“It’s like complaining that a British Baking contestant consulted cookbooks while preparing their recipes.”
I think British Baking does for certain parts of the contest. For some, they are allowed to work at home before the next show to develop recipes, for others done the day of, they are not.
Other than requiring a certain type of pattern (Vogue not Simplicity) or tools (Singer not Viking) because of sponsors, I don’t see why it should matter what they bring with them. All have the same opportunities to bring a seam ripper or pleater, ruffler or rotary cutter. Most of us like to use the tools that are familiar to us, like to use certain rulers or even pins.
Some of the contestants have years of experience while others have none at all. Why not let them play to their strengths (design, fabric choices, color choices) and use resources to support their weaknesses? Who cares if they use a pattern to cut out pants? That’s how we all learned to sew, cutting out from a pattern and making adjustments.
In the link I posted above, and it is from 2006 so thing may have changed, It mentions that contestants can not bring specialty tools and it specifically mentions no pleating tools. Don’t all contestants have at least some experience? I’m not sure why they have these rules, maybe to not let them have any crutches of support, put them all on the same playing field? :-?? It says they can’t even have computers or cell phones.
“That’s how we all learned to sew, cutting out from a pattern and making adjustments.”
I would guess the assumption is that all the contestants are beyond that stage although we’ve seen plenty who seem to lack the seamstress skills. Maybe they do know how to sew okay but can’t under the stress and time constraints.
If it was all about just the design and ingenuity, they could all have a seamstress. It’s not like real designers are sewing up their own designs although they most certainly did at one stage in their career.
The British Baking Show has three challenges each show.
For the first and third, the contestant develops the recipe at home and then bakes it during the show. I’ve never heard of any restrictions on how they choose to develop it, though I assume that if someone else did it for them, that would be cheating. The winning contestants almost always have practiced baking their chosen creations at home before they have to make them in the tent.
For the second, the contestants are given the ingredients and the (abbreviated, usually inadequate) recipe, and then and there they have to make the recipe. They would never have a chance to work beforehand on the recipe because they would not know until contest time what the recipe was going to be.
But most people who sew continue to use patterns long after they are just beginners. Some use a sleeve from one pattern and the body of another, cut them down, turn them upside down. Even on the show there are some who make paper patterns and some who make muslin pieces or patterns before cutting the expensive fabric. I’ve been sewing for almost 50 years and I’ll still spend the buck on a pattern (but never pay full price!) just to get the basic shape. I’ve made many costumes that don’t look anything like the pattern when I’m done.
Hey, it’s their show and they can set the rules, but it seems stupid to not allow contestants to use the tools they have for every other project in their lives. Why reinvent the wheel every week? Even the big wedding dress designers have their people work from patterns once the dress is designed. The big complaint from the judges is always “we’ve seen this before.” Well, because they start every dress without a pattern, they have to make what they know how to make without a pattern. In earlier years they at least had the same size models every week (super skinny, tall, size 0) but now they have a different sized model every week.
I think the rules about the tools are because of sponsorship. They don’t want to have to get rid of one person’s pleater while allowing another to use a special ruler because it is the right brand.
I’ve designed and sewn my own garments. I start with a simple pattern (a sloper) that fits me, then alter the pattern to produce the effect I want. Before I cut a piece of fabric, I’ve already got the pattern I want. I’m the least fashion-conscious person in the world, fashion-backward rather than fashion-forward, but when I have a notion of what I want, I can make the garment.
Some people drape to produce what they want, but many people are like twoinanddone and me. We start with a pattern. I don’t see a justification to disallow designers from doing this.
Well, Claire made the print and used it wisely which beat out the other designers whether they like it or not. At least it was bold. It was certainly better than the geometrics–what’s original in that? I’m pretty sure native american triangles aren’t “new” nor was anything else up there…Tie dye? Tiny flower-type print? Straight lines? And it was supposed to be a print challenge.
I liked Kentaro’s dress but Heidi was right–it swallowed his model up. Did have design originality in it though. But not strong on the print (color yes, print no). Maybe they went with print as first priority.
Claire’s top did start out looking similar to Margarite’s dress but not the final version by a long shot. And it was well done. The pant’s were nice and constructed well. Heck, Margarite had a shift dress–I made one of those in home ec.
And I don’t get the measuring the pants thing (if that was the problem)–it’s not like the pants belonged to the model.
But who knows?
I think the designers have been dealing with the twins so long that they’re just frustrated to some extent–first they have to contend with a constant team vibe over the past weeks and now even when one is gone the other wins! They really expected Claire to fail on her own (although she was spending more time helping Shawn) and just never gave her any respect for what she can do.
“Maybe they went with print as first priority.”
I think you’re right. With the Dixie challenge, that had to weigh into the final decision and Claire’s seemed the logical choice for that.
It will be interesting to see if Tim’s reaction is to some perceived cheating or directed to others for being catty and accusing Claire of something he thinks is unfounded. The editing didn’t leave us much to go on.
Must be fun to be an editor on that show!
@doschicos That was because Claire’s look was a rip off of the classic blue and purple dixie cup. It was the exact same pattern of the original cup but in black and white. So her pants were a rip off of the existing Dixie cups, her top was a rip off of what Shawn was wearing earlier. Where is the innovation and design if she is just mimicking everything she sees?
Design is looking at everything you see and putting the good parts together.
I am NOT a seamstress at all, but I have watched every season of Project Runway.
They have to start with an even playing field. The rules limit what kinds of tools they can bring in from the outside. So no pattern books or idea books (or access to the internet) is allowed.
The other relevant rule (I think) is that they all have the same amount of time to work, and that they must do all their work in the workroom.
I think where Claire might be in trouble is for measuring a pair of pants to make a pattern either outside of the workroom (in a bathroom) or outside of the allotted work time. Perhaps she was doing it in her hotel bathroom at night.
I recall some contestant years ago taking off his own pants in the workroom to use as an example or pattern for how to construct pants because he had never made a pair of pants before. And we see contestants making patterns in the workroom all the time. So I don’t think it was making a pattern using an existing item of clothing that is the issue. It would be where or when she did it. In my opinion.
http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/project-runway/season-16/episode-9/project-runway-episode-9-preview
According to the preview, the problem seems to be the fact that Claire had a measuring tape in her room. Apparently they’re not allowed to have any such tools outside the workroom.
Heck. I could drag out a dollar bill and do a pretty good job of measuring. Not hard.
Pretty sure Michael wasn’t in the bathroom and Margarita wasn’t either.
Re: pattern making. BFD. A good tailor knows how to draft a pattern from scratch - from memorized formulas, using a person’s real body measurements and a large sheet of paper:
https://sewing.wonderhowto.com/how-to/draft-basic-bodice-pattern-0120717/
http://en.inthemoodforcouture.com/drafting-the-trousers-pattern-12/
The stuff of our middle school sewing class… any designer that cannot do this basic stuff is not going to make it in the real world.
“her top was a rip off of what Shawn was wearing earlier” Ah, that’s where I’d seen it. I was a actually admiring Shawn’s outfit during the earlier drama but didn’t make the connection.
Bodices are easy. Pants drafting and fitting is a nightmare, because there are so many variables.
The In The Mood For Culture link is not going to produce good fitting pants for everyone, because it doesn’t distinguish between people with wide hips and a flat rear, and people with narrow hips and a substantial caboose. They will have the same hip measurement, so the method would produce the same pants for both of them, but they need very different pants. The wide hip person needs more fabric in the front at hip level, and the narrow hip person needs more fabric in the back at hip level plus big waist darts. The person with the narrow hips will need a longer back crotch, too, because she has more butt to cover. The person with wide hips needs the side seam front and back to be curved from waist to hip, whereas the person with narrow hips needs a straighter edge. It’s complicated, and every change in one part of the pattern means you have to make about five changes in all the rest. As I said, it’s a nightmare.
Loved the Project Rewind Best of Tim Gunn, especially his epic dress down of Swapnil, season 14.
Drama!
Such a great resolution