Sewing Bee back tonight

[Dottiethekangaroo]

I have just seen this in the newspaper. I am so excited, brand new host too.

Late to this because of the football , I think they are trying to push Luke for the win but I don’t like much of what they make and that thing today was dreadful , one arm was longer than the other ! I know it’s likely bad editing but who will Kiel talk to now Lauren has gone .

I liked Ailsa's GOTW and thought it deserved the crown, (would have liked it more with another ten minutes being properly ironed) but it did look strangely like a high concept airline stewardess dress if EasyJet decided to go to India.

This show is getting ridiculous now how everyone doesn't finish within the time. It doesn't make good telly. As it's simmered down for an hour's viewing it makes no difference how long they give them. It really does need sorting out as does the transformation challenge which frequently produces unwearable items resembling Vivienne Westwood seconds circa 1982.

This is the first episode I have managed to see this series and apologies if this has been covered earlier in the thread but I thought the garments tonight were terrible - so many of the nehru jackets were unfinished - and not just missing the odd button or hem, they were half-done! Also GOTW had several unfinished garments - surely it's not usual to have so many safety pins and poorly finished garments? Are this year's contestants not very good or are the projects getting more and more demanding all the time? Either way, if so many people are missing the mark with their garments something needs to change because it's not particularly interesting to see so many badly-finished or unfinished projects.

It's a combo of poor contestants and tighter time restraints.

Some of the contestants seem to get away with a lot more than others, too.

The time restraints are really spoiling this show for me now, I used to watch it religiously but have only dipped into it a couple of times this year. It's going the way of GBBO.

I want to see these wonderfully talented sewers make amazing garments, not half finished unwearable stuff.

Wish we could go back to how it was in the earlier series.

Are the time restraints tighter than in previous series or is it that the contestants just can't manage them? I can't remember a series that's been this bad before.

Ailsa's deserved GOTW as her dress fitted the brief properly. Suzy was saved for the same reason I think - I reckon the design of her M2M tipped the scales in her favour.

"It's a combo of poor contestants and tighter time constraints."

I agree with you @PickAChew

"Some of the contestants seem to get away with a lot more than others, too."

I thought that also @PickAChew

I loved Ailsa's reaction when she won Garment of the Week. She was genuinely shocked.

I think Pascha will win. She is consistently good.

Pascha has been my front runner from the start and Alex and Ailsa are both good but make some big mistakes but what is really lacking is someone absolutely brilliant, like Asmaa, last year, for them to chase. In the years when there have been brilliant front runners, it's been really enjoyable to watch some of the good sewers with skill gaps and even some of the middle of the pack blossom and develop.

I agree with the sentiments here. I liked previous series when we had the elegant older contestants that had obvious dressmaking skills developed over decades and who the youngsters could learn from. Just like Interior Design masters etc I’m fatigued by the need to present someone’s sexuality as somehow relevant to their ability to carry out the tasks - personally I couldn’t give a shiny shit who you go to bed with, the real question is can you make a dog’s raincoat from leftover oilcloth or know how to do a rolled hem at speed!…. Someone mentioned upthread that they knew someone with talent that was rejected from the show and they felt that it was down to a lack of backstory, which would be a shame. I understand the need to have ‘interesting’ people (I’m looking at you Janet) but not at the expense of viewers learning something (and not just had they didn’t have enough time).

Agree Pasha for the win

I agree with all the comments, particularly that this year's show consists of poor candidates and silly time constraints. I can't believe we've got to week 5 and they are still making such horrendous bodge jobs. There's no-one really standing out for me, although I think Ailsa, Alex and Pascha are my front runners.

I love Suzy.

She makes all her own clothes like Ann did in the first series , I think - but to her own, out-there aesthetic I don’t share but appreciate. Killing Eve sleeves wherever possible! She prepares (“I made seven of these”) and when she buggers things up she gets upset but instantly regroups.

She’s confidently herself and she aspires to more complicated heights in her creations.

I think Pasha is great, I liked Ailsa’s GOTW and I was sorry to lose Lauren but that Grecian drape thing didn’t fit the brief.

Luke’s inventive dress was partly great but the sari part looked like a giant nappy coming from the crotch, ungainly and stupid, and the slash was far too high. I also wish he’d have a personality rather than an identity.

Marcus’s attempts are interesting but I think he’s not likely to stay for much longer unless he gets his shit together more. Now they’re shed the obvious ones it gets harder. (Agree about the balding - just own it, Marcus!)

Agree with the previous comments. In the past there have been extremely talented and experienced sewers (Ann, Clare, Asmaa) who were nailed-on winners from the start, but this time nobody’s above the level of middling (Pascha is the best by far but compared to the three I mentioned, not in the same sphere), and some are maybe not quite at that point yet. Which is fine, I’d never discourage anyone from sewing as it’s a really enjoyable thing to do and gives enormous pleasure.

The problem is that, when faced with unrealistically squeezed times for the actual sewing, the results aren’t going to be great. So it’s a question of what the show is now for - to let us see talented people doing something creative really well, or cover our eyes watching them go to pieces bodging their makes horrendously because they haven’t quite got the level of skill or experience yet, and they’re being unfairly rushed?

I know which show I’d rather watch.

@Netaporter writes ".....Just like Interior Design Masters etc I'm fatigued by the need to present someone's sexuality as somehow relevant to their ability to carry out the tasks- personally I couldn't give a shiny shit who you go to bed with, the real question is can you make a dog's raincoat from leftover oilcloth or know how to do a rolled hem at speed !...."

I'm with you there. m😂

I admit to knowing next to nothing about sewing but I’d place Alex over Pascha. Apart from her calico mistake this week she’s been more consistent surely?

I thought Alex had nailed it every week by her strategic choices: didn't give herself too much to do, always provided what was asked for.

And then she said "I won't use calico' on the project that was specifically about using calico.

Seriously have none of them watched previous series? You have to provide a finished garment that meets the brief set.

@AlohaRose to be honest, I really thought they had run down to the street and grabbed a dozen randoms to sew!! they were, and still are, rubbish at sewing!!! have not seen much, if any, improvement!

Agree I thought Alix was a sensible sewer and then she sounded like another "I know best" daftie

Given the need to draft their own patterns for the made to measure this week, I really feel like they should have been allowed more time than if they were just making from a pattern.

I thought Ailsa's looked much better on the mannequin than it did on the model, it seemed very bulky around the middle on the model, because of the amount of overlapping fabric in one area. I assume it had been better arranged in the mannequin (and then if didn't have to move)

Totally agree about contestant quality. Usually there is at least one, and often two stand out people, like Asmaa, Rapha the French guy who won, Clare the doctor, and they all had really good contestants who gave them a run for their money. I don't think anyone has the real artistic flair that they had. A bit of a lack lustre year sadly.

I think it will be between Pascha and Ailsa.

Host has calmed down a bit and has grown on me, but I think he will miss flirting with Lauren.

Asmaa and Clare were amazing @TonTonMacoute.
I can just about sew on a button and was in awe of their talent.

I didn't think Alix was "I know best".

She heard the stated brief, which was IIRC "use up to X madras shirts and up to Y metres of calico", and followed the brief to the letter as she understood it. I think she misinterpreted the calico as an optional extra, like when they say, "you can use any additional trimmings from the habadashery" but don't mark you down for not using them.

She fell foul, as contestants sometimes do on the transformation challenge, of the unstated judging criteria that P&E have in their heads: in this case, "the winner will be the one who uses a good amount of both fabrics and combines the two fabrics most effectively". But she got through the week comfortably so no harm done.

I wasn’t sure why Asmaa sewed so many bra’s until it was explained she was a breast surgeon and made bespoke bra’s for her patients. I was just humbled by that. She was like the Nadiya Hussain of sewing.

I searched for this thread to see if anyone was talking about the quality of the sewing this year. Obviously they are a million times better than me but normally I'm blown away by the skill and creativity of at least two or three but I'm not seeing that in this series.

I really enjoyed last night's episode once again. I love Kiell, he's my second favourite behind Claudia.

It drives me mad when they choose an obviously wrong fabric for the pattern challenge - instantly puts them in peril. Having said that, although Alex's jacket was clearly the best, Pascha's Bollywood jacket would have been lovely if she'd finished it.

I loved the Madras fabric, it's so cheerful. Georgie’s transformation was fab.

I thought Suzy had a very lucky escape, but assumed Lauren was doomed when she had two bad results AND then chose a self-drafted pattern. V high risk.

I don't think Ailsa's dress was perfect but I really enjoy the way she thinks things through, she really pays attention to the brief. I think she might win if she continues strongly.