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Review: "The Great British Sewing Bee," Season 1, Episode 1
Why yes, I am going to review each episode I see. There's so much in them!
The three challenges from episode one were:
* to make an A-line skirt from a pattern
* to alter the collar of a ready-made blouse, and
* to make a casual dress to fit a specific real person
Here are some of the topics covered:
* what an A-line skirt is and what some of the challenges in making one are
* some techniques for making a 2-dimensional fabric fit a 3-dimensional person
* bias binding
* broderie anglaise - what it is (sort of); not how to make it
* how to make a border in a contrasting fabric
* how to measure the bustline
* that silk is hard to work with because it stretches easily (and then stays stretched out in the new, unplanned shape)
* that sewing different types of fabric together is problematic
* pattern matching - what it is, not how to do it
* that you're asking for trouble if you don't try to physically fit the pattern to the person before you start cutting the fabric
The how-to lesson was on making a laundry bag with two drawstrings - and you get to see a bias-binding maker.
The history lesson was on how patterns are a recent development; Samuel Beaton published the first pull-out paper dress-making pattern in 1863, making it easier for people sewing at home.
I learned from Georgette Heyer novels that (upper-class) people would bring pictures of outfits they wanted to their tailors. To save money, you might buy the fabric yourself and bring it in to your tailor. And if you liked someone's hat or coat, you didn't ask for the pattern; you asked who made it. Some people did make and re-make their own dresses. And although Heyer and Jane Austin say that women were supposed to do loads of sewing, I think lots of it was embroidered embellishments rather than making things from scratch.
Here are some quotes I enjoyed:
"Totally out of my comfort zone again!" - Mark
"I might have been at the top of the last challenge, but I'll think I'll be at the bottom of this one!" - Sandra
"It's a bit of a disaster, and I've lost one of the collar pieces as well." - Tilly
"I'm adding a little gathered rose to the front of the neck, but my hands are very sweaty, so it's a little difficult to pull a needle through." - Stuart
"I've probably just made the same mistake twice." - Tilly(?)
After trying to fix a mistake - "I don't think it looks right. I think it looks a bit ridiculous. But it will give everyone something to smile about, won't it?" - Sandra
Evil, but catchy - "It's good from afar, but far from good." - Patrick
"The last thing you want to do when you're hand-stitching is panic." - Tilly
"Overall, I'm really proud of myself that I finished a dress in seven hours; I've never done that before. And it doesn't look too bad." - Tilly
"I've never made a dress before, so I've not done bad." - Mark
"I think I should just call myself the polyester girl because I'm never going to work with silk ever again because it's been a nightmare." - Michelle
The three challenges from episode one were:
* to make an A-line skirt from a pattern
* to alter the collar of a ready-made blouse, and
* to make a casual dress to fit a specific real person
Here are some of the topics covered:
* what an A-line skirt is and what some of the challenges in making one are
* some techniques for making a 2-dimensional fabric fit a 3-dimensional person
* bias binding
* broderie anglaise - what it is (sort of); not how to make it
* how to make a border in a contrasting fabric
* how to measure the bustline
* that silk is hard to work with because it stretches easily (and then stays stretched out in the new, unplanned shape)
* that sewing different types of fabric together is problematic
* pattern matching - what it is, not how to do it
* that you're asking for trouble if you don't try to physically fit the pattern to the person before you start cutting the fabric
The how-to lesson was on making a laundry bag with two drawstrings - and you get to see a bias-binding maker.
The history lesson was on how patterns are a recent development; Samuel Beaton published the first pull-out paper dress-making pattern in 1863, making it easier for people sewing at home.
I learned from Georgette Heyer novels that (upper-class) people would bring pictures of outfits they wanted to their tailors. To save money, you might buy the fabric yourself and bring it in to your tailor. And if you liked someone's hat or coat, you didn't ask for the pattern; you asked who made it. Some people did make and re-make their own dresses. And although Heyer and Jane Austin say that women were supposed to do loads of sewing, I think lots of it was embroidered embellishments rather than making things from scratch.
Here are some quotes I enjoyed:
"Totally out of my comfort zone again!" - Mark
"I might have been at the top of the last challenge, but I'll think I'll be at the bottom of this one!" - Sandra
"It's a bit of a disaster, and I've lost one of the collar pieces as well." - Tilly
"I'm adding a little gathered rose to the front of the neck, but my hands are very sweaty, so it's a little difficult to pull a needle through." - Stuart
"I've probably just made the same mistake twice." - Tilly(?)
After trying to fix a mistake - "I don't think it looks right. I think it looks a bit ridiculous. But it will give everyone something to smile about, won't it?" - Sandra
Evil, but catchy - "It's good from afar, but far from good." - Patrick
"The last thing you want to do when you're hand-stitching is panic." - Tilly
"Overall, I'm really proud of myself that I finished a dress in seven hours; I've never done that before. And it doesn't look too bad." - Tilly
"I've never made a dress before, so I've not done bad." - Mark
"I think I should just call myself the polyester girl because I'm never going to work with silk ever again because it's been a nightmare." - Michelle
Spoiler comment
Also, it's sad/amusing that so many people said their skirt must be lined and then they just ran out of time and didn't do it. Yet one person still managed to!
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There are some pretty big mistakes on this show, but it doesn't bother me because it's just a sign that even experts at one type of sewing might not be perfect at something they never or rarely do under a time constraint with (almost?) no learning resources. It feels more like watching Olympic skaters fall than like watching spoiled brats who think they are good at skating because of all their many participation trophies or whatever. However, your mileage may vary.