Sewing Bee

[white_hart]

It is too hot to sew, so I spent several hours this afternoon on the sofa reading Victoria Goddard's The Hands of the Emperor and then thought that if I couldn't sew, maybe I'd watch some old episodes of The Great British Sewing Bee on iPlayer.

I went back to the first series, which I watched some of at the time but gave up on because I was a very new and unconfident sewer and watching people struggling to sew under time pressure just made sewing seem even more stressful. Rewatching from the point of view of a much more confident sewer, I thought that the first series, at least, didn't really seem to get the balance right, and spent much more time showing the contestants looking like they were on the verge of breaking down than looking competent and like they actually enjoyed sewing.

Also, I'd forgotten that Tilly from Tilly and the Buttons was on the first series. Her complete inability to deal with fitting her model's not actually very large bust explains quite a lot about her patterns. Also, how does someone who considers themself to be good enough to apply to go on a sewing-themed TV show have no idea how to add a patch pocket to a garment???

Comments

[girlyswot]

This is why I have never bought or recommended her patterns. She was laughably bad for someone who thought she could be a pattern maker. I do, however, shop at Lauren’s shop from time to time and I’m glad she seems to have made a success of that. The whole show improved massively imo when Esme replaced May.

[white_hart]

I definitely prefer Esme to May. I don't think I've ever ordered anything from Lauren's shop but it is one I check when looking for higher-end stuff rather than going to the discount places.