Sewing Bee! Mannequins at the ready!

[Roussette]

It's back on Thursday! here. No details of contestants yet. How many men this time? Any?

Ten sewers, six weeks, can't wait!

(Can't think of another word for sewers at the moment, wish I could!)

Lorna for the win, Neela for the chop?

Yes I think Neela might be going.

Aww yes, she was lovely but the competition is stiff must stop narrating it like Patrick

Looks like it's corsets next week!

Sod it, I'm away and won't be able to see it till the weekend, but will catch up

I now want to make a walk-away dress - that looks lovely, and actually, really quite easy as the finishing is all under bias binding.

And here's the pattern Walk away dress

I love this series but I wish they had a more interesting female judge. I'm sure she's very nice but she just doesn't bring much to the programme.

I now want to make a walk away dress out of some flowery curtains. Off to charity shops to have a look later!

I know this isn't S&B but what type of shoes look best with a knee length full-skirt?

I agree about May. She has such apparent talent for sewing but wears the worst blue sack of a dress each week. From blogs I've heard she is great behind the scenes with the contestants but I'm not totally enamoured with her on screen.

Bowled over by the walkaway dress and looked on jaycotts site last night. £7.88. In stock. Today went to order ALL GONE, OUT OF STOCK! Gutted.

I've got a couple of 50s style / wiggle dresses. I wear them with low heel court shoes or Mary Jane shoes (one with the ankle strap). I've even got a dolly bag!

Thank you pigeon I have ordered eeeeeeeeeek

Place marking for next week.

I am definitely having a walkaway. Need to butcher the front bodice panel for but otherwise hurrah.

During the episode I thought it was a shame they used all one fabric, but some of the versions I've seen in my Google image search with contrast pieces look dodgy. I think a small pattern on the back and skirt, and the front pieces in the background colour but plain - eg red with little white polkadots and plain red. And contrast binding (white).

They said medium weight cotton, didn't they? I'm within spitting distance of Aba Khan on Wednesday...

Yes Mary totally agree, it is such a peaceful programme ! And every year it always seems that the contestants really like each other. I love it when they bond and if someone is having a meltdown, another contestant will come over and help, even though time is so precious with each challenge.

I'm still trying to talk my amazingly talented friend into entering, but she is resisting. How dare she!

MrsHath yes it was medium weight cotton they used for the walkaway dress.. too stiff and it would stick out too much, too soft and it would just hang. Some of the images of these dresses to my mind are in too soft material.. here is one with contrasting materials, not sure if I like it or not. I like the back view!

Roussette I love how she says you need "kilometres of satin bias" although the one on Sewing Bee who used satin was really regretting it.

I think the dress in your link is pretty good and just about what I was trying to describe, although I'd have tried to find a binding in the same colour as the pattern.

Yes MrsHath agree, that's why I think I like it from the back! I don't like the cream contrast binding, makes it look a bit home made.

I caught up on this last night as it clashed with East Enders :)

I think the dress would look good done in plain apart from the part of the skirt that's attached to the front bodice so there's a hidden contrast. Either that or patterned with a contrasting coloured plain front skirt.

I'm not sure I like the fact that the top is plain on the front and patterned on the back in the link!

Wrt no using any other fabric for the curtain challenge, they were allowed to use anything from the haberdashery which I guess is where all the ruffled trim came from.

Of course you can make your own bias binding and do it using the fabric from the dress. I have these binding makers www.sewdirect.com/acatalog/Bias-Tape-Maker-1393.html and all you need to do is cut bias strips, stitch them together and iron.

I've made miles of the stuff over the years as it meant I could have 'just' the right colour.

Do think I need one of those attachment feet for the sewing machine thought and wish I'd had one years ago!

I bought a set of bias binding makers after the first series. I've never had a use for them yet but I HAD to have them!

I also have one of those special feet they showed this week and now I know what it does!!. It came in a box of sewing stuff from a charity shop but I don't think it will fit my modern Janome :o

Actually, I have several odd feet that I don't know what they do. I think they are probably for an old Singer.

Not feet - they are attachements to a foot I think.

maryz oh I LOVED Project Runway when pg/the early days of DD but then we moved house and lost the channel, never thought to watch it online now,must go looking for it

Soupy - aren't those lovely. I agree, I think that they are attachments. Can't work out what some of them are, but I think that the second one up might be for a rolled hem and the top one might be for piping, but not being able to see them very well, I can't be sure! You're just going to have to experiment!

The don't fit! [wail]

They seem to need some kind of screw on the back of where the foot goes. my Janome doesn't have one at the back at all. Annoyingly, I am fairly sure my parents Husqvana does, but that's 70 miles away.

I can't see a way of attaching them to mine, dammit.

I have no idea what they are for but they do look like they roll the fabric somehow.

There was a cute bobbin in the box too...