No meanness or jealousy.

it is difficult under time/pressure.
especially when you know it's for a competition on national TV.

Think Claudia is great on it.

Have only read that one post on Tilly's blog but she does seem nice, I feel bad about not liking her now!

Her blog is lovely. Makes mine look soooooooooo amateur and pathetic

yeay!
I finished watching the episodes.

(I'd only seen the 2nd episode from the patch pockets)

what a mess on those flies!
My heart nearly broke when I saw Lauren's final fly. She'd taken the advice of that woman and done the fly the opposite way of her own fly (women's flies are opposite to men's flies)- but her own fly was done the men's way!! So if she'd just copied her own fly it would have been fine.

Presumably without the time constraints there would be too little differentiation between the garments and it would be more difficult to judge.

Plus you'd get fewer mistakes which would make for less interesting telly. There can't have been many people watching who didn't think 'I could do better than that' at those scruffy blue checked pockets, I really felt for Tilly then.

Marking my place ( with tailor's chalk of course)

Flubba are you allowed/ would you link to your blog?

Ooh mrsPenny me too - she comes across much better on the blog. I really like the shirt pattern if I buy it will make me feel less guilty for dissing her before

Flubba's blog - hope you don't mind the link Flubba?

Oooh, finally catching up. I've just got a TV license but I'm not used to it so still watching too much on Iplayer and kicking myself for missing out on the chat here!

I loved the white-haired woman saying 'men can wear red trousers these days, can't they?' - does anyone else suspect she was thinking 'and if they can't, I will!'. I do like her style.

I loved Mike's shit - gorgeous. DH has one like that, but only in cotton and much less elegant. I think he is very good and I loved what he said about going on the programme to show people they could sew if they liked it. I'm half-hoping someone on here knows him and can that on. I'd pay a lot for one of his shirts.

I'm just reading people talking about sewing lessons at school. It's so true it matters to have a good teacher. I think mine was quite a nice woman, but in the first year, we were taught to make a collage with fabric and glue. So no sewing at all. Then we had to make bags. I actually still have the bag I made, as it was a tiny barrel-shaped one with a drawstring top that I put cottonwool pieces in. We were all told to 'ask your mother' for a pattern and in cookery lessons we also got told 'ask your mother for a recipe'. My mum is actually a good cook, but it pissed her off monumentally to be told that the basic teaching was her job, and no wonder!

flubba! Hello! You won't remember me but you were on that very sweet thread before Christmas 2011 where we were all making lots of home-made stuff. I loved that.

I am hoping I will learn to sew properly, but for now, I am quilting a lot and can do that, and that will have to satisfy me. Can I ask? How hard is it - if you have time - to fit a pattern? This seems to be what bothers people a lot, but is it just the time? I just feel that, while the things they make are perfectly nice, I've not yet seen much I'm thinking 'wow, I'd love to make that'. Whereas I like quilting because I can think 'wow, I'd make that and change it and it'd be better', and I can do it - because it is basically about the colours and nothing too hard.

Heh heh, I loved Mike's shit too :)

I felt bad for Lauren getting her fly the wrong way around too. It all goes back to "the olden days" when ladies had servants to dress them, so the buttons / zips would be on the right as you look at the garment. Men dressed themselves though, so the buttons / zips were on the right as you wear the item. Recently though, some manufacturers have realised this is out dated and irrelevant, and make it all the "mens" way.

Whenever I knit baby things I put the buttons on the right as you look at the garment, rather than putting them on whaichever side is traditional for the gender.

Ohhh ... penny drops. I never thought about why it was, but that makes sense. Poor her, yes.

She seems so nice. I love her accent - and the Wolverhampton lady, too. Great to listen to.

I made marks shirt last year for my DS fora fancy dress party last year. It was the first thing i made in years. I just used a cheap polycotton because he was only going to wear it once.
Will put photo on profile later.

Mike's shit Penny?
I've missed something obviously.
Ignore me-I've had