07x05 - Episode 5

[bunniefuu]

It's children's week in the sewing
room, which means little garments

with little details
for our eight remaining sewers.

We've been preparing for ages.

A while back, Mummy mannequin
fell in love with Daddy mannequin

and, a few months later,
this happened.

What's that, Daddy mannequin?

He wants a DNA test.

Welcome to
The Great British Sewing Bee!

Last time...

Bonjour!

..our sewers went international.

Would you ever have an
affair with a Russian?

Not this week.

Farie made it two in a row...

She's done it again.

..grabbing top spot
with a Mexican masterpiece.

It's an absolute knockout.

Adeena experienced
some turbulence...

What should I do about the hem?

..but it was Cathryn's failure
to take off...

You had that Russian doll fabric,
but we don't see it.

..that led to an early checkout.

Cathryn. Absolutely.
And I totally agree.

Now it's children's week...

Move this lovely baby.

..with a snappy romper suit...

For all those nappy changes!

..a fishy transformation...

I don't think I've seen anyone else
making a jellyfish.

..and a children's waterproof
made-to-measure.

Ooh!

Who'll be teacher's pet?

This coat will rock
the school playground.

And who's going home
straight to bed?

I feel sorry for the poor little lad
that's got to wear this.

# I'm just a baby

# A little baby... #

It feels great
being back in children's week.

So excited.

I was determined to wear
my dungarees

because I wanted to dress like
a child.

And also I made them,
so I wanted to show them off.

I've never made any clothes
for a child before.

No!
I've no children to practise on.

Making clothes for the kids,
it's just seeing them twirl

and dance around in their clothes -
that just does it for me.

And they don't look
at the stitching, do they?

Oh-ooh! Come forward.

# Uh-huh, your ever loving baby... #

Good morning, sewers.
ALL: Good morning.

I was expecting you to say,
"Good morning, Mrs Lycett,"

because it's children's week.

Esme, tell us
about the pattern challenge.

Right. Here we go.

What we've got is a unisex
romper suit.

A romper?!

It's got straps that cross
at the back, it's got snaps,

and elasticated waists and legs,
for ease of movement.

Now, our toddlers need to be able
to romp in these rompers,

so choose a fabric that's going
to give us easy movement

for climbing and crawling.
But we want them to be fun.

You have four hours
for this challenge.

Good luck. Your time starts now.

Oh, this is nice and soft.

To make their romper suits,

the sewers need to choose a firm
fabric that's lightweight...

I'm going to get dinosaurs.

..but durable enough
to romp around in.

Oh, that looks fun.
And it doesn't get dirty.

I've chosen an African wax
print fabric.

It's cotton, it's very durable,

so hopefully our little bubba here

won't, uh, wear it out.

Now, I wasn't into rough and tumble
as a child.

I preferred inflicting
psychological damage.

But why have you chosen a romper?

Well, the romper is a very practical
garment for a child.

It's also incredibly cute,

which probably accounts
for its massive popularity.

And what fabrics would you expect?

They need to use something
that's fairly lightweight

because these gathers,
the construction of the straps,

it shouldn't be too bulky.

It also would be very difficult
to put snaps on a thick fabric.

Yeah. They definitely
would come unstuck there.

We have also asked them

to insert elastic at the bottom
of the legs and at the back.

And this channel needs to be
very neatly and evenly sewn,

and the spacing from the top needs
to be consistent.

Also, because it's small,
it might be more difficult

to sew and be precise.

I think it's a great challenge.
Yeah. Yeah.

All right. See you later.

Is that him romping? I think so.

Because everything's gathered,
I think it's going to be hard

to pattern match. I'm just
going to think about placements.

See, I can place a bib over
a dinosaur.

This is my first child garment.

There's a lot of little curves,
especially in the crotch area,

it's going to be teeny tiny.

There isn't enough in here to make
myself a pair of decent shorts.

Nine pattern pieces
make up the romper.

First,
the straps are sewn inside out

and pulled through to the
right side, creating tubes.

They're then sandwiched between
the front bib pieces, and stitched.

The top of the front leg section
is gathered to the exact size

of the bib, and the two pieces
sewn together.

A channel is created at the top
of the back section,

and elastic threaded through.

The front is joined to the back,
and buttons and buttonholes added.

Finally, a reinforcing facing
is sewn around the crotch

and snap fastenings added to secure.

Right, I need to move
this lovely baby.

For most of the sewers, it's their
first time tackling childrenswear.

The baby mannequins are terrifying.

Look at him.

There's a lot of power
you've got now.

You can do whatever you want
with me.

But making their tiny garments
will be a huge undertaking.

Oh, gosh. It's quite confusing.

Quite a few pages there.

It is the thickest
set of instructions we've yet had

in a pattern challenge.

Oh, yeah. Right, OK.

Yeah, there's quite a bit to do,
isn't there, there?

It is a bit worrying, but
I think you've just got to relax.

Calm down, speed up.

I can do it. I can...!
And I WILL do it.

Happy about this challenge?
I am happy.

It's something that
I would've made for the girls.

So you've made clothes
for your own kids? Yes, I have.

So I am quite familiar
with sewing small, tiny pieces.

Right. Look forward to seeing it.
Thank you.

But if children's week wasn't
proving challenging enough...

There's some crazy stuff
going on in my head.

..Adam's making his romper
even more complicated.

What have you chosen fabric-wise?
A mixture.

A mixture? OK.

I wanted something that was durable,
so I'm going to use this kind of

chambray material on the main body
of the romper.

I want to use this as the bodice
part, to add the fun element,

and the red for the straps.

It needed a pop of colour for me.

You're really making life difficult
for yourself. Yeah, I am.

I might be a bit bonkers.

Right, instructions.

"With your shoulder straps,
fold in half,

"then stitch along
the straight back edge."

This is your first child's garment?
First child's garment, yeah.

I love it when you go to shops
and they've got like,

little child's shoes,
things like that.

It's just, anything small's
adorable, isn't it?

That's why we all love Esme.
That's right!

I'm sure there's a better technique
for turning out straps.

Hooray! The end is nigh.

This is a big g*y romper.
It is a big g*y romper, yeah.

You've made a romper before?
I made about five of them.

Oh, look, there they all are.
And there's some romping gays.

Is that at Pride, I'm guessing?

Yeah, it was Pride, 2018,

and these are my bandmates.

How fun!
This romper is much smaller.

It's much more detailed.

Need to pay lots of attention.

And now I'm going to build
the big...

Oh, ey-up. "Bag out," it says.

To bag out the bib,
it's first constructed inside out,

before being turned
the right way round.

These straps need to be sandwiched
in between these two layers.

I just need to make sure they're
in precisely the right place.

It definitely helps to have small,
nimble fingers.

They're just too fiddly.

And I'm not used to this.

So I've just done the front
bib section and the straps.

I'm happy with that.

So now I'm moving on
to the next bit.

"With your lower front panel,

"you will need to machine
a gathering stitch."

A gathering stitch will allow
the sewers to attach

their much larger front panels
to the tiny bibs.

Like that.

And then you can pull on the thread
and form some gathers.

My dad's bigger than your dad,
and he's not made of polyurethane.

Sewers, you've had half your time.

Why did I choose different threads?

Adam's decision
to use multiple fabrics

is starting to slow him down.

Because I've decided to use three
different fabrics for the romper,

I need to use
three different threads,

cos I know that's something that the
judges have picked up on recently,

is thread of matching thread.

These are gathering up
really, really well.

The dresses that I made
for my girls, both of them actually

had gathers in the waist, so same
position as the gathers are here.

And now I've got to put this
onto this,

and it's all got to line up
perfectly.

It's all about precision.

Because you need a lot of room
around the legs for romping.

What is romping, by the way?

Isn't it sort of...

..like that?
That's mincing, isn't it?

Oh, no, no, no! No, no.
Do you remember the little girl

that walked in on her dad
when he was on BBC News?

Oh, yes. Yes, yes. Yes.
She's a romper. Romper.

She went like that, didn't she?
She was like...

..like that. Right. Do you want me
to romp off or mince off?

Can you sort of do
a sort of mincy romp? A mincy romp.

Ooh-ooh!

Rompers might seem the obvious
choice for a growing baby,

but this wasn't always the case.

Until relatively recently,
babies and toddlers

spent their early years in dresses,
regardless of their gender.

We can see photographs
of powerful men from the past,

like Roosevelt, Edward VIII,
even Churchill,

and they're wearing items that we,
today, associate with girls.

The dresses were restrictive
for a baby, but experts were

realising that physical freedom was
beneficial to a child's development.

One scholar, writing in 1840,
said that a child should be able

to crawl on all-fours,
or tumble about at its own leisure,

and long dresses were an impediment
to this freedom of motion.

In 1908, John Price Crozer Griffith
wrote a book on childcare,

which became really popular,
and in this,

he recommended the use of a new
garment called a creeping apron.

In its simplest form,
the creeping apron was a dress with

a makeshift fastening, pinned in the
middle to create a pair of trousers.

Who designed
the first creeping apron?

It's pretty clear
that it was an anonymous mother,

and it might've been
something quite DIY.

The earliest documented picture
we've got of a baby

in a crawling, or creeping outfit,
is Hope Dewitt,

aged nine months,
photographed in 1904.

But, by about 1920, you start to see
different cuts on the bodice,

different necklines,
contrast pockets.

So they've come into fashion.

They continued to grow in popularity
and, by the 1920s,

romper patterns could be ordered
via women's magazines.

And now, rompers are the first
clothing item on the shopping list

for almost all new parents.

SOFTLY: And all the king's horses

And all the king's men
Couldn't put Humpty together again.

Night-night.

ONE HOUR TO GO, SEWERS!

Whoa! Crikey. An hour.

I need to get a wriggle on,
and I don't want to be panicking.

Because if that thread snaps, you're
up the creek without a paddle.

Once the front panel has been
gathered to the correct size...

This is more fiddly
than I thought it'd be.

..it's then attached to the bib,
with a stitch in the ditch.

So that means you fold down
the raw edge,

and then, from the outside,
you sew along the seam.

So you're getting it
right in between this bit here.

So it shouldn't be showing
on that side or that side.

It's literally in the seam.

If the sewers come out
of the ditch...

Whoops!

..it will spoil the seamless finish
of the garment.

You're not in the ditch.

It's like, half a millimetre off.

It's very annoying.

But Adeena's got even more unpicking
to do.

What on earth did I do? Right, OK.

She's attached her bib
the wrong way round.

I took such a long time pinning that
in place as well.

Right, OK, Adeena. Just focus.

And while she's back in the ditch...

I rectified it.
I've stitched in a ditch.

You can't see it any more.

..the rest of the sewers have
finished the front of their romper.

Currently it's like an apron.

Aw, that's cute, isn't it?
So cute.

Are you going to do the back now?
Yes, I'm just about to do

the elastic on the back.

Unless the sewers carefully insert
elastic into the back...

Making a channel is possibly
the thing I've done least.

..it won't have the tight
but flexible fit

the classic romper demands.

The size of garment is going to rely
on getting this part right.

So now, I need to cut my piece
of elastic to 17cm.

Very specific.

Accuracy, at this point,
is really important.

Don't go off tangent doing
your own thing.

So, I've cut my elastic differently
than what it says.

Because I prefer to have a bit
extra on my elastic,

and then stitch it, and then cut it.

That's the thing - with
instructions, do you follow these

or do you go with a bit of your
instincts? Do you know what I mean?

Sometimes it could pay off,
sometimes it doesn't.

The elastic is actually longer
than the actual piece itself,

which doesn't seem right.

It's only this long.

17cm. No.

I think I did inches.
You did inches?

I think I did inches!

Oh, seriously, Adeena?
Like, I mean...

I'm very happy with my elastic.

It's all lying nice and flat,
there's no twists in it.

So, I've got the front and back
constructed,

and I've had to change the thread
three times.

But I've done it.

Not finishing is not an option.

Half an hour to go, sewers!

The bib's got a bit of a flap.

Come on, Adeena, move on.

Even if the rompers are coming
together...

Straps, front, and back.

..without perfectly aligned buttons
and buttonholes...

Hello!

..they'll cause a toddler tantrum.

If they're too far apart,
the straps, they'll be too tight.

My instinct is to go
in the middle here.

But buttons aren't the only
fastenings the sewers have to

worry about.

Oh, last two pages. Oh, crikey!

The bottom of the romper is held
together with snaps.

For all those nappy changes.

But before the snaps can
be attached,

a reinforcing facing needs to be
sewn around the crotch.

Really difficult doing it
on a curve.

Very, very fiddly.

Not really good at fiddly sewing.

It's a little bit of origami,
really.

This is your last ten minutes,
sewers.

I've taken it to the wire, again.

Let's just get some poppers on.

You know they're male and female,
don't you? Come on!

I know the difference between a man
and a woman, love.

Oh! They've popped together,
so that works.

Is that going to go through? Oh, no.

Ay-ay-ay.

Are you OK, Adam?
My fabric's too thick.

Last snapper.

I'm done.
Bless his little cotton socks.

I've just got a bit of a flap. Mm.

Needles up! That is your time.

Romp your mannequins forward,
please.

Happy? No, cos soon as the poppers
are undone, they'll just ping off.

Ee, it's making me broody. No.
No. No? No.

No, no, not that broody.

# I'm a big girl now

# I don't want to be called
little cutie

# Any more... #

Eight romper suits made
in only four hours.

This is quite the creche, isn't it?
I feel like Octomom.

# Any more. #

Farie, I really like this fabric.

And I really like
how you've placed this circle.

Gathering looks pretty even
on the front.

That's very neat, the bib.

Now, I'm going to look at the snaps.

That one's still on.
SNAP!

That one's still on.
SNAP!

And that one's still on!
SNAP!

Well done.
LAUGHTER

I love the choice of fabric.

I think it's really vibrant,
really fresh.

The gathering is neatly handled.

The facing is pretty neat.

The back is pretty neat also.

I wouldn't expect anything else
from you than really accurate,

good sewing.

And that's exactly what you've done.

Thank you.

I really like this pink dinosaur
in the middle of your bib.

My nephews both loved dinosaurs.

I know. And I think they would love
a romper like this.

Again, there are very few areas
where we can see anything

other than really neat,
perfect sewing. Yep.

So, I think
it's extremely well done.

Thank you very much.

White isn't necessarily
the most practical for a toddler,

but it looks nice.

Your channel is much closer
to the top at the side...

Yeah, I agree. ..than it is
at the middle.

And so it's given us
quite a big gather here.

Let's have a... Oh.

That one's come off.
Oh, Patrick!

Oh. That one has come off as well.

You chose to make your romper
out of three different fabrics.

You've actually made life
quite difficult for yourself.

I can see the red through the front
here, I can see the seam allowance.

It just sort of lessens the impact.

Well, I completely disagree
with Patrick.

I LOVE the combination,
I think it looks great.

You have lost a snap there, and...

Oh, that one's come off.

Go on, do the third.

The middle one works! Wahey!

You've not sewn the channel
correctly.

You've got no facing on the back.

I mean, it works, but it isn't
how we asked you to sew it.

No reading of the instructions,
obviously.

I've read more than I usually do.

That's some admission!
LAUGHTER

The bib looks very neatly sewn.

The gathers are even.

You've thought about the placement
of the print really carefully.

It is a shame
that you've only got one

line of stitching on your channel,
and that means that this

elastic, it's sitting
wherever it wants to sit.

But other than that,
I think they're very well sewn.

Well, something's happened here.

I don't know what you've done,
and why we've got

a little flap here.

I mean, this is
quite a major mistake.

Now, let's look at the snaps.

Ah. Oh, has one just come out?
Yep. I'm afraid it has.

You've got a couple of errors here,
which I think unfortunately

detract from what was otherwise
a pretty good attempt. Yeah.

Esme and Patrick will now rank
the romper suits from last to first.

In eighth place,

it's Adeena. Unfortunately, you're
missing a snap, but it's this tuck

at the front, which is in a very
obvious place, that lets you down.

In seventh place

is Andrew.

You had snaps missing,
and your channel at the back,

it was narrow up the sides, and
it got wider in the middle.

Adam is sixth,

Damien fifth,

Raph fourth,

and Farie third.

In second place...

..Rebecca. It's a fantastically
sewn romper suit.

We love the placement of the print.
Beautiful sewing throughout.

Very, very well done. Thank you.

Well, in first place is Serena.

APPLAUSE

It's perfectly sewn.

You're such a fabulous sewer.
It's brilliant.

Thank you.

Well done, kids.
Through the first challenge.

It's break time now.

The back of the bike sheds is
off-limits, after

what happened last time.

We'll meet back here
for the transformation challenge.

Yes, that's it! Bit of romping.

That was amazing - to win,

but also for Esme to say
that I was a fantastic sewer. Yeah.

Feeling absolutely delighted.

It's nice to be back up there again
and prove that, you know,

I can do it.

Oh! You know what?

I did expect I was going to be
somewhere at the bottom with

that kink. And it's quite an obvious
thing that you can see.

Snaps have snapped me.

I think I am towards
that bottom end.

For the transformation challenge,
I'm just going to go in

and enjoy whatever the challenge is
and have fun.

Welcome back, sewers.

It's time for the transformation
challenge, which is

perfect for children's week,
cos, after all, isn't every child

a caterpillar waiting to transform
into a beautiful butterfly?

I'm going to be sick.

Patrick, tell us about
the challenge.

We hope this challenge won't leave
you feeling like fish out of water.

Ooh. Oh, gosh!

There's more.

Ooh!

We're giving you neoprene
wet suits.

We've also given you a selection of
floats and noodles

and other swimming A*DS.

You're going to make a fancy-dress
costume for a child,

inspired by under the sea.

We're going to send the judges away,
so they don't know whose is whose,

and also, we booked them in
at the playpen. Off you go.

Be careful in that ball pond.

Took us an hour to find Esme
last time.

90 minutes, as ever.
Your time starts now!

# I'd rather go fishing
than out on some date... #

As well as wet suits
and floating A*DS...

I want this one.

..the sewers have been given
a range of sparkling nets,

stretchy Lycras,
and craft accessories to make

their fancy dress
even more fantastic.

This is nuts, isn't it?

I've never made
a fancy dress before.

I am terrified by this.

I'm really excited about this one.

I loved wearing costumes as a child.

# I'd rather go fishing. #

So, we've asked them to give us

an undersea-inspired
fancy-dress outfit.

There is great scope
with the flotation A*DS to create

a lot of very 3D costumes.

Yes. And that's really
what I'm looking for.

This neoprene fabric is quite
sculptural, too,

but it is quite tricky to sew.

Yeah, and we've given them all sorts
of Lurex fabrics,

which have a very watery feel
to them.

I'm really looking forward to seeing
what they come up with. Me, too.

I'm going to make a crab.

I saw it and I thought,
"Right, woomph! I'm having that

"because that's got on it
what I need."

What are you making?
I'm trying to go with a jellyfish.

Mm. I don't think I've seen
anyone else making a jellyfish.

Let me just look around.

I am thinking of a shark.

I'm definitely scared of sharks.

It's like out of a horror film,
isn't it, these things?!

What are you making?
I'm making a...octopus.

Oh, great.

So, what I'll be trying to create is
something like that.

It'll be like a rainbow fish dress.

What are you making? Just some sort
of like mermaid thing or something.

If I fall over,
I don't think I'll hurt myself.

Oh, that's so nice!

Can't get back up, though.

It's going to be possibly a mermaid.
That's the initial thought.

What are you making?
Going to be some kind of mermaid.

Damien's doing a mermaid as well.

Is he?
Well, may the best mermaid win.

May the best mermaid win.

This fabric is not easy to sew with.

Why are you going so slowly?

It's really heavy on the sewing
machine,

so it's missing stitches and so on.

This is going to break, I think.

To be honest, I'm only going to use
the wet suit, really, as the base

to just kind of attach everything
to.

Aw, I broke my needle.

So, the wet suit is underneath
this tail thing, so I've completely

disguised it, but I've just used,
uh, the zip part of it.

Right. OK.
So, one crab shell.

Get a couple of noodles in it to
hold it out into a crab shell shape.

Just thought you could do something
really sculptural with

the pool noodle, that...

So, it's like a jellyfish.

That's going to be
what's on the bottom, to try

and mimic the tail, so there's going
to be a lot of sparkle.

So, I am making some tentacles
for my octopus.

I've got some of this Lycra
spandex fabric.

But I'm kind of bagging it out
using some fringing,

just to add a bit to it.

I've done four, anyway,
so it's not too bad.

Sewers, you've got half an hour
remaining.

I've got him!

I'm going to get hand cramp.

So, I'm going to attach this
to the bottom of the jellyfish.

Got to get these eyes on.

There, I think.

Not sure what's going on there.
I think it looks like a shark.

I think what I'm going for is
a fish, and if it's identifiable

as a fish and not an octopus,
we'll be happy with that, I think.

I am stuffing my octopus tentacles.

And there's eight of them,
obviously.

I can't just cut it down
to, like, three.

Oh, look, that's just shouting
"crab" at you now.

I don't know if I've done enough.
Doesn't look like a mermaid.

Probably a bit boring
than anybody else's,

but I can't visualise this.

Sewers! You've got 15 minutes
remaining!

Ah!

Ah!

I still haven't sorted a top,
and there's 15 minutes left.

OK, speed-sewing time.

Sewing bubble wrap.

Funnily enough, I've never done this
before.

Turns out it doesn't sew well.

I'm not happy with it. But there's
nothing I can change

at the moment, so...

Andrew's crab looks amazing.

And, uh, Serena's jellyfish is
just fabulous.

And I've not even put
the pool noodle in yet.

You know, I could lay these
shells at the front.

I find them quite funny.

These floats are going to be
my fins.

How am I going to attach those?

SHE EXHALES

So, I need to attach my gills.

Gills are inspired.

Who knew you could use the peaks
of caps to make beautiful gills?

Define the edge of the shell.

That's amazing.

I think it's one of my
favourite things

I've ever seen
in the sewing room.

It looks so convincingly like
a crab.

Thank you.

I just wanted some octopus
googly eyes on the top.

Just don't chop my fingers off,
please,

cos I really like my fingers.

That's pretty cool, actually.
It's really cool!

Oh, my God, this is tense.

Urgh! I've got no energy.

One minute, sewers! Let's get those
mannequins dressed.

Have I done enough to make it
look proper?

Just about finished.

Are the shoulders up? You're up.

I wanted to, I think, cover
a lot more of this,

which is a shame.

I've got to finish something.

Needles up!
That is your time.

Oh, my God.
Get your trunks on.

It's time for judging.

# A rub-dub, just relaxing
in the tub

# Thinking everything was
all right... #

Eight wet suits transformed into
sea-themed fancy dress

in just 90 minutes.

And the judges have no idea
whose is whose.

# Splish splash, I jump back
in the bath... #

Ooh! Oh, I say!

# How was I to know
there was a party going on? #

Something funny? Something fun.

Want to get stuck in?
I want to dive in.

Dive in, then. Right. Enjoy.

This is very clearly a mermaid.
I would say so.

We've got a couple of floats that
are giving the structure to the...

Tail. ..the tail.

So, the wet suit seems to be
forming the lower part.

I think it's been well-ex*cuted,
it looks like a load of fun.

You could flipper around it.
Yes, you'd move like this.

I like it.

What could it be? A razor clam?

A sea gnome? I mean,
it's not a shark, is it? No.

I bet it's meant to be something.

We're too dim to work it out. Yes.

Well, I think we have
another mermaid.

This one, I don't think
quite as effective.

It's a little simpler.
I don't think it's...

Bold enough. Bold enough.
Yeah. Yeah.

It needed a bit more oomph.

This is a jellyfish.

Is it the Portuguese man o' w*r?

Let's hope not.
Don't let's get stung!

But, you know, they've used
one of the noodles to create

the top of it, and there's the wet
suit underneath.

It's really cleverly engineered.

A small child would love
to wear that, don't you think?

Yeah, absolutely.

I'm not sure who or what this is.

I mean, it's quite a nice shape,
it looks kind of fun.

I just can't say
that it's particularly one thing.

It's a dress.

Another jellyfish.

Oh, octopus! Or an octopus.

It's... Sorry, it's an octopus!

It's got character. I mean, I think
it looks really fun to wear.

So, they've made the tube
and they've inserted

the fringing into the seam,
so there's actually quite...

Yes, there is. ..a lot
of clever sewing here. Yeah.

And I love this little hat.
Yeah, it's fantastic.

Are you going to guess what it is?

Let me think. Ooh, it's a crab.

It's a crab!
I mean, it's absolutely brilliant.

Isn't it? I love it!
I mean, wow! It's fantastic.

We've got a noodle in here.
Oh, yeah.

We've got the crab's legs, we've got

his pincers made out
of a pair of old floats.

Such a great idea.
Really well-ex*cuted.

It's brilliant.

Well, we've got another mermaid.

Yes. This one, we've got
quite a lot of net to make the tail.

And sort of shell bra.

Is that what that is supposed to be?
I suppose so.

I mean, in a word,
it's quite simple.

But I think a child would enjoy
wearing something like that.

The judges must now rank whether
each fancy dress sinks or swims.

In eighth place,

the strapless mermaid.

Damien.

Well, it didn't have much impact,
did it? No.

No, it didn't, no. Thanks.
LAUGHTER

Thanks, Damien.

In seventh place,
the silver space gnome.

Farie.

What is it? Baby shark.

I didn't get baby shark.
And neither did I.

That's all right. Thank you.

Adeena is sixth,

Raph fifth, Adam fourth,

and third is Rebecca.

In second place...

..is the jellyfish.

Serena.

It just works really well.

I could see a child really keen
to wear this. Thank you.

Which means, in first place is
the crab.

Andrew.

APPLAUSE

It's a fantastic fancy-dress outfit.

We couldn't mistake it
for anything else other than a crab.

Thank you. Well done.

Very happy. My inner child just came
flooding out this afternoon for me

to do that transformation.

Amazing! I don't even know
what just happened.

It's as if I, like, exited my body
and someone else was just like,

"Jellyfish, let's go!"

I'm going to wear that
for Halloween.

It was not my day.

I'm not into fancy dress.

I don't feel safe.

I've come quite near the bottom
today for both of the challenges.

I'm really looking forward
to tomorrow,

but at the moment I just want
to go home and go to sleep!

# Bambino, can't you hear...? #

There's one challenge left
in Children's Week before we find

out who's earned extra pudding

and who's going to bed
without supper.

Well, we've had some amazing
garments,

but just like children,
some are wonderful,

and some are absolutely appalling.
How have they done this week?

I think generally the standard is
really very high.

We saw eight pretty good rompers.

And Serena came top.
Pretty much faultless.

I think it WAS faultless.

She's a very good sewer, Serena,
isn't it?

Very good. Sometimes struggles
with the transformation, though.

She came last last week.
Did better this week.

Oh, fabulous!

It was beautiful, all the tentacles.

So, who else is having a good week?
Rebecca's having a good week.

Her transformation challenge
was great as well.

So, who's struggling?

Well, Adeena's romper was
at the bottom.

She made a couple of small mistakes
and her snaps didn't work.

Yeah. I think we have to include
Damien, sadly. Definitely.

Mostly because Damien's
transformation just was not

bold enough.

But, really, now, we're having
to look at quite fine margins

between the top and the bottom.

So, it sounds to me like
anyone could go today.

I think really the only two that are
pretty safe are Rebecca and Serena.

Right, let's do it. Let's smash it.

Good luck.

Welcome back, sewers, time for
the made-to-measure.

And this week, the judges would like
you to make a raincoat.

Something to keep out the rain
and the snow and the sleet

and the hail, and anything coming
out of the wrong end

of a passing pigeon.

They'd like you
to make a unisex raincoat

because the weather sees no gender.

And now it's time to meet
our models.

HE CLAPS
Models?

Here they are.

All right, guys?
Just the three of them.

They're the only ones that came out
when I went through Birmingham

playing my pipe. You have four
and a half hours for this challenge.

Good luck. Your time starts now.

Wahey!

The sewers have been able
to practise at home.

Is it OK to measure you?
Come on, then.

But now they must adjust
their pattern pieces to

fit their models...

We're going to make it
a wee bit shorter.

Mine is going to be enormous.
Mine is so...

They're tinier than you think.

..and avoid their raincoats looking
like a hand-me-down.

I spent my childhood in clothes
which were a size too big

because "you'll grow into them!"

I'm in Year 5 now. Are you? Year 5?

That's my favourite year.

It's the best year, Year 5.
And the work's really easy.

It's easy?! Is it?

So, raincoats, essential in this
country for 362 days of the year.

Why have you chosen it? Well,
kids are outdoors in all weathers,

so we need a raincoat
that's practical, that's waterproof.

You've got everything from plastics
to rubberised cottons.

Some of them are very sticky,

so might be tricky to put through
the machine.

Some of them are very slippery.

And some of the fabrics,
if you sew them once,

you won't be able to unpick them
without seeing the holes.

For me, what's really important
is that they use their imagination

and do something that a child
would love to wear.

I do quite like this red. It has
a slightly more adult look to it.

You don't want sort of rainbows
and unicorns and things

when you get to a certain age.

My daughters love rainbows
and unicorns,

so that's where I drew
my inspiration from.

I love this fabric.
It's absolutely fantastic, isn't it?

And have you practised?
Yes, because I've actually made

those two jackets with my little
girls, walking in the woods. Aw.

So, you've made this...
Pattern before. ..jacket before?

Yes. OK. Fabric.
Just not in this fabric.

Hopefully I'll do it well today.

Farie's unicorn-inspired
raincoat will be made of a polyester

fabric with rainbow poppers and
lined with a colourful cotton print.

And at the back, she's hoping to
gallop away with

the coat's main feature.

Stop right now,
and explain everything.

That's my mane
for my unicorn raincoat.

So the child will walk around
like that? Yes.

I can imagine my girls
just flowing in the air!

Oh, my God, that feels so good.

I've gone for these lovely
dinosaurs.

It's quite an ambitious pattern,

but I am, I think, in a lot of
danger, to be honest.

So, I'm hoping that I can just give
it my all, really.

Adeena's dinosaurs will line
the inside of her raincoat and will

also be seen down the centre front,
hood, and on two patch pockets.

And to keep her dinos dry,

they'll be covered by a surprising
splash-proof material.

Was that something else before?
This is like...

Usually if you go to the dry
cleaners and you... Ooh, yes.

Oh, it's a suit bag? Oh, right. OK.

Why have you chosen this?

See, I wanted printed fabric
and I was really,

really struggling to get anything
that was waterproof.

So, we'll have dinosaurs
showing through these areas here.

And I'm hoping it works.

While Adeena's counting on her suit
bag to save her from extinction...

The showerproof aspect is obviously
very important for a raincoat.

I mean, I hope they don't test it.
It would be a bit cruel.

..to stay in the competition,

Damien's taking the showerproof
brief literally.

This is a shower curtain.

So, I'm making a lining that goes
in between it, so when it goes

under there, it'll look shimmery
and look like the 3D fishy...

OK. ..aquarium-type thing.

It looks good.
The shimmery purple underneath.

Yeah. If I pull it off,
it should look wow.

Damien's ambitious aquatic jacket is
lined with a purple two-toned

taffeta lining.

Magnetic strips will hold
an attachable hood in place

and fasten the front of his fishy

shower curtain coat together.

It's definitely going to be
waterproof. I mean, the thing is,

if you put a hole in it
when I'm sewing it, it's tough.

It's over. Yeah, it's over.

Cos you know what we're going to do
with the models afterwards? Yes.

They're going to have to swim
the Channel.

To avoid any leaks...

I'm using clips
because pin holes can show.

..the waterproof outer shell needs
to be sewn with absolute precision.

I'm going to change my needle.

It's a very fine-tipped needle,

so it's able to go through the
fabric without leaving big holes.

And some of the sewers are using
a special walking foot to tame

the more unruly fabrics.

It moves up and down

so that there's less chance

of the fabric dragging.

I need to put my sleeves
into my main body of my coat.

It's quite tricky. This took me
so long when I practised it.

I just didn't know
how to handle the fabric.

Rebecca's colourful laminated cotton
rain cloud jacket features

red polyurethane sleeves, pockets,

and a hood.

She'll be using child-friendly

colourful poppers down the front.

Being a teacher,
I know how difficult it is.

Sometimes your cuffs come undone,

and the zips get caught in the back
and they get stuck with their sleeve

halfway up their sleeve, and
then you've got to get your arm in

the sleeve to try and get
the sleeve out.

So, yeah, I've tried to think
practically, I think,

about this one.

Tense.

If sewing their waterproof fabrics
wasn't hard enough...

This has got to be first time,
every time.

..making their overcoats gets even
more complicated...

It's these fabrics.

They're quite difficult to press

because you can't really use
high heat on them.

They'll probably just melt.

..as those with certain plastics...

Aw, I'm not going nowhere near this
with an iron.

..aren't able to press at all.

Let's get this out of the way of
the iron.

Because I work on ships,
I want to make a boat coat.

Oh, right. Well, surprise, surprise.

I know. This fabric is a PUL.

Polyurethane laminate.

Yes. I know it's not the easiest
of fabrics to work with.

I don't want to put a warm iron
on that.

I just know it would be disastrous,
so...

It certainly would.

Adam's hoping to keep afloat
with his nautical-themed mackintosh.

Made with a rubbery soft-printed
fabric, his design features

a detachable hood and novelty boat

pockets and whistles.

And, as he can't press his seams,

he's topstitching each one
to make sure they lie flat.

This is my back panel.

See how wibbly-wobbly that is.

That side, I'm happy with.
That side, not so much.

Adam's not the only one struggling
to stay on top.

I have so much to do.

But it will just look
so much cleaner and nicer

if I can topstitch things.

When I did the practice,
I didn't topstitch,

so I don't know how long it will
take me.

Serena's jacket features a bold
novelty fabric used on her

raglan sleeves, poppable pockets,

hood, and back pleat,

which she hopes will inject just
the right amount of childish fun.

I had my stepsister in mind for
this. So, she's eight just now.

There's a picture of Sophie in
the bridesmaid's dress I made her.

That's the only item of kid's
clothing I've ever made.

Raph's also been inspired
by his family.

My nephew, he's half French,
half Guatemalan,

so make a coat that is a classic
French raincoat,

but doing it in colours referring
to Guatemala.

Raph's French Guatemalan coat
will be lined with a cotton jersey,

inspired by indigenous stripes.
And he'll be celebrating

the colours of the quetzal bird

found on the Guatemalan flag.

Ooh. Amazing colours.

You've matched it pretty well.

What's French for a raincoat?

Un cire. Cire. Un cire.

Un cire. Yeah.
Ooh, that's nice, isn't it?

We also have cagoule,
but that's baklava.

No, baklava? Uh...
Balaclava. Balaclava.

Baklava's...
Baklava is the one you eat.

Yeah, don't put one of those on
if you're going to rob a bank.

"This is a delicious robbery!"

Ah. Come on, Adam, you've got this.

Adam's finally finished topstitching
his overcoat.

It's really hard, bouncy material
to work with as well.

It's not easy.

I've really made a mess of that
as well.

I'm happy with the topstitching,

so now I just need to start
construction of my lining.

The lining will not only hide
the raw edges inside the coat,

it'll make them more comfortable
to wear.

Your lining allows it to be
a bit more breathable.

But instead of a lining...

I've constructed one coat.

..Andrew's chosen to make his
raincoat twice as hard.

So, I'm making my coat reversible.

I wanted to sort of reflect
my childhood through this coat.

One side of it reflects
the slightly serious side,

and the other sort of outgoing side
of me.

So, it's a little bit of me
made into a coat.

Andrew's reversible coat will be

made from polyester

and he'll be featuring

contrast cuffs, pockets and snaps.

Have you ever made anything
reversible before?

I haven't, no. Ooh. Well, good luck.
It's tricky, but it's...

You know, what I like is
it's ambitious.

And if you get it right,
I think it'll be spectacular.

You are halfway through, sewers.

I'm just finishing the lining.

I think we're really
short on time with this.

Definitely I'm going to do it today.
I can and I will.

So, that's my lining. Lovely.

I'm going to put them together
and then hopefully I'm going

to have a bit of a coat.

But before the lining's attached...

I'm just going to check
the length of the arms.

..there's one last chance
to make any final adjustments.

Touch your head, shoulders,
knees, toes.

OK, so I think I need to take
that one.

I can be your test model.

So, you've got a little clownfish
there. Yeah. I don't know what that

one is, but I've eaten one,
and they're delicious.

Very nice.

Very happy.

Oh, VERY nice!

So, this is now going to be
the fun part.

OK. I'm so scared to get started.

If the sewers found their waterproof
overcoats hard to handle...

Oh! I chopped a pin in half.

..attaching them to the lining is
a whole new challenge.

Cos I've got two different fabrics,
one of them wants to move under

the machine
and the other one doesn't.

If the seams aren't lined up
completely straight...

This is so hard to control.
Nightmare.

..the coat will have lumps
and bumps once

it's been turned back the right way.

God, I've never sewed this slow
in my life.

This is difficult.

So, one of the fabric's shrinking
and one of them's staying the same.

Ooh!

I'm missing,
like, three centimetres off it.

Oh, God, that's opening.

I'm might try this way around.
It all has to be bang on.

If it's not bang on,
it's going to all fall apart.

I've stretched this a little bit,
but nobody will know.

So, you went from stage school
straight into Billy Elliot?

That's amazing.
Hang on one second.

One hour remaining, sewers!

I auditioned. I didn't get it.

So, I've attached all my lining,

so I'm attempting to bag everything
out of that tiny, little space!

I just hope now
that when I turn it out, it's right.

Moment of truth.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane?

# Ta-da! #

And we have a coat, which is red
on one side and blue on the other.

I'm pretty pleased with that.

Oh, I love it.
Love it, love it, love it.

Ooh!

Phew!

Alter that, then I press it.

I'm happy.
I'm really, really happy.

I've noticed a few mistakes.

The hood has basically folded
on itself.

This should be coming on
the outside.

I think I might have to make
a new hood.

I don't know what's happened.

You've made your hood far too
small - that's what's happened.

So, what are you going to do
about it? Make it again.

Have you got time? I don't know.

I'm going to have to make time.

Go on. Urgh!

Rebecca's not the only one
hoodwinked.

You can see how hard this is
becoming to work with now.

Adam's still trying to make
the sturdy collar,

which will support his
detachable hood.

This is perhaps the hardest thing
to do

cos now I've got all of this
rubbery-type fabric.

Oh, God, what's happened there?
I've got the...

I've got the foot stuck.

Disaster.

The threads have entwined
around the foot.

This is a crash course
in how not to sew.

30 minutes to go, sewers!

Ah! Panic, panic, panic.

I've realised what I've done wrong.

So, I've been sewing up this side
to join my hood,

when I'm meant to

sew up the other side. So, now I've
just got to get it done in time.

What are you doing, mate?
You're going to stick the hat on?

Yes, this is magnetic tape.

What?! You've gone crackers.

Gone crackers. So, one's on there
like that.

Isn't that cool? Yeah.

This coat will rock
the school playground.

The hood's on.
The pockets are not going to happen.

After yesterday, I'm a bit less
confident about plastic snaps.

I'm following the colour
of the rainbow for my poppers.

Why are people using the snaps?
You were burnt by them yesterday.

They're meant to be easy.

I've done it.
I'm much happier with the hood now.

Got to get some snap fastenings on.

Right, four inches down.

I'm completely guessing this.

Ah!

I'm so proud with what I've done.

So, if I go home based on this,
I think I'll be happy.

You have five minutes, sewers!

Oh, no, I've done it
on the wrong way, Joe.

No, that needs to come off.

I feel sorry for the poor,
little lad that's got to wear this.

I think I can put the mane on now.

How are you getting on, Damien?
Good. Finished.

We have a coat. Do you like it?

Oh, that's good.

Give us a twirl.

Done. Needles up.

That is your time.

It's the worst thing I've ever made
in my life.

Get your models ready
for the catwalk,

so the judges can rain
on your parade.

Oh, thank you!

You know what? You've made my day.

I don't need the judges' comments,
I just need yours.

# Well, if you didn't have rain

# Then you couldn't have flowers

# You couldn't have flowers
if you didn't have showers

# Nowhere to swim... #

Aw!
# There'd be no babbling brook... #

Eight children's raincoats
made in just four and a half hours.

# So you gotta have rain
every now and then

# To make the whole world shine

# And every day will turn out
fine. #

I think it really works.

We do get the feeling
of fish floating.

Whenever Lily moves, you see
this kind of shimmer underneath.

Yeah. This fabric, I mean, it's
really not designed to be sewn. No.

So, it's impressively neat and tidy.

Can I take the hood down? Yeah,
you can rip it off if you want.

Using these magnets is
kind of a nice idea.

I mean, they're actually quite fun,
aren't they?

There's only one thing I've noticed.

You've caught the lining in
the collar, so we've got this fold.

But I think it looks great,
actually, and it has worked.

And it's definitely going to be
waterproof.

# I'm saving my money

# To buy you a rainbow... #

Well! Giddy-up!

I love the print with unicorns,
and you've matched the pockets.

And, of course,
we love the ponytail.

SHE CLICKS

LAUGHTER

It's so jolly.

You know, it's easy to do
a load of really fun elements

and forget the sewing,
but you haven't.

It's really beautifully sewn.

I think it's a fab garment,
so really well done.

Thank you.

# Some folk like the weather cold

# It's healthy, they tell you

# It may be dense
but where's the sense

# If your nose keeps turning blue? #

I love the colours.

I think they work really well
together, and you're

referencing the bird whose name
I probably can't pronounce.

Quetzal.

And the lining's great.

It is a shame
you've caught it just inside.

Have you caught the hood?
That's right.

It's just slightly twisted it
out of shape.

# The kids are all right

# The kids are all right

# The kids are all right. #

A reversible coat is
a very difficult thing to sew,

and actually, you have managed it

really very well.

I love your choice of colour,
I love your choice of fabric.

Contrast stitching,
incredibly visible, but very neat.

Finlay, could you take the jacket
off and pop it round the other way?

How cool is that?
Two jackets in one.

It's like magic.

# Twas just a garden in the rain

# But then
the sun came out again... #

I like how you've arranged
the fabrics.

The print down the sleeves
and going up the hood.

All the way around the front,

I think it's sewn incredibly neatly.

The hood's been fantastically
handled.

It looks really chic.

I think the colour combination
is lovely.

It is a great shame
that your lining is too short

because it's giving us extra here,
but it's also stopping

the back pleat from closing.

It's all hanging out.

# Pitter, patter, patter

# Pitter, patter, patter
Here comes the rain... #

I think, overall,
the fit is pretty good.

But you have misaligned the snaps
on the front, which is

giving us these little rucks.

The hood, it doesn't meet where
it should.

Yeah, I couldn't work it out.
So, yeah, it was just a big rush

to get it back in at the end.

Very jolly, it's very fun.

Just a few little details that
aren't quite right.

# Rain, rain, go away

# I just want to cry... #

I do like the idea of the peekaboo

of the dinosaur print through,

but I don't think
it's quite bold enough.

I'd like to have seen more dinosaur.

But I love the spots
and I like the stripe down the hood.

And the hood fits really well,
actually.

I like the idea of the toggles,

but they're not working.

You needed to have created
a much smaller loop,

so that the toggles would stay
in place.

But considering you gave yourself
quite a lot to do with

all of these different materials,

I think you've not done a bad job.

# Sailor, sailor

# Stop your roaming
and come home safely... #

I really liked the fabric
with the little boats on.

Were you going to put pockets on?

I was, yeah. I ran out of time.

I like this yoke, I like the pleat,

and I like the whistles.

But it isn't well made at all. No.

Tucks on the shoulder, on the front.

This fabric is really difficult
to sew.

I found that.
I also think it's too small.

If I try and close that up,
that is very, very tight. Tight.

And the fastenings at the front

are a bit of a horror show.

They're not level.
We've got a big step.

I think that they have...

They're my nemesis.

It's one of those that's got away
from you. It has, yeah.

Badly. Yeah. Unfortunately. Yep.

I really, really do want to stay in.

I think I've got still so much more
to show.

I'm hoping that I have done enough,
but I don't know.

Yeah, great day today. Yeah.

I was very lucky
that nothing went wrong.

I'm feeling a bit disappointed
and deflated.

I think this might be
the end of the road for me.

OK, who's top of the class and whose
mum is coming to pick them up early?

Well, I think there were a couple
of stand-out made-to-measures,

and the first one is Andrew's.

The level of difficulty in making
a reversible coat is really high,

but he's handled it so well.

I was really impressed
by Farie's mac.

It's brilliant.

So, they're in contention
for garment of the week.

Who's down the other end?

Well, it's a difficult one.

This morning, there were two people
in a tricky position,

and those two were Adeena
and Damien.

I think Damien's really challenging
raincoat. He's pulled it off.

What about Adeena? She's been
ambitious,

but again, she's fallen a little bit
short in one or two areas.

It is a big shame about the toggles.

But Adam's made-to-measure was
just one disaster after another.

Yeah. So, Adam has thrown himself
squarely into contention.

Yeah. Do you have an idea
in your mind as to who it is?

Sadly, I think I know
who it should be.

Yeah, I do.

What a week it's been, sewers.

We've had tears, tantrums,
over-excitement,

but I've calmed down now.

Couple of bits of business.

First, Patrick,
who's won garment of the week?

Our garment of the week
this week is...

APPLAUSE

Three in a row!

Three in a row indeed.

Farie, congratulations.

Kids' week is all about fun,
and this garment was one of the most

fun things we've ever seen
on the show, so really well done.

I was going to ask how do you feel,

but your face sort of says
everything.

So, yeah, somebody does have
to go home.

This was really hard for the judges
because this sewer they adore,

and they are very sad
to see them go.

But they had to send somebody home.

And that person is...

..Adam.

I thought so.

I had a bad one, didn't I?

Do you know what? I knew when I was
sewing that raincoat that it was

the end of the road.

I'm disappointed in myself
that I'm going,

but I'm taking the positive
from this experience.

100%. Nobody can take that away
from me

because I've enjoyed it so much
and learned so much.

We'll really miss you, Adam.

It is terribly sad
to be saying goodbye to Adam.

I really thought he could've gone
all the way to the final.

But sometimes you have a bad day,
and he sadly had one of those today.

Oh. That was so close.

I need to really up my game now
because it is getting really tough.

I'll be sorry to see Adam go.

He's such a fun person to be around.

He just keeps us entertained
all the time

and it'll be a real sorry loss
to the group.

It's happened again!

Over the moon.

I'm really over the moon.

Each week my confidence is
getting a boost.

I'm getting a bit more sure of
myself with what I'm making,

which is really, really lovely.

I'm going to make myself a raincoat
out of that material.

And a matching one for my nephew
to say I can do it,

just not in four and a half hours.
LAUGHTER

Next time, it's reduce, re-use,
and recycle week.

Doesn't really matter if I rip this,
does it? No, not really.

The sewers turn charity shop gems
into fine tailoring...

Giving birth to a waistcoat.

I can't look.

..transform Army surplus
into arresting designs...

It rather suits you.

..and make old jeans fit
for fashion.

There's so much pressure.

Who will impress the judges?

I would put something like this down
the catwalk and be very proud of it.

And who will get
their marching orders?

Do you know what? Sewing Bee's a lot
harder than the Army right now.