The new episode of the Great British Sewing Bee is on tonight. Have you see last week’s? I’ve put together a little recap of what happened in case you missed it.
Last week’s sewing on the Bee celebrated the rich fashion history of Korea, with guest judge Eudon Choi joining Patrick and Esme as the sewists created three Korean-inspired makes.
Having trained in menswear design in Seoul, Eudon Choi moved to London to focus on womenswear. He’s now a regular at London Fashion Week, and ‘combines masculine tailoring with a feminine sensibility’.
Don’t read on if you haven’t watched Episode 4 yet!
I love to follow along the episodes with weekly recaps and pattern suggestions, so don’t read on if you don’t want to see what happened in the last episode.
The pattern challenge
The sewists’ pattern challenge this was was a jeogori. It’s the upper section of a traditional Korean hanbok, which was worn by men and women. It’s a light jacket-style piece, with a wrap front and ties to fasten. The jeogori is quite structured, with clean lines, so Patrick suggestd the sewists choose a fabric that holds its shape when pressed.
The transformation
Every week the sewists have a different collection of second hand textiles to turn into a new garment, and this week it was Tae Kwon Do uniforms. The belts, and their different colours, are one of the main features of the uniform, so the contestants were asked to use them in their designs in an eye catching way.
Everyone had a different take on this, some turned them into letters, others wove them. I love the Bee for this – everyone has the same brief, but they all come up with such a wide variety of creative designs.
The judges particularly enjoyed Kit’s design:
The made to measure
This week the sewists created evening wear inspired by the Cheollik, which was traditionally designed as a military coat featuring a distinctive collar, pleated folds and ties. It’s since been reimagined into womenswear and lends features to various modern designs.
Many of the sewists used Korean sewing patterns, which was lovely to see. The contestants applied contemporary influences and modern fabrics to the traditional style, and created nine wonderful designs!
We sadly said goodbye to Novello – I’ve enjoyed seeing her creations each week.
What’s happening next week?
Tune into BBC1 at 9pm on Tuesday 12th August to see Reduce, Reuse and Recycle week!
Want to sew along with the Bee?
The Sewing Bee always inspires people to start creating their own wardrobe. Seeing the contestants experimenting with different fabrics and styles is a lovely way to think about how you might tackle your own projects.
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