Episode 2 The Great British Sewing Bee

Welcome back to The Great British Sewing Bee.

This week, the search for Britain's best home sewer

gets tougher. There's a place in the semi-final at stake,

so the judges aren't going to make it easy.

Last time, our contest started simple - an A-line skirt,

a neckline alteration, and a made-to-measure dress.

I've gone in the wrong way! I'm coming out, I'm coming out.

An 81-year-old grandmother of seven...

I totally underestimated the length of time that this was going to take.

..and an HGV mechanic from Derby...

This is the third zip I've ever done in my life.

..were contenders for Garment of the Week.

I think you've pulled off a bit of a coup here.

Savile Row's Patrick Grant and sewing teacher May Martin...

We chose...this one.

..declared Mark the week's winner...

Never judge a book by its cover.

..and sent Michelle home.

This week, life in the sewing room is about to get a bit harder.

-This is adventurous, Stuart.

-It is, it is.

-God loves a tryer.

The home sewers must make a pair of trousers in just four hours...

Geronimo.

Have I done it wrong already, then?

..customise a High Street skirt in 60 minutes...

Oh, that's a lovely pocket.

..and tailor a perfectly fitting silky blouse.

Lauren's got hers on the model? I'm not looking.

But who will produce the best garment this week?

The pressure's on, and some of these blouses are not together yet.

And which two sewers will struggle to keep their place?

-It's all gone a bit Pete Tong.

-This could be it for me.

I think you could have been more ambitious.

And I think we'll leave it at that.

Thank you.

Two days of precision sewing lie ahead.

The machines are ready and the shears have been sharpened.

Let battle commence.

The six remaining sewers return to East London

for another two days of intense sewing.

Ah... Interesting.

They have no idea what today's two challenges will involve.

All they know is they'll have to make three items of clothing

over the next 48 hours, at the end of which, two of them will be leaving the Sewing Bee.

OK, welcome back, please come and join us at the cutting table.

Huge congratulations for getting to round two.

It's time for the first challenge, and the judges

would like you to make a pair of men's trousers.

Men's trousers...

Tilly's shaking her head, I feel bad about that.

You have four hours, good luck.

I will bring you muffins. Off you go.

Totally lying about the muffins.

In this first challenge, May and Patrick

will test the sewers' ability to follow a pattern.

Today, it's for a pair of men's trousers,

which have a waistband,

slim legs that taper

towards the ankle,

and a zip fly,

a tricky fastening to master.

As long as they follow the pattern,

the sewers are free to make their trousers from any fabric they fancy

from the sewing room's haberdashery.

I'm trying to avoid anything with stripes or big checks

that I'll have to match up, and I've chosen... I think this is

a gabardine or a twill, it's quite heavy, it's not going to fray.

It's probably one of the better ones to go for,

so I'm wasting time, I'm just going to go for it.

Ooh, I need thread, though.

Can I just ask you, Mr Tailor,

and the person who is king of trousers,

if you don't mind me saying,

what kind of fabric should they be going for? A heavy wool?

Well, even good trouser makers might have to do the odd bit of

unpicking and re-stitching, so a decent, substantial weight of cloth

will allow them to work it two or three times without any problem.

They need something firm enough to handle,

so that they're not dealing with fabric slipping and sliding around.

How many pieces of fabric is in that trouser?

This bit, four. One, two, three, four.

-Yep.

-You know, they want to hang...

You know, that seam needs to go

down the outside, and if they don't line the pattern up at the knee

before they start sewing, there's a danger that they'll twist around.

Can I make red trousers for a man?

They're going to be red wool.

Men can wear red trousers these days, I think, can't they?

Now, what I want to see is what they've done with the lining.

When Ann goes clothes shopping with her eldest daughter, Sally,

she rarely buys anything.

Mum will quite often take herself off somewhere quite nice

so that she can have a little snoop at the way that

the professionals put their clothes together.

She sewed for all of us when we were little, but she still makes stuff for me now.

She made a dress and jacket for me for a friend's wedding.

Never says no, nothing's too much trouble.

I've got sons. When they were children, I must have made

trousers for them, but, I mean, they wouldn't have been like this.

I would imagine they had elastic waists, then they went into jeans.

Can you imagine a boy in a pair of jeans that his mum made?

-"No, thank you."

-SHE LAUGHS

I'm hearing that, Ann!

Just imagine the horror!

Yeah. They'd leave home, wouldn't they?

I've never made a pair of men's trousers before,

so I'm really out of my comfort zone.

I'm happy with this fabric I've chosen. I don't think it'll

crease too badly, it should be nice to work with.

My mum is a proper fabric hoarder.

-She's got two ottomans full. She's got some...

-Under the stairs.

Yeah, under the stairs, she's got it in the loft...

Allotment-lover Sandra is from Wolverhampton. Her husband,

Antony, is the only family member she's never made clothes for.

Mum made everything when we was younger, didn't she?

Yeah. Everything that we can remember was handmade.

Seeing what Mum can do, it does make you think, "I could do that."

I'd like to think one day,

we'd be able to do for our kids how she's done it for us.

I've picked a fabric with a stripe in,

and if the grain isn't right, the stripe will go off the leg

so it'll look as if you're walking a bit wonky.

With their fabric chosen, the sewers can move on to cutting out

their pattern pieces.

I'm actually pleased that

it's a pair of trousers, at the moment,

cos I've always wanted to make a pair of trousers,

and I've always been terrified of doing it.

Obviously, the number of garments that a man can make

to wear himself are more limited.

Who would I make trousers for?

Gosh, only myself. Other men that I know certainly have

much higher standards in what they wear than I do,

so I wouldn't dream of making them for anyone else... Not yet.

So I'm nearly ready to put the buttons on your shirt.

-Oh, great. How's it looking?

-Good.

Stuart's a fitness instructor,

and lives in North Yorkshire with his partner, Charles.

'When Stuart's sewing, he does have'

a habit of switching off

from everything else that's going on around.

He can go a whole day without eating.

Stuart is generally a very tidy person. However, we can end up with

piles of fabric in virtually every room of the house.

HE LAUGHS

I mean, really, what an amazing opportunity -

to have a Savile Row tailor look at trousers that I've made

and tell me where I can make improvements.

I mean, no doubt, that will be everywhere.

Three hours left to make a pair of trousers.

I'm just figuring out

where all of these pieces go,

but I just need to make sure I've got enough room.

Men's tailored trousers

are complicated.

There are two pieces of fabric

for the front, and two at the back.

And traditionally,

the waistband is split -

it has a join in the centre of the back.

This is to allow the waistband to be altered

to accommodate an expanding or shrinking waistline.

But not all our sewers are familiar with it.

I don't want a join in my... But men's trousers have a join

-in the waistband, don't they, at the back?

-Do they?

Lift your waistcoat and shirt up...

-Let's undress you, come on.

-Stop it!

No. No join. Where's this one?

Excuse me a moment.

No, he hasn't.

Has anybody got a proper pair of trousers on?

What do you mean? These are proper trousers!

-We don't want... We need Patrick.

-Where is Patrick? Get him.

Patrick, can I borrow you a moment? Can I undress you?

Undo your jacket.

Is this unfair? Are you getting an unfair advantage?

We've got a seam at the back.

Great.

-Thank you very much, Patrick.

-You've got a seam up the back?

-Yeah.

I've just had a look at Patrick's...

-Patrick's bum.

-..waistband.

I've just checked Patrick's waistband,

and it's definitely got a seam in the back.

A lot of jeans are waistbands all in one,

but with tailored trousers, they're definitely separate.

It was just an excuse to look at his bum!

With the waistband and the front and back sections cut out,

construction can begin...

It's going all right, I think.

Well, I haven't started sewing yet.

I can cut something out...no problem!

..starting with the zip fly.

I've never put in a zip this way, so I'm really just trying to...

figure out what it says.

Fundamental to the challenge today

is constructing a fly on the front of the trousers.

The fly has one job to do,

and that is to conceal the zip.

This is the fly. Underneath there,

you'll see the zip. Sounds straightforward,

but plenty of scope for going wrong.

If you're making trousers all the time, you don't think about it.

But if you sit and think about it,

-the more you think about it, the more boggled you will become.

-Yeah.

Concealing a zip with a fly requires skill and patience.

(What...?)

On both front leg panels,

there are two curves that stick out.

These will create the fly cover.

They're temporarily tacked together

along the centre line

and opened out to create

mirrored flaps.

The zip is sewn into the right flap,

along its right side.

It's then moved onto the left side,

as far as it will go,

and stitched into place.

The right flap is trimmed down.

When the tacking is removed

from the centre line,

the fly cover is revealed.

I've never made full trousers before.

I've always made 18th-century breeches.

The breeches I make have always got buttons on them,

cos they didn't have zips until 1900 and something.

You try and make them as more periodically correct as you can.

My friends think it's weird

because my dad reckons he wants to be a pirate.

So when he dresses up as a pirate, that's not normal.

HGV mechanic Mark makes historical costumes for his family.

Entering the Sewing Bee was his wife Donna's idea.

People don't believe that he's made the costumes that he's wearing,

and they all do a double-take, like, "No, you've not made that!"

And I have to tell everybody, "Yeah, he's done that himself."

This is only the fifth zip that Mark has ever inserted -

and two of them were last week.

I've got the zip in, it's just all the other bits.

I'm trying to work out from the pattern

how it actually all goes together.

And he's not the only one struggling.

Oh, man! I've not made trousers before.

The two things about Lauren when she sews is,

one, she drops pins everywhere,

so I have this kind of paranoia

that I'm going to step on a pin,

and the second is that she becomes very focused on her task.

Lauren and Ayaz spend their spare time

doing up their property in Birmingham,

and she's already made something for every room in the house.

She creates cushions,

curtains... Our whole house has been totally furnished by her.

We've not had to go and buy anything, and if we were to buy

something like that, it would cost us a fortune.

So I'm very, very happy with that.

-How's it going?

-I've been getting in a bit of a pickle,

not knowing what way to put things on.

I've never done a zip this way before, at all.

With a man, it's the left over the right, isn't it?

We're right over left.

-So have I done it wrong already, then?

-Can't give you too much help.

But Lauren thinks she might be able to help herself.

Sorry, this isn't going to look very glamorous.

It is the opposite to my zip.

So, I'm thinking that's a good thing.

I think the instructions show you the opposite way.

There's just two-and-a-half hours remaining on the first challenge.

Creating a pair of men's trousers for the first time

is a complex challenge - but unbelievably, the pattern

they're based on hasn't changed for over 200 years.

And they were inspired by one man

who wanted to put the masculinity into menswear.

In the late-19th century,

the French Revolution had struck fear through

the British aristocracy, who wanted to distance themselves

from the flamboyant fashions

made popular by Louis XVI.

The stage was set for one man to change the face of fashion forever.

That one man was him, Beau Brummell.

George "Beau" Brummell was born in Downing Street in 1778.

The son of the Prime Minister's secretary,

he moved in aristocratic circles and quickly became

renowned for his razor-sharp wit and unique way of dressing.

How were people dressing before Beau?

The 18th century, you think,

is full of, sort of, rather effeminate dressing -

fops, brocades, laces, wigs, you know,

but Beau believed in a very masculine style of dress.

Beau stood out from the crowd,

sporting a style that was relatively streamlined,

understated, and smart.

And it was whilst at school at Eton that he won

his most influential of admirers, the Prince of Wales.

Prinny was mesmerised, I think, by Beau Brummell.

He was an advocate of the style,

therefore, if you like, it began to spread.

Beau became the Prince's oracle on all matters of style and etiquette.

After four years in the army, he came into his family fortune,

so left to lead a notoriously decadent lifestyle

on London's social scene,

with his clique, known as the Dandies.

Cos in my head, the Dandies were full of much more pomp

and colour, if you like, but I've got that wrong.

No, they're not effeminate, they're not the fops.

They were much more sort of Apollos.

Masculine. Can I use that word?

-Masculine. Macho.

-Love it!

Rosemary, I didn't know you had it in you!

Beau's idea for sleek, masculine outfits

required his Savile Row tailor, Jonathan Meyer,

to follow a radically new brief

that led to bespoke tailoring as we know it today.

It's so close fitting, it's really

taken straight from the military.

Military collar, great coat, lapels, military cuffs.

Sort of buttons to take the place of the rank that would be on there.

Tell me, as a tailor yourself,

how would Meyer and Brummell have worked together?

Jonathan Meyer must have been a very clever cutter.

He could put Beau Brummell's mind, what he was thinking of,

into practice.

-Perfect partnership.

-Perfect partnership.

Beau's life of excess eventually led to his downfall.

He died penniless in a French lunatic asylum.

But he'd already left an indelible mark on the way we dress.

Beau Brummell created a totally new look.

Together with Jonathan Meyer,

they redefined the art of tailoring.

Well done, Beau. "Thank you!"

OK, everybody, you're halfway through. You have two hours left.

Thank you very much.

Ay, caramba!

Once the sewers have fitted their zip fly...

..they need to stitch darts into the front and back panels,

so the top of the trousers can fit into the waistband.

The last thing you want on the darts at the back

and the darts at the front

are little kind of nipples in the fabric poking up.

It's really important that the darts are pressed really well

and thoroughly as you go along.

Cos once you've made it, you can't get back in.

I'm just doing a press as I go along,

cos I think you get a better finished touch.

See - you can't see no pucker there.

With all the darts pressed down,

the two back pieces

can now be stitched

to the front of the trousers,

along the outside seam.

-Love it.

-Take that to Savile Row! Eh?

They're great, aren't they?

Look at that. Palazzo pants.

Chicken Caesar salad, sitting in the sunshine, wearing those.

Who wouldn't love that?

Walking through Kensal Rise, looking for a sandwich.

Chic. Fly open...

Have you got my trophy?

Bring it on.

Before stitching up the inside leg,

the sewer should press the trousers to give them shape,

using a rounded tailor's ham.

On Savile Row, we're shaping the cloth - we're shaping it with steam,

we're shaping it with the iron itself -

and those irons, they're incredibly heavy.

And imagine spending hours every day working cloth. That's why

most tailors were men - cos it was physically such demanding work.

My great-grandfather was a tailor in Hackney, where we are now.

So...it's in the blood somewhere.

Tilly attends a weekly sewing circle at her local pub...

Come up in the middle of the stitch you've made...

..and also finds time to create her unique wardrobe.

After going home from a day's work,

she comes in the next day and she's made her own dress.

So she just makes me feel really lazy, because I go home

and watch the telly and she'll come in the next day

with the most amazing blouse or something she's just knocked up.

I was never taught to sew.

I only learnt how to use a sewing machine two-and-a-half years ago,

so nothing's been passed down,

but I'm just hoping that something is flowing around in my veins.

Once the trousers have been pressed into shape, the sewers

finally tackle the back seam, which runs from the seat to the crotch.

Yeah, I'm about to stitch the crotch together

and I have to put one leg inside the other,

but I can't figure out what way it goes now.

Because it needs to be the... Oh, God.

Right, wait a minute. Start again.

That needs to go like that...

..with one... Right, right, right.

I think that's right.

The crotch should just be like one continuous big line

right from the waistband all the way right through up to the front

where it meets the zip,

and I'm just glad we're not fitting it to a real person, to be honest.

Cos I wouldn't know how to adjust it if I needed to

and...it's quite a personal area.

OK, everyone, you have half an hour left.

Half an hour left on this challenge.

An hour-and-a-half, did you say?

Half an hour!

I'm hand-sewing the waistband at the moment, it's just less likely

that you'll see it, so it can give an overall neater finish.

-How is it?

-Well, we're getting there,

just getting the waistband done.

When you turn this...

Oh, look at you!

Oh, now, that's a delight.

There, you see!

I'm not being funny, Ann, that is a perfect finish.

I haven't finished, but I want to get them nice and neatly pressed.

Right, Geronimo.

I thought I'd picked a good fabric, but it won't hold the creases.

I can't get that crease out of the bum.

I'm not proud of these ones.

-Lauren?

-Uh-huh.

Is that flap on your trousers the right way?

I don't know.

Absolutely hideous.

Lauren, will you hold my body?

Have you got time?

OK, that's it, challenge finished.

Lauren... I don't know where you're going, Sandra, young lady.

Off for a dance with Stuart?! Please get your mannequins,

because it is time to be judged.

# I walked down the street like a good girl should

# He followed me down the street like I knew he would

# Because a guy is a guy... #

Ann, come forward.

The fly is doing what a fly should do,

which is concealing the zip.

The darts are well pressed out.

The side seams are hanging beautifully vertically.

We've got a seam line in the centre

of the back of the waistband.

This seam line is matching perfectly

with the seam line on the crotch.

They're hanging straight, there's no twists in them.

The band's not quite deep enough.

Not a fly fastening, this is just

an ordinary zip insertion.

The fly should cover the zip.

That's what it's there to do.

Presumably, your fly's somewhere on the inside,

where it's doing nothing but keeping you warm.

There's a bit of fullness down here, if you can see,

and it's not hanging quite as well.

I think it's the softness of the fabric.

One side of the trouser leg

is just slightly buckled,

and that's because the fabric has moved.

The first thing that strikes me,

again, is the fly fastening,

we should not be able to see the zip at all.

You haven't had time to press the waistband,

you haven't had time to press the crease into the trousers.

Generally speaking, looking from front and back,

you've got a decent pair of trousers there.

But you're not secured somehow on the inside

so the whole thing's trying to pull apart,

and you've got a hole in the bottom of your zip, a bit of ventilation.

LAUGHTER

You've got the fly the wrong way round.

But it's opposite to me, and I've got female trousers on.

Well, your female trousers are the wrong way round, then...

But you have constructed the fly correctly.

You've done a really good job, and this row of top stitching

on the top of the fly fastening is really good.

Patrick and May now rank the sewers in reverse order.

Mark's is not a classic fly fastening

so, for that reason, Mark is in sixth position.

Stuart's in fifth position.

Sandra takes fourth position, and Tilly third.

Lauren - second. Rats! Nearly.

It was very, very close between the two of you.

You've both put your fly in correctly

and you're the wrong way round.

Ann, congratulations.

-Yay!

-Almost faultless.

That, to me, looks a little bit small for a gentleman's waistband,

but everything else you did extremely well,

-so well done.

-Thank you.

# I can be happy, I can be sad

# I can be good, or I can be bad... #

Coming first is absolutely brilliant,

I had no idea I was going to, I wasn't watching anybody else.

It's a real morale boost, I must admit.

I'm so annoyed with myself

for putting that fly on the wrong way.

Definitely pipped to the post again.

Those zip flies are incredibly difficult to do,

but now it's onto challenge two.

They've got to transform a High Street buy in just 60 minutes,

and Patrick and May want pockets.

The judges have given you each this skirt,

what they would like you to do is put on two patch pockets.

You can do any shape you like, you can use any fabric you like.

You have one hour, and your time starts now.

This A-line mini skirt is made from a medium-weight wool,

an ideal fabric to support patch pockets.

I just want some trim for a pocket

to go with the material that I've chosen downstairs.

I don't know what I'm going to do with it yet, but we've got the trim.

What is a patch pocket?

It's a pocket that looks like a patch. These are patch pockets.

-Are they?!

-Mm-hm.

-Ooh!

-You didn't know what you had there.

-No.

-No.

I've never made a patch pocket before, so I'm not sure whether

it's supposed to be lined, or how the bottom sits, or anything.

But I'm just going to give it a go.

Tilly's hoping to make simple semi-circular polka-dot pockets,

finished with white edging.

Still haven't worked out how to actually put it together.

I'm going to make a pattern for the pocket first.

Lauren's aiming to make pockets with more room

by gathering her floral fabric.

I'm just going to decide roughly what size I want them.

Need to get my hand in, don't want them to be too big either,

cos the skirt's not a huge skirt,

so I don't want the skirt to just turn into a big pocket.

Stuart has a completely different approach.

I'm going to do two red tulips,

so it's going to have...

a rickrack stem going up,

semi-circular red patch pocket,

and then leaves, either side,

stitched on. So now I need to find something circular.

That'll do.

If I was at home,

I'd probably use something like a saucer,

or a tea plate.

That looks a bit rude, doesn't it?

Ooh, cheeky!

45 minutes to go.

I don't enjoy working against the clock because I like time to think.

Ann is making two basic square pockets from a light woollen fabric,

but she's adding a slight twist.

I'm going to use check fabric on the diagonal.

Cutting on the diagonal will give the pocket more impact,

but adds a risk of the fabric stretching out of shape.

I'd rather do something simple and do it well

than something complicated and fall flat on my face.

I'm cutting out four, because...

I think we're supposed to line the inside, I'm not sure.

Lining with additional material takes time, but the extra weight

can help patch pockets hold their shape and improve the finish.

This fabric is really quite flimsy,

it would have no body as a pocket.

Fine, so you're going to give it backing?

-Yes, just give it a bit of body.

-What kind of shape

-will they be, these squares?

-We would like that,

-but you know me and time.

-I hear you.

It's a bit of a nightmare.

Lauren has set herself an ambitious task.

That's one.

She's planning to line AND gather her pockets.

Once I actually sew something together,

then I think I'll feel a little bit happier.

Each of Lauren's pockets have two sections -

the base, and the band.

The base is gathered to fit

the width of the band

which will give the pockets more room

and, at the same time, give a distinctive look.

What you're doing is quite tricky,

With a gather like that, you want a nice even gather,

cos if it's not, it's not going to look great.

I love the fabric choice because it's got the grey in it.

I think it's going to go really well.

If in doubt, flower it out.

Is this getting predictable?

Well, I wouldn't want to say.

OK, you're halfway, you have half an hour left.

Anybody got any black binding?

Sandra and Tilly are using binding to conceal their raw edges.

Don't know how it's supposed to go round the edges

to get the sides hidden.

OK, that's how I'm going to do it.

Stuart is doing everything differently.

This is adventurous, Stuart.

It is, it is.

He's embracing his raw edges.

What I might do, to show a different technique,

is do a free-motion raw edge round that, so not turned raw edge...

-Yeah, just experiment.

-It'll look more organic anyway.

-Exactly, it's supposed to be a bit of fun.

-Cool, brilliant.

Stuart is going to machine around the edge of the leaf,

and then he's just going to cut it back

so that it can just fray around his rough machining.

God loves a trier!

20 minutes to go.

Got to stitch the pockets on.

Mark is attaching his skull print pockets at an angle.

What I'm trying to do is keep the top stitch down a line.

Like everyone else, he's fixing them into place with top stitching,

so called because it's always visible on the top of the fabric,

so it should be neat and even along the edge of the pocket.

You have to find yourself a make-believe line

and try and keep it the same all the way down, so it looks parallel.

This fabric, I was thinking of my daughter,

she's 13 and that's what she likes.

She does like the weird things.

You have 15 minutes left.

I've really got to get a move on because I haven't even

started stitching my pockets onto my skirt yet,

and I've lost my pins, I've lost everything.

I've no idea whether I can get these on in 15 minutes.

I suspect not.

I wanted some black binding, I want to show them nice things.

Oh, God!

Not good. I've accidentally caught

the bottom of the skirt in the pocket

while I was stitching it and had to unpick it.

This is going to look like a total mess.

If I can just get this top stitching done, I'll be fine.

If I don't get the top stitching done, I've had it.

I've just started stitching the pockets and I'm trying to

really carefully top stitch a curve, which is quite tricky.

Pull all the pins out.

Throw them anywhere.

Oh, God. I've got a hole in it. I can't have a hole in the bottom.

God!

I've just to pull the threads through the back now.

This is the kind of thing that you're supposed to do

on a relaxing Sunday afternoon.

It's not the kind of thing you're supposed to do under a time pressure,

hot lights, knowing that someone's going to pick it to pieces.

They're on, they're on, they're on.

They look rubbish, but they're on.

OK, your time's up.

Please put your mannequins at the end of your sewing tables, please.

May and Patrick will closely inspect the pockets on each skirt.

I really like what you've done here.

You've stiffened it inside, which it needed,

because it's a flimsy fabric, but you've done it well.

I love the top stitching round here,

-this surface stitching here.

-You've been more adventurous than some

and I think you've done a pretty good job of making it functioning.

Danger was - because they were cut

on the cross, as a result,

the corners have drooped down a little bit out of shape.

Therefore, they've lost their sharpness.

-Yes.

-I think you could have been more ambitious.

It's competent, and I think we'll leave it at that.

Thank you.

It's not your best work - your top stitching

isn't as straight as you usually do it.

I really rushed, I really, really rushed.

But you took on a lot of work in that hour.

What you've done, you've actually done brilliantly.

Do they work? Have a go.

Oh, that's a lovely pocket.

Look at all the room in there.

Those pleats don't just add decorative effect,

they're giving you more space in there.

The simplest design in the room, well executed, the pockets work.

I would have liked to have seen the binding all the way round,

-cos you've left a raw edge on the end there.

-Yeah, I know.

I think given that it's quite simple,

it should have been really immaculately done.

Stuart, love it.

Brilliant. I just think you've transformed this garment,

and I love it, it's just kind of quirky and fun.

You've got your braiding you've sewn

absolutely dead down the middle.

You've applied your shapes onto the background,

and I love the fact that you've rough cut them,

-and that's really effective.

-Thank you very much.

-Well done.

-Thank you.

Everyone, thank you so much for today, two big challenges.

Go home, get some rest. Tomorrow, there's an even bigger one.

Patrick said he loved what I did with the skirt,

I'm absolutely over the moon with that.

When Claudia said "pockets", my mind went absolutely totally blank,

and the result, as Patrick said, was disappointing.

I really don't know whether

I've got any chance of staying in after tomorrow.

I think if it was just on today, I think I would scrape through.

One more challenge,

at the end of which, two people will leave the Sewing Bee.

OK, who is in trouble?

I would say that Mark's in trouble,

and I would say that Stuart's in trouble.

But you loved Stuart's skirt.

Personally, I loved Stuart's skirt,

but his trousers were pretty much unwearable.

He'll need to do a lot today to demonstrate that

he deserves to remain in the Sewing Bee.

Also, some of the front-runners could have a bad time.

I'm expecting Ann's usual approach -

methodically working through a pattern.

Lauren, however, panics.

She's an un-picker,

and I think today's challenge will not favour that approach.

I think you need to be accurate first time.

In the final challenge, the sewers will create

an item of clothing to fit a real person perfectly.

How are you?

How are you doing?

Good to see you again.

Welcome back to the sewing room.

Today, the judges would like you to perform just one task.

They want you to make a blouse.

You have six hours,

at the end of which, two of you will be asked to leave.

So, good luck. Your time starts now.

This is the one challenge in which the sewers know what to expect,

so they've had time to practise at home. They've just

got to make it fit. They can really show off

their personal style by making any blouse they want,

from any fabric they like.

So long as it's a delicate silk or satin.

-Why is silk so much harder? Because it bruises?

-If you do a row of stitching on silk

and then you unpick it,

you get drag marks and you get holes in the seam.

You've got to handle it really, really well.

It moves around, silk is slipping around all over the place,

it takes really good material-handling skills.

If you're going to be crowned the best amateur sewer in Britain,

you've got to be able to use all the fabrics

-that you would ordinarily be called to use.

-The fabric,

rather than the pattern, is the challenge today.

Ann is making a short-sleeve blouse

in fine cerise silk,

which is fastened with buttons at the front.

I've made quite a few blouses,

I haven't made this particular one before

because I never ever make the same thing twice.

I find it really boring. It didn't occur to me

that I might make something that I've made before.

It's an 18th-century shirt, that's all.

Mark's chosen a blouse he's made for himself

many times before, so he has a male model.

The end results are somewhat Pirate Of The Caribbean-y.

Mark scoured history books

to find the pattern for

an authentic 18th-century chemise.

When you think about making clothes,

it's nice to research what you're making,

rather than just throwing something up

and you think, well, it looks about right.

But you need to try and find out, you know, even the size of buttons,

what sort of buttons, and what you can use.

The blouse I've chosen has got a ruffle frill.

Well, I've had to choose a fabric that will look

as nice on the inside as it does on the outside.

Sandra's being daring, by using an even more delicate fabric.

It's a long time since I've used a lot of frills.

A lightweight chiffon, which is a sheer silk.

My teenage years, and when I started courting,

that was my big thing...

of making clothes,

because you don't want to go to a club where you could walk in

and three people could have the same dress on.

All the rara skirts were in then.

I didn't quite do the hot pants!

Sandra's frilly chiffon blouse

is fluted at the waist

and has gathered three-quarter-length sleeves.

-How's it going?

-All right.

Are those your puffins?

You carry on doing your thing.

They are so cute! Have you shown them this pattern?

Did they approve of it?

They said it was a bit mumsy.

-OK, well, you're a mum.

-I know.

Ooh, 'ello! Ring-a-ding-ding!

That, with a cocktail.

"Mr Brad Pitt, would you like an extra pretzel?"

"Yes, I would. Yes, I would."

Are you on time?

No, am I ever?

I feel like I've got off to a bit of a slow start.

The patterns are pinned, time to start cutting.

I'm going for a very feminine blouse.

Cutting out is one of the hardest bits,

because the fabric moves all the time

and it is really difficult to get it to stay in the right place.

Lauren's fine silk blouse has

a peplum that falls from the waist.

The peplum is, like, kind of mini skirt thing,

it will start at the waist band and go down.

It's got some pleats in it. That's what I'm making at the moment,

these little folds.

I've listened very carefully to the comments from the judges

and it strikes me that what they want is excellent construction.

And actually, the whistles and bells don't matter

if the construction isn't just so.

Stuart's raw silk Chinese-style blouse

has a diagonal front opening,

a mandarin collar and bell-shaped sleeves.

You're making us a kind of Maoist...

Yeah, it's a sort of adaptation of a cheongsam.

OK, but we're going to want these bottom edges hanging straight.

I think the trickiest part of fitting your blouse here

is getting it right so that these bottom edges are continuous.

If you don't get that right, it's going to look a little bit wonky.

Confident?

Yeah, I've designed this pattern myself,

I design quite a few of my own patterns.

I love doing that, so you're not constricted by what

someone else has come up with.

Tilly has designed and drafted

her own pattern, which is for

a boat-necked blouse and puffed sleeves.

Ooh, this feels a little bit tight.

Oh, no. I just messed the whole thing up.

Because Tilly is not using a commercial pattern which gives

different size options, she has to rework every single part,

so that the blouse will fit her model.

So I'm pinning it on and I'm having to make some changes.

So, for example, originally, the dart was here,

but because it wouldn't point to the apex of her bust,

I'm moving the dart so it fits her a lot better.

Or, at least, that's the theory!

Oh, God. This is going to put me way back,

so I'm probably not going to finish.

Three hours remaining to make a blouse.

In the last made-to-measure challenge,

Lauren made her model a dress that was too tight.

Last week, you had a couple of issues, fitting round the waist.

I know, well, I re-measured the model again today to double-check

my measurements, and then I've gone on

the slightly bigger side of things.

It's hard, because I've never fitted anything to anyone

other than myself, so it's difficult.

-OK, well, good luck.

-Thank you.

You're all over the place, darling, how's it going?

Slowly. Unfortunately, I've had to redraft every single piece.

Because the arm hole was too tight on the model,

the apex of the bust on my original dart was up here.

So I had to move it right down, which then meant

I had to change everything else. So it's stressful

but, you know, I'm getting there.

So are you all cut out?

Yeah, that was my last piece, yeah.

-I'm going to let you get on and concentrate.

-And start sewing!

A bit concerned about Tilly, she's way behind.

She's had to redraft her pattern completely.

Is it a complicated blouse that she's cutting?

No, I don't think it is,

but perhaps she didn't realise about the shape of the model.

Tilly has the same model she had last week,

so she knew what to expect, and it's the same for everybody else.

I think Lauren is worried

a little bit about the fit round the middle.

If she's made it too big on too many seams,

then it will not fit properly because she will destroy

the shape of the blouse. So I'm hoping that

she's just enlarged the side seams and put some extra fabric on those.

It's too big for you.

Uh-huh.

-I'm not laughing at you. I'm just sympathising.

-The situation.

It's got one middle panel here and it's got two seams here,

and these seams should sit there.

So if I do that...

..they sit in the right place.

Which means it's that much too big.

Right, pins, pins.

Two hours to go on the final challenge.

Each week, on the Great British Sewing Bee,

we're going to give you a how-to guide.

How to make something simple for the home.

This week - cushions.

Start by cutting out four long rectangles,

two for the outer cover and two for the contrasting lining.

Fold the lining in half and stitch along each side.

Then make the ties by cutting four strips of cover fabric

and four strips of the lining.

Snip off at the corner.

Stitch along the sides, but leave the end open,

so you can push your ties the right way out.

Give everything a good press with steam. Next, assemble your cushion.

Place the ties about a third of the way along the cover on each side.

Put the lining on top, then stitch through

all layers around three sides.

Give it another good press inside and out.

Next, stuff it with your cushion pad,

and you have a gorgeous tie-sided cushion.

The sewers have an hour-and-a-half left

and most are ready to add the collars and sleeves to the blouses.

A mandarin collar is fairly sort of straightforward.

It's a stand-up collar, with a gap in the middle,

that looks nice and smart. I'm using a chopstick

to turn the points through,

which seems rather appropriate, as it's a Chinese-style cheongsam.

Yeah, just using the point.

Sometimes, I use scissors,

but they do have a tendency to just go straight through the fabric.

Sandra is finishing the edges of her frilly collar

with a notoriously tricky rolled hem.

A traditional finish for silk.

I think we've all upped our game

because we've all loved it so much,

and we all just want to come back next week.

May, talk to me about a rolled hem.

Rolled hems are really fine, fine hems.

Can you see this? Just a tiny...

And the fabric is turned under twice

to make the tiniest hem finish.

And how exquisite is that?!

It is quite difficult to make

a lovely parallel rolled hem

round the edge of something.

I don't do a lot of rolled hemming,

I've done it as neatly as I can.

The fact we've got to lose two,

that's what frightens me,

because two could very easily be me.

Stuart's going for a more straightforward top stitched hem.

I think everybody knows that I'm the real novice

when it comes to dressmaking.

I'm kind of hanging on by the skin of my teeth.

This could be it, couldn't it?

It's all gone a bit Pete Tong.

Sewed the wrong side and it just looks a mess on the back.

Mark should have stitched his collar onto the inside of the blouse

and then turned it out.

But he stitched his collar onto the outside,

leaving the inside seams of the collar on show.

I'd like to unpick it. If I was at home, I'd unpick it

and do it all again.

Or make another collar.

But you just haven't got the time.

I'll hide it, you won't see it.

Everyone, you have 30 minutes left, that's 30 minutes.

At the moment, I'm still trying to set the sleeve in,

and I'm trying to spend as much time as I can pinning it in place

so that it doesn't move as much.

Don't you find, in all the challenges this is what happens?

They race in at it and then just before everything's

about to come together, quite a few of them start to unravel.

You can hear a pin drop in here. Everyone's suddenly

incredibly tense. I think that's also cos two people are going home.

Absolutely. I mean, the pressure's on

-and some of these blouses are not together yet.

-They're absolutely...

What's interesting is, you watch them

and they've started looking at each other,

going, "I'm behind, I'm behind! They've got to somehow keep

-their eyes down and just get on with it.

-We're near the end,

a lot to do in the room.

I've just got to get my sleeves done really quickly.

I haven't finished them.

I haven't done the hem. I'll try to do the cuffs.

I didn't cut them out earlier because, by the time I'd done

all the fitting, I thought I just would never have time.

But I'm going to give it a go, these are a bit shoddy.

OK, sewers, you have ten minutes left,

that's ten minutes to complete this challenge.

Doesn't fit her,

I can't get it to sit right

cos the fabric moves all the time

because it's a silk. I just wish I knew how to work it better.

Today has just been a catalogue of disasters.

Feeling a bit panicky now.

OK, let's put it on.

Don't tell me you're sitting down, Stuart, with a cup of tea,

cos I don't want to know.

Right, let's go.

Lauren's got hers on the model! I'm not looking.

OK, I have one cuff on and one cuff off.

-I'm really sorry, but there are pins in there.

-Don't worry about that.

You have five seconds.

Five, four, three, two, one. That's it.

Step away from your model.

Sandra, don't make me hurt you!

'I'm a bit disappointed.'

That silk was just so hard to work with.

'I didn't finish. My sleeves look

'totally different from each other,

'but it could have been a lot worse,'

so I'm really relieved that I actually have a blouse,

and it sort of looks nice, if you ignore the other sleeve!

'I'm absolutely shattered.'

I want to go home!

'I think she looks beautiful in it,

'but I think that's because she's beautiful, rather than the blouse.'

This could be it for me. This could be it.

I mean, the first thing to note is fit-wise, we've got

a bit of fullness in the front here

that we could probably have done without.

I think these seams are very, very even.

Looking down the bottom, those are very even too,

and I think the material is not straightforward to use,

and you've managed that well, as well.

-I have got a bit of an issue here.

-Yes, I had an issue as well,

but I tried to hide it from you.

I have noticed! You've got lots of pleats

and all sorts of stuff going on round the back neck.

I think it's got impact, but it's just lacking that kind of finesse

that we really would like to have seen on a fine garment like this.

If he came rushing towards you with a sword,

would you take any notice of his shirt?

I'd be on the first bus home, if that came running towards me!

I'm not sure about the fit on the model.

I'm not sure about the way it sits on her.

I'm looking at it and I'm thinking, it's not stunning.

-Doesn't take my breath away.

-No.

There's an even amount of frill on both sides.

It looks well distributed.

This is a difficult technique and you've handled it well.

You really have done that nicely.

I think that single line of piping is effective.

I think it's well done. I prefer sleeve A to sleeve B.

If you'd had two the same, that would have been great.

Maybe just a fraction more length on the front. It's just riding up.

You haven't quite finished the cuff. No, you ran out of time.

Oh, we've got no hem. OK. We're lacking processes.

We talked about this, but this front edge runs all the way round.

You don't have it sitting below or above.

Your top stitching around the hem looks really even.

Your sleeve details here are quite complex.

We're coming to expect bold choices from you, Stuart,

and I think, you know, it's slightly Bond villain-esque

and we're not going to forget this one in a hurry.

And I think you've done a sterling job.

-Thank you.

-007!

-THEY LAUGH

The sewers take a well-earned break,

while May and Patrick decide which two will be going home.

All right, judges, time to deliberate,

and it's now time to decide who should be going home.

I think I know who...

..I would send home, but I've got to say,

it was a fairly difficult decision to come to,

and I'm not sure I was considering the same two people

-that perhaps May was considering.

-No, I think we were thinking about

-different people.

-So we need to talk about that.

-We do need to talk about this.

-OK.

Let's have a look at Mark. It definitely had impact, you said.

Yeah, it had a lot of impact,

and I think it's very much his cup of tea.

I mean, it was a historical pattern reinterpreted.

The technical skills in this blouse are not executed well enough.

This is Tilly.

I think it's a very simple style

and she hasn't demonstrated as many techniques.

I actually think it's a well-executed piece,

-with quite a lot of work in it.

-And Stuart is next.

I really loved this piece, and it's got lots of processes in it.

I just think he's an amazing improver.

He has made improvements, but for me,

it's not about choosing the best improver,

-it's about choosing the best sewer.

-All right. We're going to

take this out back and we're going to oil up and fight.

Thank you so much, and I'm so sorry about the wait.

Well done on the last two days.

As you know, every week, somebody wins the accolade

of creating the best piece, and for that, I hand over to the judges.

We chose, for the fun factor and the originality,

the tulips. APPLAUSE

A huge well done to Stuart.

Now comes the horrible bit, because two of you,

unfortunately, have to leave.

I will say this - they had a proper row,

and we had to leave them in a room shouting.

The first person who's going to be leaving the Sewing Bee...

..is Mark.

We're really sorry.

-Are you all right?

-Yeah. At the end of the day,

it's stiff competition and that's what it's about.

The second person who is leaving...

..is Tilly.

-I'm really sorry.

-I expected it.

-Did you?

Yeah, I did.

-OK.

-But I've had a really great time, so...

We will really, really miss you.

Thank you so much. Mark and Tilly.

APPLAUSE

I shall miss you, Mark. It's been so nice to meet you.

-Well done, Mark. You've been fantastic.

-I enjoyed it.

'No regrets, no.'

Just happy I took part, and I met some wonderful people.

'Just enjoyed myself.'

-Oh, Mark. Can I give you a man-hug?

-Go on, then!

'I entered this, you know, to prove to people that

'no matter how you look,'

your background, what you do, you can always do something else.

Something that you enjoy doing, and it's good fun.

-So sorry, Tilly.

-Why are you sorry?

'I've had a really, really great time,'

and just to be part of this contest has been absolutely amazing.

'I've learnt a lot.'

'I just felt that Stuart finished the challenge.

'He finished all the hems,'

he finished the cuffs,

he put the collar on, he put the button hole in.

Tilly didn't finish the challenge.

What are you crying about?

LAUGHTER

It's horrible to see anybody go.

Big shock to find out who's going home, actually.

Big shock that one of them wasn't me.

Yeah, actually. Actually, yeah.

The fact that May and Patrick have kept me in

makes me feel like I can do

much more than I thought I could and I've got that potential.

I'm going to go for it.

At the next Sewing Bee...

The competition is fierce, isn't it? Fierce.

..Sandra, Lauren, Ann and Stuart enter the semi-final...

I'm in the semi-final, I'm in the semi...

..where they create garments on a miniature scale.

I mean, you've not made it easy for yourself.

Their tailoring techniques are put to the test.

'I've got cramp in my fingers!'

And the most complex construction challenge so far pushes them all.

Not got enough fabric.

You can smell the tension!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd