Review: "The Great British Sewing Bee," Season 1, Episode 3

Warning: the video in my link to this episode is cut off at the beginning (slightly) and at the end (significantly). You miss all the judging, but none of the sewing. (Start at 2:08 to miss the review/preview and show intro.)

The three challenges from episode 3 were:
* to make a little girl's dress from a pattern
* to dramatically alter the shape of a rather shapeless dress and
* to make a jacket

Here are some of the topics covered:
* shirring elastic - never heard of this before; my mom used do some kind of smocking which would magically make the dress stretchy in a similar way
* roolow loops - never heard of this before, either (you can tell by how I'm misspelling it); it looks like a type of spaghetti strap; I never knew they had to be cut on the bias
* French seams - I did know this one: sew it together right sides facing together (at this point it looks like a mistake), then turn it so that wrong sides are together and sew it again--now the raw edges are on the inside. I thought that just made the inside prettier, but it makes sense that it also makes the seam more durable (two rows of stitching make it stronger, and the raw edge can't get caught on anything to make it unravel more quickly)
* Boucle tweed - the kind Anne has is quite colorful
* jacket types - an edge-to-edge style, alpine style, and hacking jacket
* collar types - no collar, wrap-around, stand-up
* boiled wool - doesn't fray!
* basting the whole garment together (i.e., sewing with very big stitches, which is fast and easy to take out), then perfecting the fit, then doing the real sewing
* a floating chest piece - some sort of padding

The how-to lesson was on making curtains. These lessons seem basically good but so short and so fast! I can't say I understand where or how to attach the curtain hooks.

The history lesson was on sewing bees for the war effort during World War II. The (British) government actually made patterns for these work groups to use. When fabric got scarce, you were to "make do and mend." (I hadn't heard that phrase before, though I have heard the similar "use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.") Anne made a skirt out of her dad's trousers when she was young, but now she says "I hate having to make do and mend, I think because I had to do it for so long." So sad!

I love that they showed two ways to load the shirring elastic onto the bobbin, and you aren't sure at first whether Sandra is too cocky or genius. Genius!

I also love that they showed different strategies for sewing those shirring lines straight.

And they actually showed Lauren pulling her tiny, tiny roolow loop inside out and I still don't get it!

I was very happy to see the alteration part of this because this was something I could imagine actually wanting to do myself. They did make it sound like changing the shape of the dress was important, so of course there would be more darts or whatever. But then what would they do? Add sleeves? Add a collar? I kind of want to put in gores to make it more wooshy! But that's probably way too time-consuming. They only had 90 minutes and, as Sandra said, "You need a lot more time for more bravery." And I didn't think any of the chosen embellishments actually helped, except maybe the zippers which I found quite dramatic. I can't believe fashion people were calling that too wacky.

I am also surprised--it looks like everyone was keeping their dresses right-side out to pin the darts (though it's hard to tell with that fabric). I'd think it would be easier inside out.

I like Lauren's jacket best; it's the most traditional. But it's also got this crazy trim between the lining and the regular fabric (you can see it at 50:25). "You've neatened absolutely everything." (She fit in a flowery print after all.)

I'm now afraid of all fabrics, except Stuart's boiled wool and perhaps Michelle's polyester. Things do somehow get made out of these fabrics that stretch, slip, and/or fray all the time, but I have no idea how to work with them.

I also still don't have any clues about how to get things to hang straight on asymmetrical bodies, or even how to line things up well between two pieces when they're both big. As Stuart says, "When in doubt, call it punk."

At the end of episode 2, I was pretty sure which two would make it into the final. (Since I skipped the first part of the third episode, I went the whole way not realizing the great news that only one more person would be kicked out.) By the end of the episode, I only still felt sure about one person. Fun!

Fixing Up the New Office

So my office at work is quite empty and sterile (grey and white). I think it could use some blue. And green. But I'm also going to try for neat and fairly minimalist.

Normally I decorate with postcards. I like to tape them to the back of the bottom of the upper cabinets, so there's just a long row of postcards peeping out from underneath. But a) I can't find those postcards and b) I only have one tiny upper cabinet and it's not designed to let me do that anyway. I don't see another appropriate place to do that sort of thing either.

There's one nail on the wall; I've hung my 20-year certificate up there. It has a nice blue mat. I'm bringing another picture to lean up against a wall. The picture has a green mat and a lot of blue and green in the picture.

I plan to get one or two plants as well. Another person with the same lighting is growing a nice pothos ivy, so I think I'd like one of those and I'd like to try for a peace lily. I stink with plants, but have been quite successful with that particular ivy and fairly successful with that lily.

I might also not be able to resist one silly thing. Like a tiny stuffed animal. Or plastic The Tic. Or toy car.

I was able to get pencils and file folders myself; I only have to go through my contact for things we don't have. We don't have an office supplies closet, but we do have part of a dresser-like thing.

I still want a pencil holder, perhaps a glass jar, and a paper clip holder, which will be a little blue ceramic dish I have. I'm also bringing my blue business card holder. It is a little silly what with being super Victorian and having fake diamonds in it. I suppose that could be my silly thing. Maybe.

And unlike my last permanent job, I have access to a kitchen sink. So I'm bringing a real fork, knife and spoon that I can just keep there instead of worrying that they will poke a hole through the plastic bag I'm bringing my lunch in. I just got some at the local thrift store today--they don't match, but I like each one--and they were only $0.60, $0.65 with tax.

I have tried bringing my own soap. I'm still getting into the habit of a) grabbing the soap when I leave, b) remembering to use the soap, and c) putting the soap back when I return. But I've brought it home because it's clogging the hole. I'm going to try diluting it and seeing if that works.

Brownie Fail

I tried a new brownie recipe this evening. As usual, it is a failure. So I have to eat all of them myself. Mwa-ha-ahem.

This experiment started when a boxed brownie mix was on such a good sale that I couldn't resist it. I try very hard to stay away from conventionally grown cocoa in things I buy and from white flour in things I cook. But I can be bought.

Those brownies were yummy. Yet the ingredients were not that crazy (you know, besides the chemicals). Not that much fat, not that much sugar. So I looked at the ingredients list and the nutritional information, did some calculations, and came up with a recipe.

The batter from the mix was quite thick, but my batter was even thicker, even after I added a little more water. And there still was less volume than there was with the mix.

I thought the mix was sweeter than necessary, so I cut the sugar in half. When I tasted the batter, it wasn't sweet at all, so I was doubly glad I had added some chocolate chips (a nice back-up flavoring agent for brownies, especially when you don't trust the recipe).

When the timer went off, the brownies looked basically the same as when I had put them in, but a fork came out clean, so I had to take them out. So sad.

They do taste kind of good, though. They would need a bit more sugar to be party-grade, but they are good enough for me. They are nice and chocolaty. They probably didn't need the chocolate chips.

But what is it that gives good brownies their crackly top? I finally thought to google it. There seem to be three theories: a) it's the eggs, b) it's the dissolved white sugar, and c) it's the lack of moisture.

The editor of theKitchn says it's "actually a very thin layer of meringue that arises when eggs are beaten into creamed butter and sugar. You can encourage its formation by beating the batter for longer than usual after adding the eggs and before adding any other ingredients."

Admittedly, I did not beat the batter much--just enough to combine everything--because it was quite thick. But I did not beat the mix batter much either.

America's Test Kitchen says "The pure sucrose in granulated sugar ... forms a smooth glasslike surface as it cools that reflects light in a focused way, for a shiny effect.

"As for the crackly crust, its formation depends on sugar molecules rising to the surface of the batter and drying out during baking. Since both brown sugar and corn [syrup] contain more moisture than granulated sugar, the surface of brownies made with either of these sweeteners never dries out enough for a crisp crust to form."

I had less-processed whitish sugar. It seems like that's not much different from sparkly white sugar. And I got meringue to work with sugar in the raw--oh, right, I have moved on from the meringue theory and am in the white-sugar theory now.

The folks who do Betty Crocker's FAQ say it's about the water--too much and you don't get it, not enough and you get too much.

I don't think my batter could be any less wet.

I've now eaten four pieces. I think there's hope. Not sure--I'll have to eat some more.

It's not obvious to me what move to make next, but I think I'll try again anyway. Next time I'll use more sugar and I'll beat it with the egg rather than mixing it in with the dry ingredients. I will also check over my measurements again and see if I can find any glaring errors.