The Great British Sewing Bee

I'm with Luckygirl on this and found the final quite disappointing. The alteration task struck me as plain weird and the "glamorous" ball gowns, well, just weren't. Too many elementary errors such as the raw edge to the train, that appalling zip, and Joyce's choice of dress for a girl who was too young to carry it off -not to mention that waistband. None of them fitted well.
I personally hate the emphasis on "beating the clock" especially when a quality garment is being offered. You would never rush a garment using expensive or difficult material in RL , but that is supposed to make good TV.
But that said,I loved the series and like its Pottery equivalent (Great British Throwdown?) found each episode compelling.
The music was great too

Oh dear a long year stretches ahead without Patrick It was a very close finish though but I'm glad Charlotte won. I like the way they always tell us what they have been doing since.

I thought Jade's dress the best. It was my style if I had been 40 years younger. They were sewing for their own chosen models and Joyce hadn't got her GDD's measurements. It was not suitable for such a slight young person, more for herself perhaps.

I made DD2'S wedding out fit ( not a white dress) and remember sitting cross legged on the floor, sewing on tiny buttons in a hotel room, middle of the night before the wedding.
The jacket was shantung silk in rasberry red and was the second attempt as the first was the wrong colour. I know what they must have felt like, the stress when you are in hurry!
Well done!

I had Jade - the cropped jacket she made was beautiful.

I loved the report at the end that Jade has recreated all her made to measure outfits from the series to fit her 11 year old sister. What a lovely thing to do!

Jade should be given a place as St Martin's. She surely passed.her interview with Esme. Lovely to see a young, off the wall approach.

Sweet that she repeated the outward darts because they worked in her GCSE.

I thought that the tasks, particularly last night, have been a bit odd - but I suppose it is possible to run out of ideas. I did not think that they were designed to bring out the best of their talents and to result in some beautiful garments for us all to admire. The result was that we were treated to some pretty poor end products - rushed and unfinished.

I would have liked to have seen some simpler garments beautifully executed. How could Charlotte win when she could not even set in a zip accurately?! - it was a real mess.

Another trivial irritation, which is not personal, was the enormous height difference between Patrick and Esmee(?). When they consulted in a corner together Patrick was almost bent double because Esmee was obviously quite short and it looked very odd.

It is television and sometimes things like large discrepancies in height between presenters need to be considered.

I'm not noted for my sewing skills, but my mum was. Watching this programme has given me a timely reminder of her accomplishments in this area. I thought the three finalists were very evenly matched in different ways, but I would have liked to see Jade win. I do like the way the contestants seem genuinely helpful towards one another and although it's obviously a competition they're not overly competitive. I think the lady expert (sorry, I forgot her name) always looks as if she found her clothes in a rag-bag.

Looking back over the whole series, I did not find the lady who replaced May Martin anywhere near as good. May Martin is first and formost a needlewoman and she had a laser eye for any failures in stitchwork and fit, which this year's replacement did not.

While I understand that, as the series progresses, the people entering for it are of a higher and higher standards and the tasks need to be that much harder, I do think there is a balance to be struck between challenging their skills and the judges having beutifully crafted and finished garments to judge. Last night I do not think there was a single garment that wasn't finished (or not) in a rush, and looked it.

The earlier years of the series were much more fun and more gripping than the last two years have been, despite the 'too tight to call' nature of yesterday's final.

Beautifully close. I was just glad the decision wasn't mine! Monday will not be the same.

I will miss the programme too. The sewers are always lovely people. I don't always like the tasks they are given, who makes their own bra? In the final the shirt could have been a blouse, the LBD from a woman's suit with nicer fabric. Charlotte's garments were unwearable I thought. Don't know who I would have picked to win but good luck to Jade for her future, she is talented.

None of the final garments were perfect, illustrating the problems of unrealistic time limits. Charlottes dress was messy, satin shows up all mistakes and makes them look much worse, yet the main positive thing the judges said was the fabric choice! I think Joyce thought her skirt and jacket would be a bit Vivienne Westwood, but it looked more like bondage gear and it was way too big. Jade's dress didn't fit and the lining wasn't put in properly causing the outside of the dress to be distorted , plus the beaded bit shouldn't have been used for a train , but hats off to them I would hate to do that in the time frame and I m sure I'd have been unpicking all the time!

I just didn't want Joyce to win, I think she was expecting to.

Working under pressure is never the same as taking your time and we all make mistakes when we rush, I certainly do. J

Jovce's sewing and mastery of technique was way ahead, but she was very poor at making clothes fit well, everything always seemed to be made for somebody a size larger than the dummy or model she was making for.

Charlotte was the most erratic and Jade was sometimes let down by her lack of experience. Nevertheless the final seemed too close to call with no obvious front runner, but I think the right decision was made and Jade has a great future ahead of her.

Well my goodness that was a challenging final! I honestly would not have known where to start with the alteration challenge - a little black dress from a tux? Blimey! And they all just seemed to get stuck in, their creative juices overflowing immediately!
For once I wasn't gunning for any one particular finalist; I would have been happy with whoever won. I honestly don't think Charlotte expected it, but I did agree with Patrick when he said that she had a natural understanding of how fabric worked (or something like that!).
Well done all three! Now what on earth am I going to do next Monday at 9.00 pm? And oh how I'll miss Esme's sartorial disasters taste!

Charlotte was surprised her garment won and so was I. I thought it was terrible and it convinces me that these two judges have a plan. Maybe they have praised Charlotte's creations only to dash her down next week and let Jade win.
A girl her age could get started on a wonderful career if she won next week.
If I was hiring one to make clothes for me I would pick Joyce

Really hard to choose between them. They've all been very good this year.

I'm rooting for Jade, too. Charlotte is certainly precise and sometimes has flashes of flair, but she does seem to be getting just a little bit complacent, to my mind...

Joyce obviously has the most sewing experience, but that isn't always what the judges are looking for.

I thought that Charlotte's garment of the week this week was a bit weird to be honest.

I so wish I could sew, but nothing I make would ever be so nice asI can buy

Jade for me, for the same reasons as Lully

I admire all the contestants for their undoubted skill and still can't decide who is going to win. Anyone got any idea?

Getting exciting. All my favourites left. I want Jade to win as she is so young, enthusiastic and quirky. I think Charlotte has the skills and care. Have really enjoyed it. May I never have to transform a duvet cover or a ski suit.!

Loving the programme, but also especially the music!!
Is it "taking anybody else back" ?