The Sewing Bee Finale

In this iteration: my thoughts on episodes 8-10 of the Great British Sewing Bee S10.

Hey Matryoshkas,

It’s happened – in what feels like a whirlwind, this year’s Sewing Bee has come and gone, crowning the innovative Luke as its season 10 victor. This morning I saw and felt compelled to click a scathing review of the season, which complained that the Sewing Bee is “stilted by its inherently boring structure,” and it’s time to retire the show for good. I strongly disagree. I think, really, the author of this article just doesn’t like the Sewing Bee that much, which is of course fine but certainly not a universal viewpoint. Although I’m not without my own complaints regarding this season, and I do think it was – on the whole – weaker than previous years.

I’ll elaborate on that, but first: my notes on episodes 8-10.

Episode Eight: Diva Week

·       Luke was absolutely in their element this week. The drama, the elaborate adornments, all made me think it would be exciting to see a Drag Week in future seasons. Drag artists are notorious for sewing a lot of their own garments – many of which are complex and extravagant, built for the stage, and fitted to proportions rarely catered for in mainstream fashion – and there’s a wealth of talent and history to be unearthed in exploring this. I also think it would be good for the sewers to learn how to fit different body types. Aside from the odd drag queen contestant, most of the sewers come in with no experience fitting gendered clothing to bodies that don’t conform to a typically-gendered mannequin. (On that note, I think there also needs to be more effort made to include plus-sized models in made-to-measure challenges. Fitting clothes to a larger body requires much more than simply scaling up a design made for a thin one, and it would be valuable to show that.)

·       I enjoyed the transformation challenge this week, though I have no idea why Luke thought it was a good idea to add wiring to a piece of loungewear. Their keyhole design looked great, but all I could think about was what a sensory nightmare it would be!

·       The made-to-measures this week were stunning.

Episode Nine: Fashion Icons

·       This week was a lot of fun. I really liked the Balenciaga-inspired pattern the judges gave out for the pattern challenge, and I hope it pops up online somewhere. (Sometimes the Sewing Bee posts its patterns for free over on Instagram.)

·       The judges and Kiell’s Anna Wintour cosplay made me snort.

·       The prompt for this week’s transformation challenge was fantastic. It reminded me of a dress made of ties which my girlfriend and I saw in Armstrongs & Son Vintage in Edinburgh. (I had hoped I would have my Edinburgh recap posted before this week, so I could link it, although the time seems to have gotten away from me. Stay tuned!) Luke’s concept of a very literal “black tie dress” was a stroke of genius, and the craftsmanship really impressed me. I’m inspired now to start buying up old ties and make some kind of tie garment of my own, though I know that’s probably wildly over-ambitious for my current skill level.

Patrick & Esme goofing around during Episode 10’s transformation challenge. Source: the Sewing Bee’s Instagram.

Episode Ten: The Final!

·       Going into this week, I was quite relaxed, because frankly I liked all three of the finalists and would have been happy with any of them as a winner. I’m very glad for Luke, though, and I do think their victory was earned.

·       I noticed this week that the judges put a lot of emphasis on how much time they’d given the sewers for their fiddly pattern challenge. Patrick mentioned several times that they had tested the challenge, and calculated the time given in order to be fair. I can only assume they had to say this after the complaints earlier in the season about the sewers rushing and not finishing anything. It’s really peculiar that this has been so much of a problem this year, when in previous years the length of the challenge has generally been manageable for most of the sewers. I can’t tell whether the fault lies with the show, or this year’s sewers are just a particularly slow bunch.

·       I’m glad Pascha was able to laugh about the backwards thumb on her opera glove instead of getting upset. It was very funny, but I would’ve felt mean for giggling at it if she’d been genuinely distressed. I also feel for the model who had to put on all the gloves. I can’t fathom the adrenalin rush of trying to neatly and elegantly put on a pair of opera gloves with cameras pointing at you. Especially gloves that might not fit.

·       I thought Luke and Pascha’s transformations were both incredible, though Luke’s was my favourite. It’s a shame it was made out of napkins, though, because of course it tore at the first tug of the zip. I think it was more of an art piece than a wearable garment.

·       As for the made-to-measure – I think they all needed longer. And here we get back to the criticism that’s been plaguing the show this year. All three contestants were rushing, and none produced the kind of elevated, flawless garment you would expect from a finale. There was barely time for them to finish, let alone iron anything. Even Luke’s winning gown (which was sculpturally impressive and conceptually fabulous) had faults that came from lack of time. Which is a shame, because all three of them are very talented and absolutely could have nailed their dresses, if they’d been given even an extra half an hour to work with.

Overall, I enjoyed this year’s Sewing Bee a lot, and – unlike the author of that critical article I read this morning – I do want it to continue. I don’t think the format needs to change overmuch; the three-challenge sequence worked for the Bake-Off, and it works for this, too. Although admittedly, I would like to see a few small changes going forward.

I’d like it if the Sewing Bee was more size-inclusive.

I’d like it if there was more drag.

I’d like it if we got a little more fashion history, too.

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Has anyone else watched this year’s season? What are your thoughts?

Until next time,

Holly

The Doll House