Sewing Bee 2024 thread 2 - 5 down, 7 to go!

[SoupDragon]

The other thread was getting too slow (and we were running out of space faster than the thread on a bobbin)

Was it Mia? She made a "Chanel style" suit.

Yes, it definitely looked like cheating or not in the spirit of the challenge as that blanket didn't look reused at all. People who had tatty looking blankets in dodgy colours as many crocketed granny square blankets are not surprisingly made less nice garments

Yep
https://x.com/sewingbee/status/1669087150472658945?t=CQEhYj_L1kY3cWZp1IqxXQ&s=19

I can't remember her name but she did make a chanel suit. The suit looked very good but it really wasn't a charity shop blanket.

Screenshot of the twitter link above for those who can't see it.

Looks great. But no way in hell was that a lucky find.

I've rewatched that bit of the episode and I didn't actually hear any reference to her having made the blanket. She did say "lucky to find..." though.

Odd.

I was skipping through it a bit but I don't think I missed her say anything.

From a time point of view, I don't see how she could have made it. I crochet and it takes me ages to make a blanket!

She could have had several family members or friends working on it. It would be an unbelievably lucky charity shop find - brand new (not worn or stretched), lovely colours (not odd ends like most of these things) - I'm just not buying it.

yeah - her garment was lovely but i don't believe for one second it was a charity shop find.

I never got the point of that blanket to clothes challenge. The yarn you use to make blankets is usually much thicker than that for clothes, and the blankets are a lot heavier and warmer which means the garments would be far too heavy and warm. I’d only consider it for a coat or jacket outdoor layer garment.

if I wanted a crochet garment, I’d crochet one and I could shape as needed for armholes etc - cutting knitted or crochet items is a recipe for disaster no matter how much facing or over stitching you do. It was very much an art school type task, not a home sewer task.

I've always crocheted blanket squares in ordinary double knitting. Usually left over from knitting clothes.

I totally agree with your second paragraph.

Suzy just came up on my Instagram feed, modelling a dress she'd made out of a duvet cover. I think I have a similar problem thinking about making an old duvet cover into a dress as @ThreeWordHarpy has about making a crochet blanket into a dress, namely isn't the weight of the fabric too wrong? My duvet covers are made of quite heavy, thick cotton. I'm not sure they'd drape right.

Duvet covers come in different weights of fabric - usually according to original cost!

Unless they're really good quality and the weight and drape is just right for the garment, I think they old duvet covers are best kept for toiles. Bobbly old polycotton from one of George's finest, covered in marker pen, isn't very insta friendly, though.

Curtains and duvet covers are used a lot for steampunk, not sure I'd want them for everyday though. It tends to be more satiny fabrics that can used.

Thinking about it, gay men have had camp as a personality type on tv for a long time. Even back in the days of Larry Grayson, and Julian and Sandy, being gay has been part of their schtick. It’s only been in very recent years that gay women have even mentioned it. Think about Sandi Toksvig, Sue Perkins, Claire Balding all becoming being hugely popular with their sexuality being a side note. So for gay woman there is no reason to mention it any more than they have a pet cat. There is nothing to gain, there is no female equivalent of camp.

I've always found the camp personality intriguing because of the lack of a female equivalent.

Isn't 'lesbian thug' the kind of equivalent of 'camp'? I mean not really, but if 'camp' is a man being overly effeminate then the opposite would be a woman being overly 'masculine' - no?

Maybe it's not as obvious because it's acceptable for women to be more masculine in terms of dress and mannerisms. It's definitely not really a "thing" in the same way.

I think butch is probably the nearest equivalent?

And a lesbian in dungarees with a bad haircut is less 'overt' than a man putting on a 'feminine voice'... I guess.

Or perhaps 'theatrical' would be a better word

I'm currently making a pair of shorts (out of a duvet cover as it happens). Could I just lengthen legs the pattern to make full length wide legged trousers or am I missing something obvious?

That should be fine, but consider the shape of the legs. You might want to extend the legs so that the new hem is the same width as the current hem, which would mean that the top of the leg is a bit narrower than on the shorts

https://so-sew-easy.com/elastic-waist-linen-shorts/

I was planning on using an existing pair of wide legged trousers to gauge the leg shape etc.

Thank you - I couldn't see where there might be a problem but I don't know enough about the technicalities of changing patterns.