Sewing Bee the Final Three

[dillite]

Christian's going home

I think Christian’s wrong fabric choice was Brogan’s saviour. The whole point of ‘on the bias’ was that this was a technique for giving close fitting garments a ‘bit of give’ and with today’s vast range of stretchable fabrics has resulted in this technique being less necessary. So Christian’s stretchy velvet meant he didn’t achieve one of the main objectives of the challenge.

Yes, Cristian didn't really fulfil the main criteria of the challenge so I think even if he'd sewn the dress perfectly, he probably would have gone home.

Some great sewing this week but you don't choose stretch fabric for vintage week. 1930s bras were more substantial than those under the dresses

Yes the instant that Esmeralda demonstrated the two way stretch on that velvet Christian was a dead man walking. If they ask you to make a bra and you turn in a tuxedo then it doesn't matter if it's the world's most well tailored garment then you're not going to pass.

(iPhone doesn't think that Esme is a name)

Do you think Japanese week might be a challenge for Brogan too? Or will she manage to get in a puff sleeve and frill?

I want a pair of those trousers (but not if I'm desperate for a wee!!)

Yes, shame about Cristian's fabric choice. The dress was beautiful as well but I think when things are so close between all of the contestants that's an automatic fail for the quarter final.

I loved Man-Yee's blouse as well, the design of the collar was so unusual but yet so art-deco 30s. Brogan had a bad week but so might have Annie if she didn't pull it out of the bag with her dress. Saying that I don't think Brogan's won GOTW has she? There's still no clear winner though.

It's been such a great series, I wish the episodes were two hours long. Amber Butchart's fashion history parts are a nice touch. She did a programme called A Stitch in Time and part of it was recreating historical garments using techniques from that time. It's a shame it's not on iPlayer anymore.

I absolutely love the faces that Man Yee pulls, she cracks me up. Brogan’s blouse was awful and looked really uneven at the front - surprised judges didn’t mention it. She had a howler this week.

Its a shame about Cristian but probably the right decision.

Missed the last thread, so this may have been mentioned. In the transformation challenge they were supposed to use bits of two men's shirts to make one woman's blouse. Did Christian actually use a second shirt? Nobody mentioned it so maybe I am wrong. Anyway, sad to see him go, but it was the right choice.

I think Brogan will be out next week.

Great series! Deborah is gradually coming out of her shell as they go along, which is lovely to see. I'd like her to win, but would be happy with any of them, actually.

My phone always gives me Brian instead of Brogan.

Brogan really took the criticism well this week i thought. Especially with the trousers.

I wonder if the judges specifically said that the fabric shouldn't be a modern two way stretch one? It isn't something I would have thought of and I'm not sure how experienced Cristian is. Irrespective of the fabric, he was the right person to go though as he didn't finish his dress amongst other issues.

I still can't pick a winner. They are all excellent but all still have shockers with some of the challenges. It's an interesting series this year!

In the transformation challenge they were supposed to use bits of two men's shirts to make one woman's blouse. Did Christian actually use a second shirt?

I think they could only have the fabric from two shirts, no more. I'm not sure if they actually had to use both. I guess not because, as you say, no one mentioned it.

Good point, I heard it as a requirement but it may well have been a limit. Anyway, it was a poor choice on his part as his blouse was a bit dull compared with the others.

It could have been great as the green fabric was perfect I thought. It would have gone well with the cream one he discarded. I guess he was short on time having changed his plans half way through.

Didn't Cristian scrap his first attempt and start a new one? Maybe that's why he couldn't put so much effort into it. The fabric choice for the dress was just wrong. Cutting on the bias was done because there were no stretch fabrics in the 30s. Also a stretch fabric is basically a knit so cutting on the bias would make it hang all wrong. Just a bad week for him but somebody had to go.

I deliberately don't watch the "next week" segment as I think they show too much but I'm really looking forward to Japanese week. I remember one year they had a fabulous skirt as the pattern challenge that was kind of made up of spirals of fabric with no obvious way for it to become a skirt as it was so different to the usual patterns.

I'm not that keen on the Japanese designs like that skirt and really didn't like the origami dresses last time. I'm interested in the sashiko mending on the jeans though. I have mended jeans this way although probably not as well as they do it so I'll be taking inspiration.

I liked the "engineering" aspect of them more than the finished garments really.

Oh wow - Sewing Bee is back! I didn't know. I'm going to have a really nice time watching catch-up! Thank you, all, for this thread.

Last night brought back such a vivid memory of standing on a chair as a child whilst my dad or mum hemmed something they'd made for me or fitted something on me - that scratchy feeling of the pins as you took the garment off!

I thought it was great to see the same pattern done by two contestants and how different it looked in the different colours. Annie's was beautiful, but I think it helped with her models colouring whereas Man Yees model was very pale and didn't really show off the dress to its best. That said, it wasn't fitted as well as it could have been. It felt quite high to the neck compared to Annie's.
I loved Man Yees transformation challenge blouse though. I think it's good a lot of the eras she doesn't know anything about and has researched them. She seems to pick out the right bits to get the feel. I don't like it when they use the hot glue guns for those challenges but there was one contestant, might have been to get into the final or was the final, who used it a lot on a net skirt with loads of flowers on it. But I guess if they don't want them being used, they shouldn't be made available.
GOTW was right imo. Looking forward to next weeks Japanese garments. Loved the origami dresses in a previous episode.

Both your parents could sew! How lovely. In my family threading a needle and sewing on a button is about as much as any of us can manage, unfortunately. My year of sewing lessons at school (a looooong time ago) didn't help matters. I love watching others do it, though. Such a gift.

To be honest, my dad could do pretty much anything he turned his hand to as he had that "practical" gene. My mum could sew but didn't really enjoy doing it. Both were from the "make do and mend" generation.

i remember them making me a Humpty Dumpty together when I was very small. I still have him in the life.

That was an unusually bad week for Brogan, she is normally so consistent. I think it will be Deborah or Man Yee for the win, but I like them all (including Brogan, I hate the way people are mean about her just because of the way she speaks, it is not in the spirit of a lovely, kind programme).

Great episode last night. They're really challenging this lot with a variety of fabrics and techniques. It reminds me of s4 , where they made everything from bras and sports wear to tailored jackets.

Cristian leaving was the right decision I think. That fabric wasn't in the spirit of the challenge. They we're all beautiful dresses though. Man Yee's blouse was my favourite garment. Imagine being able to knock that up on the fly. She's so talented.