The Great British Sewing Bee Challenge - Week Two

So we have had the second episode of "The Great British Sewing Bee" and this week patterned fabric was the focus.  I do love patterned fabric, I have a lot in my stash, but I tend to make far more solid colour items than patterned.  However, this week there was no escaping the problems of pattern.

I opted again to take the "Pattern Challenge" and above is the result. I didn't  time my effort this time, as with one thing or another I didn't have a free 3 hour window of time to dedicate to this project.  There are also several differences between my skirt and those the contestants had to make.  I opted for a yoked waistband, rather than straight, as I find it more comfortable and flattering, but also more time consuming.  There are also double the number of box pleats and that was because of the fabric I had to hand, see below.  This is a table runner I made from the same fabric, and I wanted to tone down the check.  This fabric is actually the remainder of the duvet cover, the other side was stripy and is now three blinds in the dining room. 

The other amendment I made was the addition of a pocket in the right side seam.  I have found that if I don't include pockets in the clothes I make, the I just don't wear them, so a pocket had to be added.
And below is the result of my very first hand picked zip and I have to say I may well be a convert. I didn't think that a hand sewn zip could possible feel as secure as one machine sewn, but even with my less than perfect hand sewing ability, this zips seems really secure and very neat,

So what challenge shall I undertake next week, week three seems to be all about stretch fabric (not my favourite type a fabric).  If I don't like any of next week's challenges then I already have two men's shirt really to be hacked to bits and transformed into something fabulous.

The Great British Sewing Bee Challenge

So the Great British Sewing Bee returned to our screens last week, oh how I do love this show.  And it got me wondering, would I be able to do that?  There are eight episodes, whether I can keep up and manage eight challenges we will have to wait and see, but so far so good.

The first challenge they set to the combatants was to make a simple sleeveless top in just two and a half hours.  Now like most people I don't time my sewing, it is just something I do because I enjoy it,  I have sewn many things to a short deadline, but that usually means late nights and as many short-cuts as possible, no stop watches involved.  I did wonder whether or not to even attempt this challenge, not because I thought it would be beyond my capabilities, but because I rarely wear sleeveless tops.  Why make something, if you are not going to wear it?

 Anyway I did decide to go ahead and give this a try, I found a pattern for a simple sleeveless top in my stash, that looked like the one used in the show and I had a remnant of a purple sheet, that was not really big enough for anything else.  Now my lounge probably isn't as high pressured as the Sewing Bee Studio, I just had the company of the lovely Hagrid and an episode of "Poirot" on the DVR, but I did have a stop watch.

Two hours later (not two and a half) I had finished my top.  The only thing I didn't manage to do was the understitiching, it wasn't a step included in my pattern and I didn't realise it had to be done when the neck facing had been sewn, but before the arm facing.  Anyway I notched and pressed a facing and everything else it complete, hem, button, button loop.   And it even fits.

Week One - Challenge One - Complete

I really liked the refashion challenge, but as I don't currently have a woollen maxi skirt to hack to bits, that challenge will have to wait.  I am currently scouring charity shops for the necessary raw materials.