Episode 8 The Great British Sewing Bee

It's the final of The Great British Sewing Bee.

We've gone from ten to three.

They've had to climb a fabric mountain to get here

and because it's the final,

the judges want nothing less than couture. Oh la la!

Last week, the semi-finalists created garments without a pattern.

This is the scary part.

Tamara triumphed with her impressive yoga outfit!

SHE SCREAMS

But it was Lynda who didn't make it to the final...

They're going to be looking for perfection and this isn't it.

..and bid a tearful goodbye to the sewing room.

-I thought it was me.

-Oh!

-I'm sorry.

Thank you so much.

Now Chinelo, Heather and Tamara face the final three challenges.

I'm going hell for leather.

Each wanting to convince the judges that they are the best.

I've given myself a lot to do, but it's the final.

But will the pressure prove too much?

I just want this to be over now, to be honest.

And who will hold her nerve to win The Great British Sewing Bee?

Such a stressful time.

I can't not finish this one.

Huh!

After eight weeks, three very different home-sewers

have made it to the Sewing Bee final.

Tamara is a third-generation sewer

whose bold fabric choices and determination to embellish

has seen her win Garment of the Week

more times than her fellow finalists.

This is a jacket I would be very happy to wear myself.

I'd never consider playing it safe.

It would be like going against the grain.

It'd be like the nap of the velvet going the wrong way!

Chinelo is the least experienced of the finalists,

but her natural ability with fabric

and instinctive free-hand approach to cutting and shaping has seen her

ranked in the top two of most challenges.

The first thing I notice is the fit.

It's a really lovely shape on her.

And the skirt flutes beautifully.

'I am feeling nervous, I'm feeling sick.'

I feel like a fizzy drink that's been shaken up!

That's how I feel right now.

Heather's cautious precision, born of 30 years of sewing experience,

has made her the most technically competent,

but she's never won Garment of the Week.

Very neat, very tidy.

The most exquisite under-stitching. Well done.

I have gone quite often for a safe option,

I think it's time for life on the tightrope without a safety net.

I'm going to do something that will make the judges go, "What?!"

Huge congratulations for making it into the final.

-Can you believe it?

-ALL: No.

This week, I'm afraid they've stepped it up a notch,

so over the next two days,

you're going to be tested on your couture skills...

-Huh...

-I know. ..for the final pattern challenge.

Patrick, what do they have to do?

We've tested you on all sorts of garments so far,

but we haven't really had a good look at your hand sewing.

So this week, we'd like you to make a tie.

Oh, gosh, hand sewing...

And this beautiful tie needs to be made of silk.

How do you feel about that, girls?

-Scary.

-Tell you in a couple of hours.

You have three hours and 15 minutes.

Enormous luck. Your time starts now.

So...these are they.

I quite like that.

I'm just seeing what pattern I like.

Obviously, pattern's quite important to me!

I think I might go for the plain.

Although that's probably not going to hold its shape as well.

I've never made a tie before, no. Never.

I've gone for something that's not too slippery,

and I think would be nice as a tie.

It's nice to do something completely different,

and that's quite small.

Because a tie, really, is just a long strip of fabric,

so you can really take some time.

Hopefully!

Let's go with that and see what happens.

Hand sewing is not really my thing.

I'm going to go back and look at the instructions,

and see how it goes.

Patrick and May, why couture for the final?

-What's it going to show you?

-Couture is the finest form of sewing.

The most exquisite, the most accurate.

A lot of the things we've tested so far

are about basic assembly.

What we're testing this week is the finishing skills

that take a well-assembled garment

and turn it into a beautiful piece of sewing.

Good God, there's so many pieces!

I just feel that I need to follow the instructions,

cos that's the only way I'm going to survive this one.

The tie is made up of two lengths of silk sewn together.

At each end, a piece of lining,

known as the tipping, is attached.

Interfacing is added before

the length of the tie is hand sewn

with one long continuous stitch.

Finally, a hand-worked bar tack is added.

I've lain my pattern pieces diagonally

across the grain of the fabric.

We do that to get a bit more flexibility in the fabric.

Also, the pattern says to do that!

I was thinking, either to do, like, contrasting...

I really like how this green is with this silver.

'I'd always wanted to sew. I'd always designed things,

'and done things with my clothes.

'But sewing, I got into that two years ago.'

And to still be in this competition

with two women who've been sewing all their lives is really amazing!

But for me, this just proves that

you can really be dedicated to what you're doing

and progress every day.

So I really think I can win this.

I pray I win it. I really, really do.

-How many metres is this?

-It's supposed to be 15.

Chinelo lives in Essex, with her husband, Tunde.

Since joining the Sewing Bee,

she's spent every spare minute behind her machine.

'I'm so proud of Chinelo.'

I've been neglected for the past eight weeks!

She's been really busy practising.

'She gets home tired,

'and she still goes on again and keeps sewing. It's her passion.'

It's what she loves doing.

Chinelo, normally, when I come and see you...

Let me do your normal face... "Hi, Claud!"

-And this is your face today, like that...

-Yeah. It's a nervous face.

-Is that the nervous Chinelo?

-Yeah.

How proud of you is your husband?

Oh, God. He's, like, so excited.

Imagine he's saying to you right now, "Chinelo, you can do it!"

-You're making it for him.

-I am. Yeah, yeah.

You know what's the worst? I'm going to have to make it for him

if this comes out well. He'll be putting his orders in.

Let's have a look on the list of Things To Do.

A cup of tea would be nice, if that was on the list of Things To Do.

This is our perfect tie. So, if you look,

all of these edges are still very, very soft.

There is a line of stitching holding that central seam

which you cannot see at all.

-So what else are we looking for?

-This tip here,

and the way in which this is handled at the end, is crucial

to make that beautiful shape.

Even down to the tiny little bar tack,

which we want them to sew by hand.

These final finishing flourishes

are exactly what this week is all about.

I'm lining up the bottom half of the tie to the top.

It's cut at an angle

so that when I sew it, it'll be one continuous straight line.

I've just seen something.

I'm going to alter it slightly,

because I want my stripes to match up,

and if you do this,

you can see I'm just slightly out.

-Heather?

-Mmm.

-Did you look at those dyes I got?

'The house has been taken over,

'with the final for

'the competition coming up.'

There's a dummy dressed up

in different ways in the hallway,

and the dining room's taken over with materials.

'And after that, I anticipate

'being able to sit around the dining table

'without fighting off taffeta silk.

'It would mean everything to me if she won!'

Heather's invested so much into this

and it would be very, very exciting, it would be wonderful!

Sewing has always been Heather's secret hobby,

while dressage riding has been her career.

I've competed in things all my life

and this is the last push.

This is like doing the last canter pirouette,

before turning up the centreline

and coming down into the halt

and saluting the judges.

This is about finishing the job.

-It's the final. You're here.

-I'm here.

When you first started, did you think, "Do you know what,

-"I'll probably be in the final"?

-No! I'd honed to perfection

my leaving speech. Honed it, perfectly.

-And here you are.

-And here I am.

-Enormous luck.

-Thank you.

-I don't want to put too much on it,

but everything's riding on this.

Ha-ha-ha-ha! Go away!

I'm just folding my tie in half, as per instructions.

"Stitch ends from small dot..."

To produce the classic mitred point on either end of the tie,

the sewers need to work inside-out.

They create a small pleat to form the point,

then attach the lining fabric, known as tipping,

by carefully securing it with a row of stitching

so that when it's turned the right way round,

the point is sharp and the lining isn't visible

on the front of the tie.

I'm just sewing the tip of the tie

as it shows on the instructions.

I'm really trying to follow these instructions

as carefully as possible, because I have no clue what I'm doing.

I'm just inserting my lining.

I believe this is called tipping,

which I heard Patrick and May mention.

Never heard that word before,

so I'm just trying not to show my ignorance by just nodding.

"Oh, yes, tipping."

Do you remember this birthday dress that you made for me,

-many, many, many years ago?

-I do!

'Tamara got'

her influence for sewing from me

and I got it from my grandma,

who taught me how to sew when I was a little girl.

Starting with dollies' clothes, then progressing

to proper dresses, and it was the same for Tammy.

She bought dolls and she wanted to sew for them,

and it's progressed from there. So now she's at the stage where

she's better than I am, I think.

Tamara's job as a yoga instructor has had to take a back seat,

in the run-up to the final.

Which fabric do you like best -

-purple or green? Charlie, what do you think?

-Green.

'The past week, for me, has been getting up early,'

going to the fabric shop, backwards and forwards.

I'm almost in there on a daily basis.

'I have a sketchbook by the bed.

'If I wake up in the middle of the night, I'm making notes.'

It really does take over your life.

'I've been working really, really hard

'because I really want to win it.'

Yeah, man!

What have you been doing this week?

-I've been pulling all-nighters.

-Just practising?

Just eating, breathing, living, sleeping...sewing.

Who knew that on tie week,

you'd be wearing a tie as a belt?!

-I know!

-Did you make this?

-No. I wear lots of ties.

-I don't make them.

-OK.

(But I might wear this one.)

There's that funny little pleat at the end. Isn't that cute?

I'm just sewing the side-seams of the point.

I don't know why there's a pleat there!

I don't know anything about the construction of a tie.

I'm really worried about Chinelo.

She's had a great deal of difficulty

in following the instructions.

Throughout the competition, she's been doing garments

that she's reasonably familiar with.

This is something that's quite different for her

and it's really revealed to us

-how limited her pattern-following skills are.

-Mmm.

Oh, God...

-Right, how are you getting on?

-Not very well.

I just don't know what I'm doing, to be honest. I'm just trying to...

-Well...

-..stop myself from crying.

..what you have to remember is that

that is not the tip of your tie.

THAT is the tip of your tie.

And all of this sits back

-from that edge, like that.

-OK.

And then these roll around...

and form the shape of the tie.

-Does that help?

-Yeah, it does help. Thank you, Patrick.

-Right.

-Oh!

-I know, it's incredibly hard.

Sewers, you have had one hour, 37.5 minutes.

That means you're halfway through.

Maths genius!

OK, we're on to the interfacing.

It's asking me to baste along centre by hand,

with very loose running stitch through all thickness.

It's crucial the tie joins perfectly down the centre of the interfacing.

Hmm, this is going to be tricky.

A few millimetres out could make it twist out of shape.

-Tamara?

-Yeah?

-Do your edges meet?

-Erm, really, really narrow.

I don't think they overlap an awful lot.

-I think they might just be kissing each other.

-Right.

-CHINELO:

-I think I've done this wrong.

I'm pretty sure this is supposed to be on the inside somehow.

I think I'm supposed to have... No, I've done it the right way.

I just don't get it.

This is difficult, to be honest.

I think because I'm really panicky, as well,

and I'm trying to just relax myself.

I was going to ask somebody, but I'm going to let them get on, because...

I don't know what I'm doing...

Girls, you have half an hour left.

I'm on the home stretch. I am galloping down the last furlong.

I've still got a bit of wind left in me.

The most crucial part of this challenge

is the quality of the finalists' hand sewing.

As a child, I used to hand stitch my dolls' clothes,

so I have done it in the past.

The slip stitch, which runs along the length of the tie,

should be completely invisible from the outside.

I've done quite a bit of hand sewing.

It's a very important part of dressmaking.

Without hand sewing, you're going to be up the creek a little bit.

I just want this to be over now, to be honest.

If they're looking for fancy hand stitching,

I don't think they'll get it from me today!

Guys, ten minutes! Ten minutes before you have to put your ties

on your mannequins.

I'm just going to have a little steamette of that.

The judge is standing there - it's like the execution squad!

While Heather and Tamara finish their ties with a gentle pressing,

Chinelo has yet to start her slipstitch.

Chinelo, sew it!

-Sew it... Shall I sew it?

-Mm-hm.

(Go on, go on. Don't worry about pressing, just sew it!)

Do you know what? Sod the instructions.

-OK. Got a needle and thread ready?

-Oh, gosh...

Right, hand-sew it like the wind!

Sewers, you have one minute! One minute left!

A bar tack to finish.

This is the last tie I'll ever make in my life.

Sewers, that's it! Time's up!

-Chinelo, Tamara, Heather-chops...

-Hallelujah!

Finalists, with your tie...

Is it just me who wants to break into song?

# When I'm all upset, I never fret

# I never sit around and cry... #

Two and a half silk ties made by hand

in just three and a quarter hours.

Tamara, please bring your lovely tie forward.

Pretty even.

We've got the pattern running perfectly parallel

with the corner of the tie.

We've got some really good hand-stitching.

Can I have a look at the tip in that end?

Yes, your tipping is neat.

You have made an attempt at the bar tack.

It's not the neatest bar tack I've ever seen,

-but at least it's a bar tack.

-Yes.

So there we are,

definitely a wearable piece of men's neckwear.

I feel the hand stitching is quite untidy, I have to say.

You can see rather a long stitch

and it's not completely even either, which is a shame.

Looking at the tipping,

you've got the body of the tie rolling over

and sitting back from the edge,

as it's supposed to be.

It's a little bumpy.

You've managed to give it a press.

You've not crushed the bounce out of the fold.

-You've managed that, actually, quite well. Not bad at all.

-Mmm.

- Thank you. - Thank you, Heather.

Sorry.

-I'm pretty disappointed.

-So am I.

We don't have an assembled tie.

Actually, you were getting there.

Shape-wise, it's pretty good.

It's nice and balanced.

You've got the construction of this tipping right, here.

You've got this little mitred tip absolutely spot-on.

But it just took you forever to get there.

So, sadly, we've got no hand stitching, which is a shame.

I did start the slip stitch on that side.

-You did start it, did you?

-I did, yeah.

Yes, we have got sort of...

We have got a few stitches. Um, yes.

So which tie will win the last pattern challenge of the Sewing Bee?

Very marginal.

OK, who's in third place?

Sadly, Chinelo, it's you, because we haven't got a completed tie.

In second place...

..Heather. Very close to call, but I think

a little bit more finesse required on the hand stitching.

And in first place - Tamara. APPLAUSE

-We loved your really beautiful hand stitching.

-Thank you.

Huge congratulations. Well done, Tamara. Go and have a break.

When you come back, we will give you

your second challenge - my particular favourite. Off you go.

I just lost the plot a little bit. It was just so confusing.

'I just really wanted to stay true to the instructions'

and I got lost.

Just so frustrating, though, isn't it?

'Of course I would have loved to have come first,'

but just visualising it was just a tiny bit tricky.

'I feel a little bit closer to winning'

the overall Sewing Bee.

'And now I've learnt all those different skills,'

it's all coming together right at the end,

just when it needs to happen.

Well, that tie was incredibly tricky to make,

so what would be lovely is if the judges now set the sewers

a gentle, sort of easy alteration challenge.

Oh, it's the final.

This week...

HEATHER LAUGHS

..we would like each of you

to breathe new life into an old wedding dress.

We would like you to make an outfit for a child -

a dress for a special occasion, a christening, a bridesmaid.

So there are six wedding dresses next door. Choose one.

You have two hours for this. Your time starts...now!

Come on, girls, let's go!

-Ooh!

-Wow!

-Dresses!

The second-hand wedding dresses are all made from

-different luxury fabrics.

-I think I quite like this one.

The sewers can use everything for their couture alterations.

Gosh, she's a tall bird, this one is!

It's really hard. You may have some idea in your head

of what you would make, until you see the dresses,

and they kind of determine how you design your dress.

This one is going to be quite interesting

cos there's plenty of fabric to do things with,

and the idea of making a little frilly child's dress

-is actually rather nice.

-My wedding dress was rented,

actually, so I don't have it any more.

-I do like the idea of this.

-In this challenge, for me,

I don't want to see just a kind of cut-and-shut job.

I want to see some finesse. I'd like to see a complete

-re-imagining of this garment.

-We want them to demonstrate

an understanding of the different fabrics, the different textures,

how they gather, how they move, how they shape

-on a smaller garment.

-These are important to people. I mean,

this is a big part of a lot of people's lives,

and any alteration that they do

needs to do credit to the original garment.

It needs to almost pay respect to all the work

-that went into it in the first place.

-I think

-it needs to be handled sympathetically.

-Yes.

There's something quite cathartic about

cutting into a wedding dress, isn't there?

I feel awful for doing this. This is someone's wedding dress.

Isn't it funny? I feel quite guilty about doing this.

Just cutting into a wedding dress feels really...

not the sort of thing you should be doing.

I've done a little sketch, and that's the basis of my dress.

To make it a little bit more couture,

I'm going to do some hand sewing.

So I think she might be a bridesmaid, with this little frock.

I'm just going to run up a little skirt...

just to start with, before I make the top.

What are you making?

I'm making the skirt of my very classic bridesmaid's dress.

Is that the waist?

Yes, that's the waist seam, and that's the end of the skirt.

-So it's like a "poof"?

-Yeah.

Do you feel under immense pressure to do well in this next challenge?

-I definitely do.

-You've got to come first, is what you're saying.

Well, as you were... Bye.

90 minutes remaining.

I'm just getting my gathering stitches

to go round the waist of the dress.

Pulling through two layers of loose stitching to use as my gathering.

Just attaching some elastic to the tulle here,

just to make the petticoat.

Chinelo plans to make three new separate skirts

to lie on top of each other.

But to save time, Tamara has opted to cut down the original.

I really need to make a dress that's very radically different.

-That's divine!

-It could be a party dress, I suppose,

but I definitely want to have this on the shoulder...

That's so pretty!

..to match the skirt, but it's what I do in-between those two things.

Sewers, you have one hour left. One hour!

-Come on!

-I'm always wondering where time goes.

It certainly doesn't seem to be going in my direction, anyway.

This is my top bodice. I was going to clip around the neck hole,

but I won't do that because it's all cut on the bias anyway,

so it should stretch.

So, I'm going to make the top out of two pieces.

To make her bodice, Heather is using a technique

known as draping on the stand.

-Ow.

-Pinning and cutting her silk directly onto the mannequin.

I can feel where the shoulders are,

so cutting isn't too much of a difficulty.

Tamara has decided to be a little more cautious.

So I'm just roughly tracing around the shape of the mannequin,

and then I've got an idea of how big my arm holes need to be.

I'll then cut it out of fabric

and then I'll put darts in it, so it fits.

45 minutes to go.

I'm just attaching my skirt to my bodice.

So I'm just going to stitch my bodice together now.

Oh.

I've just sewn my dart the wrong way round.

SHE SIGHS This isn't going well.

Draping on the stand hasn't saved Heather any time.

You know what?

The front and back pieces of her bodice don't line up.

Everything's in the wrong place,

so it might just be easier to start again.

I'm now going to do something completely different. This is Plan B.

Girls, you have half an hour left...

on your bride-to-bridesmaid challenge!

I'm just trying to make sure the waistline of the skirt isn't tilted.

Sorry, I've just... Now I've said that...

I've gone off track.

This is going to be for a bit of bias binding.

For a couture finish,

the raw edges of the silk should be neatly encased.

I'm going to bias bind the neck and see where I am.

I don't want to use a bias binding around the neck,

so I decided to face it,

because I think it's cleaner.

HEATHER: You want them to be delicate, not lumpy and nasty.

I just hate this fabric.

Give me some denim or some furnishing fabric, then I'm fine.

Ooh, I love that. That's going on there immediately.

Sewers, you have 15 minutes left!

15! Everyone all right?

-No.

-Not really.

I'm just making my sleeves. I'm just freestyling this bit.

I don't usually use a pattern for it, so why start now?

Let's just tidy these edges up.

This is the hand sewing that will hopefully give it a better finish,

but I've just run out of time, so it's going to be so roughly done.

I've decided to use the overlocker for the edge of the sleeves,

as I won't have time to actually do the rolled hem on the machine -

-that's quite tricky.

-Oh...

My stitching has come undone.

Everyone, you have two minutes left!

This is awful. Absolutely awful.

I can't not finish this one.

Heather, good, the skirt's on.

(Oh, it's divine!)

-Chinelo, are you done?

-Yeah. I'm just ironing.

-Just pressing?

How are you, my hand-sewing queen? You don't have long

-and I'm in a panic.

-I just want to get

-these shoulder straps on.

-Oh, no!

Is it not supposed to be attached?

-I haven't been helpful, have I, saying that?

-No.

This is definitely my chance to come back in the competition,

so I'm just hoping that the judges are impressed.

One minute!

Give it a tug, Clauds.

Go on.

Time is up!

Huge well done on these gorgeous dresses.

Let's bring them to the front, and then we'll bring the judges in.

# Tweedlie, tweedlie, tweedlie, dee

# I'm as happy as can be... #

May and Patrick have no idea who has re-engineered which dress.

-Fantastic.

-They are beautiful.

We've got this beautifully fine hem.

We've got exactly the same on the skirt.

We've got a roll hem done

on the overlocker there. Beautiful little set-in sleeves.

These are about the cutest things I think I've ever seen!

THEY BOTH LAUGH Also, a facing around the neck.

There's no puckering or poking there.

It's sitting very smoothly around the neck line.

This was original, I suspect...

I'd imagine that was part of the dress, but what a lovely touch!

We've also got netting underneath.

-That would have had to have been scaled down...

-Yep.

-..amazingly.

I think that's a really well-executed little dress.

Got no edge finishes on this one.

This has just been cut, so we haven't got any rolled hems or anything.

These shoulder straps in the net,

all hand stitched onto the bodice.

This is a really nice shape round here.

Again, I think that's been extremely well handled.

It's a nicely balanced shape altogether.

-And then this little bow that's been tied at the front.

-Really pretty.

Sweet little silk skirt.

No fastening. Obviously ran out of time for the fastening.

This gathering is fabulous. I mean, all the way round.

There's an awful lot of fullness that's been put in there,

and this waistband is sitting very neatly.

We've got binding round the neck...

beautifully top stitched.

For me, this neckline is just a little square.

It just looks like it would catch a little bit up on the throat.

The way that this sleeve head has been left soft

is a lovely understanding of how

this bouncy, lovely plump silk works.

It's very simple, but actually, it's incredibly effective.

But whose final couture alteration has impressed May and Patrick?

It feels more like it's come out of the world of couture.

-There's a softness to it.

-Mmm. Quality of finish

-isn't quite so good, is it?

-Yeah.

-No.

It relies a little bit on the bells and whistles.

All right. In third place is...

the middle one.

Tamara.

You know what? There's a lot of really excellent work in there.

- The finish let you down. - Thank you.

Number two is this little lady over here.

There was an awful lot of edge finishing in this one,

lots of top stitching, binding. We congratulate you

- on your finishing off. - Thank you.

Which means, of course, that our winner

on the alteration challenge is Chinelo.

-Yay!

-APPLAUSE

There was so much in this dress.

Your set-in sleeves, your layering,

your beautiful waistline.

There was a lot of really lovely processes.

Well, a huge well done to the three of you

and we'll see you back here tomorrow,

when the winner of The Great British Sewing Bee will be announced.

Sleep well, if you can.

'Erm, definitely nicer to go home'

coming first in the second challenge, especially after having

such a...nightmare in the first challenge.

'Divine inspiration is borne out of sheer desperation.'

There had to be something on the model and it just went clunk, click,

do this, do that, give it little puffy turn-ins

on the sleeves. Job done.

'Had I not done well in the first challenge,'

I would have felt that my chances

were pretty slim of winning the competition.

But, you know, I won one, came last at the next one...

You just never know what's going to happen tomorrow.

Oh, I'm glad that is over!

At the end of today, you're going to have your winner.

-I mean, it feels very level.

-Yeah. For me, I think Heather and Tamara

-are very, very evenly matched.

-We need to see Chinelo delivering

beautiful hand-finishing techniques. We know she can create

-a beautiful dress.

-There is ample opportunity

for anybody to steal this competition.

For their last ever challenge...

Are our models going to be in here?

..there is one final surprise.

They have no idea who their models are,

who happily are their best friends in the whole world!

Welcome, girls.

Let me introduce you. Rose, Chinelo's best friend.

-Natalie, Tamara's sister-in-law and best friend.

-Yes.

-You introduced her to her husband.

-That's right.

-Very clever girl.

And, Kate, you're Heather's best friend.

You ride together. You've known her forever.

Thank you so much for coming in.

OK. So, girls, you stay where you are.

-Hello!

-Good morning.

-Hello.

-How are we all?

-Good.

-Nervous.

All right. For your final challenge, the judges would love you to make

a beautiful gown, showcasing stunning couture skills.

All we need is your models. Shall we get them in?

-Yes, please.

-OK.

Models, in you come!

# Oops

# My heart went oops... #

-Rose!

-LAUGHTER

Oh, my God!

You are such... Oh, my God!

LAUGHTER

THEY CHATTER

So you've got your very, very best friends here.

This is it, for the very final time...

in this year's Great British Sewing Bee,

you have seven hours, and your time starts now.

Fabulous, fabulous surprise.

I've never made clothes for Kate, never.

She's borrowed the odd bits and pieces

because we used to be the same size,

but she's beaten me on the stakes of slimming these days, so...

It makes you even more apprehensive and anxious

because you want to make something nice for them.

Do you know what's funny? I actually used her measurements whilst

I was trying to cut out the dress. It was so similar and I thought,

"I'll just go with Rose's measurements."

And it didn't even cross my mind

because she would never do anything like this.

She shies away from a phone camera.

I can't believe she's doing this!

The finalists have been asked to design their own dresses

and cut out their fabric pieces at home.

Ultimately, we're testing them here

on everything that we've seen throughout this competition.

We're also looking for flair in the design,

and we want them to show us how well they can finish a garment.

It's about the expression of the person through the clothes.

I mean, that's really what couture is.

We're going to see their personality come out in these pieces

and we're going to see every ounce of their skill.

This is going to be like a corset. Well, this is actually corset fabric.

It's going to have a sunray pleated top. Very elegant, very ladylike!

SHE LAUGHS

Heather's bodice will be fastened

with a horse tack chain

and will be attached with

a full-length glazed chiffon skirt,

with a detachable taffeta bustle.

Here's my taffeta that I screwed up last night and stuck it in a tube.

-Brilliant. So it's already got that shape built into it.

-Yeah.

-And that's starting from...

-That is going to start from the centre...

-Right in the centre.

-..and then it's going to come out. Now, the back...

-..is going to be chained.

-So there's a hint of the punk.

-Yeah.

And then I've got ten metres of chiffon

to make two totally circular skirts to go over the top.

And then on the back will be six metres of red taffeta and...

Did we approve this budget?

This sounds like about £8,000-worth of material!

We'll all be eating gruel for lunch.

If I don't talk to you, I'm not being rude, I'm just concentrating.

Don't talk to me, just win. Win!

I'm just not a real traditional couture kind of girl,

so I'm not making one of these massive ball gowns.

I'm going to make something modern, funky. Definitely a gamble,

but then again, that's what I do.

Tamara's layered bodice

will be slashed

and decorated with silk flowers.

Her skirt will feature

a central inverted pleat,

topped with a crystal

organza overskirt.

I'm loving this already. It's like candyfloss...

and The Kids from "Fame", and a Wham! video.

It's like my childhood, all on one table! It's brilliant.

-Good.

-So you're using crystal organza.

It has a life of its own. It's really bouncy, isn't it?

I know, but that's why I've chosen it,

because I want to master it.

-Yes. You're not going to let it beat you.

-No!

You're going to tame it.

-You're fearless.

-Yes.

I'm just doing a pleated bodice.

A lot of hand stitching here.

As I'm going round here, I'm trying to make sure that my sunray pleats

are fairly evenly distributed across the bodice.

I mean, I've given myself a lot of work to do,

but it's the final. What else to do?

Chinelo is making her bodice from illusion net...

I really don't want to rush that.

..an extremely fine stretch fabric that can appear invisible

when worn against the skin.

Those are my seam lines for my shoulders.

I'm just going to stitch over that,

create a couple of folds, then zigzag over the top of that,

and then clip off the excess.

So it just looks like a flat...sort of seam.

And it gives the sheer fabric a good strong seam.

Chinelo will complete

her floor-length satin dress

by hand sewing flowers to her bodice,

and her close-fitting skirt

will feature a nine-layer tulle fishtail.

You're going to look amazing in this.

I'm already so jealous of your fringe.

I'm now going to be even more jealous.

Chinelo, I imagine on that dress...

-fit is key!

-It is.

-Definitely.

-Even if it's slightly baggy, it will be bad!

It seems really, really, really quiet in here.

I think it's sheer concentration.

Everyone is just really, really, really getting their heads down.

Huh! Just making a little facing

to run down the side.

What I want to make sure is that they're the same size.

It's the sort of thing that Patrick's always after - symmetry.

And if it ain't symmetrical, he doesn't like it!

I'm just checking that my side seams are going to be equal.

I'm acting as a couture house. It's Tamara's Couture House.

I'm making sure that all my measurements are correct.

I'm measuring, re-measuring.

So I could probably do with coming in a little bit more there.

I'm just trying to get some shape into the top

and get rid of any wrinkles.

I want it to sit perfectly flat,

so there's no shadows of this tulle.

I want it to look totally invisible, like there's nothing there.

So...

Yeah?

Pretty happy with that.

With bodices completed...

OK, turn around.

..the finalists need to move onto their skirts.

I'm just measuring out my pleats at the moment.

Got a box pleat in the centre,

and then either side, we have knife pleats.

Trying not to get too panicky about it,

because when I get panicky, I make mistakes.

Heather's skirt requires six metres of fine chiffon.

I've got quite a lot to overlock here.

By carefully stretching it as it goes through the overlocker,

the skirt hem will have a fluted finish, known as a lettuce edge.

I'm going to make two overskirts.

It's just layers of the very soft fabrics.

It gives a beautiful slow movement when you walk.

This is the first level of the fishtail of my dress.

Chinelo is planning to attach nine layers of fine tulle

to the bottom of her skirt.

Initially, I was just going to go with this tulle,

but it's just too soft. I've tried everything

to make it bounce out a bit more - I pulled it, stretched it,

creased it, crunched it, everything.

It's just far too soft.

So what I'm going to do is sandwich this harder tulle in-between it,

machine right along the edge here,

and then I'm going to gather them.

I'm going to attach the skirt now.

There's acres of the stuff!

I'm just hoping that I've measured correctly,

so it's all going to come together.

It's such a stressful time.

Sewers, you have one hour left, one hour!

It has to be perfect for an haute-couture dress.

I don't have a lot left, but it's fiddly.

So, erm, let's hope we've got a dress at the end of it.

This has been gathered, so it's now literally just to...

..sew it on.

It's looking good.

But then I've said that before

and then I've hit a complete disaster.

I just want to get this done, so I can start putting my flowers on.

I really don't want to rush that.

I'm just trying to get my chain sorted

so I can get it into the links.

This would go on a dressage double bridle,

just under the chin of the horse.

I need a screwdriver, or a bit of leverage with something.

She's quite strong!

45 minutes remaining.

This is a tulle fight!

I'm going hell for leather.

Fitting's good, but now I need to hurry

because I need to make the next skirt.

I've really got a race against time. I won't be able to do

the blanket stitch around the edges like I planned to.

There's a lot to do in that room.

Chinelo is actually still pinning all those flowers on the bodice.

Heather, I'm really not sure where she is.

She's got that bustle, all those layers and that ruchey bit,

-which there's no evidence of.

-Yeah. And that's what makes the dress.

The problem with Tamara's dress is...

she's being really ambitious, if she doesn't get all the extra stuff,

the overlayer on and the flowers,

it just ends up as an ordinary day dress.

-I mean, that's really disappointing, isn't it?

-Yeah.

I think the impact of that dress is all of those

different elements together.

This is a glue gun. It's a brilliant invention. This is my 3-D flowers

that almost look like they're sprouting from the dress.

(Ow, that's hot.)

15 minutes left, sewers, 15!

We should have more hours for a couture dress!

-OK, I'm going to make the skirt now.

-OK.

This is going to be a sort of bustle.

I'm going to catch all of these

and make sure they're all caught in there and secure.

I've never used this crystal organza before.

We'll see what happens!

Literally not thinking, just doing!

It's not very easy piercing through.

This makes you look too wide.

-How many minutes?

-Sewers, you have five minutes left.

Only by God's grace...

I just need to find out where to put this.

I may actually ditch the whole net skirt.

I think it's just making it too fussy.

-Still very scared.

-I'm just putting tiny

catch stitches into the silk,

just to give it a bit of body and shape.

Like anything in couture, you have to adjust the original design

to fit your client.

Oh, gosh! That was your skin.

-Sorry!

-I think I definitely... Ooh.

..made the right decision.

In three seconds, it's over!

One... Doing it slowly.

..two...

Just getting her shoes on. Hang on a second,

-you're in the dress.

-..three, that's it!

That is it. Well done, all of you!

Exhausted, I'm feeling totally exhausted.

Oh, dear, I could have done, really, with another hour on that.

Gosh, look at Heather's. It's amazing!

And...Tamara. Only Tamara, seriously.

You know, my heart sinks a little bit, cos I think,

"Wow, mine is completely out there, compared to theirs."

# If you can't make your mind up

# We'll never

# Get started

# And I don't wanna wind up

# Being parted

# Broken-hearted... #

Seven hours, and three made-to-measure dresses.

And being couture, it's all about the detail.

# ..Perhaps, perhaps, perhaps... #

Perhaps you can just hand Heather the whip,

-just partly for my own safety.

-Be nice.

Starting at the most obvious point - the bodice, that sunray fan.

Every little point of that is secured, I can't see a stitch...

Oh, no, I can see one or two little stitches in there.

We've got lots and lots of roll hemming on the overlocker,

which has given you this lovely

- fluted effect. - I love that.

You stretched it as you sewed it.

This is the hook and bar that releases that,

so as the evening goes on and the dancing begins...

- Exactly. - ..the bustle can come off.

I mean, this bustle creates such a terrific effect.

What I love about it is the kind of plumpness of it.

It's using every bit of the bounce in this silk,

and it looks so organic.

It's got a life of its own.

I think when we're looking at couture work,

it's that liveliness that you want to keep in the material.

There's a lot of hand sewing and a lot of gathering going on

to give it that beautiful shape.

Initially, we were quite concerned about how this chain might look.

There was the potential that it might have overpowered

but, actually, what I think it does is...

it just adds a little edge to quite a soft finish,

and I think it works really well.

Thank you.

That dress is amazing.

A very beautiful dress.

It fits your model beautifully.

I mean, round the back...

Can I swivel you round?

It's really sculptured well over the body.

We've just got a little bit of

-a ripple there.

-Yeah.

I think it's a really successful execution.

If I'm going to be really nitpicky,

I think that fishtail

is a little overpowering.

I think all of this is

so delicate and lovely,

and that's just a little bit

big for me, but I'm being really nitpicky.

These seams on the shoulder are a little bit too robust.

It does detract from these beautiful flowers

and this wonderful bodice.

But it is a really beautiful looking dress,

and you should be really proud of yourself.

It's a lot of work, in a very short space of time.

Thank you.

Can I congratulate you on your zip?

I think it's probably one of the best zips you've put in.

If we look at it across the back...

I mean, that fits terrifically.

Actually, that racing back needs to sit inside the shoulder blades.

It's absolutely doing that.

It's hugging the back really nicely.

The overall fit is really very well done.

I was really sad that I didn't see the crystal organza

-incorporated into it.

-Well, I did make it and I put it on,

and I just thought it didn't need it. It was just too, too much.

-PATRICK:

-I think what was, for me, the great thing about this

was the sheer mass exuberance of it.

I think without it, it lost a little.

I was a little bit disappointed that

I didn't see any flowers sewn on.

I'm not sure about using the glue gun on a dress.

If every one had been absolutely hand sewn on,

and every slash had been controlled and the edges were perfectly done,

it could have been quite magical.

It was just too much to do by hand in the time that you had.

Huge congratulations for three extraordinary dresses.

Go to the cafe, have an enormous cake or...cocktail.

I don't know if they do them there, probably not.

When you come back in, the judges will announce the winner

of The Great British Sewing Bee.

Whilst the finalists wait for the judges' decision,

the sewing room opens its doors to their families

and a few familiar faces.

I was quite nervous coming in,

back into the sewing room.

It's quite nice being back in the sewing room

and not having to sew.

I will say that!

I can't tell you how nice it is to see everyone,

catching up on everything everyone's doing,

it's really, really lovely!

I've had a little look at the clothes

that everybody's made,

it's astounding.

I don't think there's a standout winner at all.

It's going to be really tricky for the judges.

I really wouldn't want to be one of them!

I would say Chinelo.

She can just whip up a pattern by measuring you out

and getting a bit of chalk and...

sketching it onto a piece of fabric.

She just fascinates me.

I can't possibly pick one.

Tamara has an amazing sense of style and colour.

Heather has got a spark that might just swing the balance for her.

Oh... Am I going to take my words back,

is it going to be Heather? I don't know. I don't know!

Have I got to pick someone?

Come on, Tamara!

At this point, do you think you know who the winner is?

We started off with the tie. Tamara and Heather

did a pretty good job of following that pattern.

And then we went to the alteration.

We had three really good dresses,

but Chinelo just pipped them to the post.

And then on our final challenge, if we start with Tamara,

I think all of the idea was there,

it had the makings of something really fantastic.

But actually, in its execution,

it was very disappointing.

Things like gluing the flowers on was a shame.

We didn't see any fantastic hand-sewing skills.

Chinelo's... Full of beautiful flair

and all of that natural elegance

that we see every week from Chinelo.

Brilliant fit, beautiful execution.

And it looked stunning on her model.

Then finally, after weeks of

not really showing us

exactly what she's made of,

Heather has gone for it in a big way

and has delivered something that is really pretty spectacular.

-Jenni!

-CHEERING

Hello!

Hello.

Hello, lovely friends and family.

Brilliant to see all our sewers back in the room.

Please could the three finalists come and join us right up here?

So the good news is, you've got the people who you love the most

right behind you for this moment,

because look what I've got in my hand.

The winner of The Great British Sewing Bee is...

-..Heather.

-CHEERING

-I don't believe it!

-Congratulations.

-Thank you.

-Very well done.

-Thank you so much!

Can we have a round of applause? Put this over your head!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

'I was so, so certain'

in my mind that it wasn't me, for sure.

So I was quite calm, standing there.

I thought, "This is OK. It's not me, it's fine. It's absolutely fine."

I'm...

I think throughout the weeks, Heather's just been

quietly biding her time. She's always shown competence,

but finally, this week, she's absolutely pushed the boat out.

We wanted something worthy of the name couture

and, of everything we've seen,

really, that final dress was absolutely the epitome of that.

Well done, lady!

She showed us how well she could handle fabric,

how well she could fit to the body,

and some beautiful hand-sewing skills.

'No regrets.'

Obviously, I'm a little disappointed,

but then looking at the garments that I've made

over the last eight weeks, I'm actually quite pleased,

cos I think I did a really good job. I'm actually quite proud of myself.

'Well, losing out to Heather is not a bad thing.'

She is phenomenal! I'm going to treasure this sewing room forever,

all the memories it holds for me,

all the pressure, the tears, the happiness, the smiles.

Patrick's comments, May's comments. I'm going to treasure

every single moment of it. I can't believe I've made

24 garments in eight weeks. That's amazing.

Your dress looked amazing. Absolutely amazing.

It's been an incredible experience. I have learnt so much,

not least from my other competitors.

And I thank them to the bottom of my heart for that.

MUSIC: "I'll Never Fall In Love Again" by Johnny Ray

If you'd like to take up sewing projects inspired by the series,

please go to...