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

[flubba]

A bit excited about it

:o

I did mine spectacularly well.
I was holding the pocket on with my middle finger upside down. Pressed the foot, caught finger, pulled finger out. thankfully, the needle didn't break - two stitches (not medical ones! ) and no snapped needle.
You could see the puncture wounds and the mark of the feed dog.
The technician's first reaction was to see if the needle had broken (because it would have been a trip to casualty in case of bits still in there), and everyone else was bothered about whether I'd got blood on my shirt.

but glad it wasn't too bad!

I wish I'd seen your batman cape

I'm relieved to know I am not the only person who has sewn through their finger. When I did it I had this strange cold wave of horror which went through me, bleeds a lot doesnt it!

I think the most comptitive person there is Ann she definately had an expression on her face when Lauren won the dress challenge and said "I could have made straps like that" Personally I thought the fabric on Ann's dress was ugly, Sandra's was beautiful and I think if she had done the right straps she would have won that one even though Lauren's dress was pretty.

Without a doubt Ann has the best technical skills but I like Lauren's style, it will be interesting to see who ends up winning, unless one of them cocks up massively I think it will be between them.

I knew either Stuart or Sandra would go this week - shame to see Stuart go, he was fun but again technically Sandra is better.

Love the programme, shame it was only 4 weeks!

yy, totally agree- Sandra made a proper cock-up there.

When I was at infant school I overheard one of the dinner ladies saying to another, 'You'll never be a machinist until you've had a needle through your finger.'
I was horrified! It took me a year or two to learn it wasn't in fact compulsory.

theone - yes, that's my blog.

and yes, am another who has sewn through their finger. have also dropped my sewing machine down the stairs as a student, this was my old huskystar thankfully, and not my new bernina!

I broke the handle on my Singer when I was a teenager.
It was on my desk and I climbed up to get a book from a high shelf and jumped down not noticing my skirt had snagged the machine. It pulled it onto the floor and the handle snapped.
It's the actual metal handle on a hand-cranked machine. I have still not got round to getting it fixed, 25 years later

I wrote my last sewing machine off when doing "a few stiches" with it on the ironing board, obviously the ironing board collapsed...seriously kicked myself for that one.

I have seen someone put a needle right through their fingernail.

I may have gone slightly green around the gills. She fainted (justifiably!).

Loving the bloodthirsty tone this thread is taking

I did love Ann's jacket - though I usually hate that style.

Can I ask? How do they adjust patterns to fit something like one shoulder sloping lower than the other? I can see how you can adjust a waist to be smaller, or a hem, but I don't follow how you do stuff that reflects someone's body being uneven on the sides?

Yes LRD, I wanted to know how they did that too. I felt a tiny bit sorry for the model when it was pointed out to millions of viewers that his shoulder was 2" out.
Do they make a discrete shoulder pad to compensate or something?

It never occurred to me that droopy clothes might be a result of droopy shoulders.

Yes, and if anyone knows the answer to LRD's question, can you also tell me how to fit a top when one breast is bigger than the other due to breastfeeding too much on one side? What would I do to the darts?

Yes, me too effie! I hope they asked the poor bloke first (to be fair he didn't look surprised, did he?).

I've got a wonky back so in theory I need to know, but frankly I suspect I am never going to get to that stage, or not for ages!

I do think it's a pity that although Patrick obviously really knows his stuff, there isn't time to say much at all about the technical stuff.

Yes, I agree. When he said there were elements of the inside of Ann's jacket that were as good as Saville Row, I would love to know WHAT she had done so well.

Also, those 'how to do curtains/cushions' etc segments are a bit of a waste of time at that speed. I assumed the instructions would be online but I can't find them - presumably I would have to buy the book

No, I don't like those segments. I also think they've missed the point - that show is going to get people excited about making clothes, not making home furnishings. I can barely sew, but I reckon if I wanted to make curtains, I would look online for how to do it - that tutorial wouldn't inspire me. Whereas I would love to know how to cut a pattern.

To be fair, I expect it is pretty difficult.

I've seen the book reviewed and it wasn't that positive - there's only one pattern in it and the rest you're meant to do some kind of complicated download/scan in/magnify/print out fandango.

tunip wouldn't extra bra padding be the easier way to solve the boob disparity? A friend used to use a random shoulder pad!

I would prefer the programme if there was more technical stuff, I think it is interesting to everyone not just those who sew.

I reckon Ann must win, she is so very good. Sandra did the best dress though IMO and lauren is creative and technical.

It's great seeing what they can all do.

I would love to know more about the adapting a dress. I once bought a size 20 dress in a colour that I love. The theory was that I could take material away but not add. I just don't know how to 'cut it down' and it's got sleeves!

The jackets were very interesting but again not enough time was given to the construction. My DF has a pronounced stoop to his back. How do the tailors do that?

Savile Row won't want to give it's secrets away but a programme that could help with these skills for amateur sewers would be most welcome.

Not a competition.

Could be a bit like those endless property programmes. Do this,do that.

Honestly harbinger its not difficult, just go little by little. Resew the side seams, add darts. Am no technician but find you can get away with all sorts...you can even sew up the side and along the arm seam if you need to reduce bulk around the shoulder and upper arm.

You can get bogged down in redrafting technically, I think tilly did on the show. If you do it little by little all is normally fine...

So do you just do it by eye? You repin it and try a slightly different line?

Droopy shoulder problem is fixed by using a shoulder pad in between the fabric and lining.

harbinger Resizing a dress from big to smaller is actually very technical, as it's not as simple as taking in at the sides. For example on a larger size shift dress, the shoulders are usually cut wider, the armholes are cut lower - you can't put that fabric back. Bust darts are lower on bigger sizes, and if the dart fabric has been cut away on the inside then you can't reposition them (if the fabric was not cut but pressed flat you might stand a chance.) Taking in dresses only usually works within a couple of sizes and even then a lot depends on the style. In the example used in the programme, the dress was very loose fitting to start with, plus it was slightly stretchy, plus it was not lined.

Stoop to back disguise would depend on the severity of the stoop. With slight stoop, extra padding can be sewn in but anything significant wouldn't be completely disguised without making the garment too bulky.

LRD for great tutorials on things like cutting patterns then Tilly featured on the programme has her own blog, Tilly and the Buttons, and she explains basics extremely clearly in her tutorials. (I am not Tilly BTW!)

Tunip you can't really fit a top to wonky boobs it would emphasise not hide! You would need to make the boobs right from the inside ie a filler in one bra cup. Then make the top as normal (symmetrical). There's no way a top with different darts to shape to the different sized boobs would look right!!!!!

PS there are plenty of sewing clothes classes around for beginners & amateurs, certainly in London where I am. Although IMO the best way to learn is to buy some fabric and a pattern (those marked Easy best for non-sewers) and follow the instructions!

The pattern packet tells you what type and length of fabric you'll need, plus any notions (zips, buttons etc). The instructions tell you how to place your pieces on the fabric and give you a step by step guide. This is easier to follow than a tutorial as a tutorial won't give you actual pattern pieces to cut out (unless it has a printable pattern, but means printing out lots of A4 sheets and sellotape together than just buying a normal sewing pattern).

oh yes I see your point re boobs.
It would just never occur to me to put padding in a bra....!

I do ldr, obviously jelly is absolutely right BUT you can see where you need change and whether it is doable. Sometimes you can do surprising or fun stuff. A big frock of my mums made a funky bat winged baggy topped tight skirted dress for example.

An internet purchase I forgot to send back was a very odd shape so added shoulder pleats that looked oddly good, darted the bust and pleated round the middle. Rescued in an hour or so...you have nothing to loose if you don't wear it.
My real errors have been when I have mistaken my thighs for skinny ones:)

Thanks JellyK1, I really think that the dress is doomed. Shoulders too big, darts wrong. However, my DM gave me a book about war time sewing. Along the lines of 'make do and mend'.

My DF has always had suits made without any padding. Never cut to disguise but to allow for.

Harbinger, could you rescue the skirt? And cannibalise the fabric from the top for something else? Sleeves have loads of material in them that you could do something with.