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Wot No Great British Sewing Bee thread?

sparklefish said:
It was very well done but I bloody hate cut out dresses and it was weird with that fabric. I was really shocked it was garment of the week.
I loved the young guy's dress, the blue one with all the gathering.
I'm now searching for adjustable dressmakers dummies on eBay. [emoji1]
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Just watched it on catch up, the cut out dress was good but in a "that's clever" sort of way rather than "I'd wear that" also it reminded me of the dress Julia Roberts wore in Pretty Woman when she went to the polo.
Loved the blue dress, the folky pattern on Deobrah's dress and I thought the way the pattern was matched up on the floral trousers was fab.
 
Right well after dithering and not reading the pattern properly (I know I know:facepalm:) I ended up cutting out all of the different bits of the pattern (its a 6 style skirt) before realising I only needed bit 6 and 7. So I have now cut everything out and I have pinned my darts in (5 sets!!) which I have never done before so I have just pinned it all and I am going to measure it all again tomorrow before sewing it together on Monday. Fingers crossed, see I did say it would take me almost all day I would make bloody awful telly watching:D

Yes I loved the fabric Deborah chose and the fabric the lovely teacher lady picked as well I have to say that up until very recently I have always resisted bright colours and busy patterns as I preferred to blend in with just boring old black but I am learning to love patterns these days.
 
On an entirely unrelated note, my dressmaking course, my teacher is a big fan of making a toile - so basically making up your garment in a cheap fabric. Then you can adjust the pattern so it fits you perfectly.

I'm making my top in an old sheet from Sue Ryder at the moment and it's great because it's giving me confidence. I have had a Spoonflower pre-printed skirt for 2 years which I've been too scared to cut out :o
 
my mum always makes a toile whenever she makes anything especially due to her size, and yeah old bedsheets are a good and fairly cheap way of doing it as well. Mum also asked her dress making teacher to make her a block for her half which she reckons has helped her loads.
 
ARRGGGGHHH I HAVE UNPICKED MY FUCKING ZIP 8 FUCKING TIMES. I CANNOT GET IT RIGHT. I think I am going to pop to the sewing shop and buy a invisible zipper foot as I am struggling with getting it as close as I need it.
 
aww thanks Boudica, my mum has just told me to stop being a twonk and to see her after work tomorrow so she can help me:oops::D I almost had it at one point but it just kept slipping away from me. :mad:
 
An old fashioned hand sewing machine is brilliant - not too fast with enough control to get nice and tight to seams and such. I keep my Frister for curtains (and buttonholes) and always fall back on the old Singer for zips, lapels and facings.
Another vote for toiles (having ruined far too many expensive cuts of cloth).

I haven't seriously done much dressmaking since the 70s (when it was impossible to get really nice children's clothes such as tracksuits in cotton jersey). Fabric has rocketed in price and, much as I avoid the likes of Primark, it is hard to justify spending £££ for enough cotton to make a decent shift dress.
Same with knitting, but, as it is almost impossible to buy cheap pure wool garments (rather than 100% acrylic), buying good wool has never seemed such an extravagance to me, especially since I can keep a good woolly on the go for 20 years.

I also miss shopping in northern fabric mills and markets - John Lewis tends to be both generic and dull and also bloody expensive.
 
Goldhawk road fabric shops are where I like to have a wander if looking for fabric, that and the last few shops in Soho on Berwick St. I'm staying away however as I have more fabric than time to make stuff.
 
My mum is a big dressmaker / sew-er (left out the hyphen initially - looked a bit odd :D) and gets her fabrics and everything else from Walthamstow market - loads of shops and stalls. I do like this programme, and really don't know why - it should be like watching paint dry, but it isn't!
 
Caught up with this. Really enjoyed this week, I love the tiny waistcoats just adorable. I think the airhostess lady is gonna be hard to beat but I am pleased Alex went, I wouldn't be surprised if Neela goes next. Loving Ryan and Deborah still, I am going back to my skirt this Saturday and I will finish it. *determined face* I am saving up the episodes for etnea to watch as well though this may be cruel as she will have to only watch 4 episodes.
 
onenameshelley said:
Caught up with this. Really enjoyed this week, I love the tiny waistcoats just adorable. I think the airhostess lady is gonna be hard to beat but I am pleased Alex went, I wouldn't be surprised if Neela goes next. Loving Ryan and Deborah still, I am going back to my skirt this Saturday and I will finish it. *determined face* I am saving up the episodes for etnea to watch as well though this may be cruel as she will have to only watch 4 episodes.
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Alex definitely needed to go, I'm looking forward to this week, costumes were fun but I prefer seeing 'real' clothes being made. Also my fella was having computer probs during last week's ep and kept interrupting and asking me how to fix them :mad: he's going to be banished to the pub this week so I can watch in peace. Looking forward to seeing pics of the skirt!
 
That was a bit of a shock - the dress they made near the start of tonight's episode (with the bound edges) is a pattern I've had in the stash pile for a few years. The pattern pieces are all cut, and I've even got the (uncut) cloth, just never got around to actually making it. :oops:

Edited to add: Butterick B4790, one of the few which is petitable without being boring.
 
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Watched this with significant other for the first time today. Noticed that the building they're in appeared on a 1980a Halifax advert.
 
Greebo said:
That was a bit of a shock - the dress they made near the start of tonight's episode (with the bound edges) is a pattern I've had in the stash pile for a few years. The pattern pieces are all cut, and I've even got the (uncut) cloth, just never got around to actually making it. :oops:

Edited to add: Butterick B4790, one of the few which is petitable without being boring.
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It's a lovely pattern - looking forward to seeing pictures when it's done :)

Lorna and Ryan were my favourites this week I think, am really looking forward to corsets and kilts next week :cool:
 
Cribynkle said:
<snip> am really looking forward to corsets and kilts next week :cool:
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OMG all that engineering, and umpteen yards of finishing. It'll be interesting to see how people coming to it more or less from scratch tackle those things.
 
I like all of the contestants as well as the haberdashery (I have a thing for haberdashery. While I have no talent with a sewing machine, I could burst with joy at the thought of ruffles, invisible zips and piping) Normally they have one massively irritating one, but they all seem lovely.

I wish I DID have talent. And a sewing machine :(
 
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