Last week real life took over a bit, so my review of international week on the sewing bee didn’t really happen. Sorry everyone. But I’m back on track now, so it’s time for Sixties week – sadly without Josh. This year’s sewing bee is now ladies only.

Is anyone else excited by the idea of sewing Sixties-style? There are so many iconic styles from that decade – I can’t wait to see what’s in store for the sewers.

They seem to be looking forward to it as well – although they don’t seem so thrilled at the idea of 1960s sewing machines.

First up is colour-block shift dresses. How on earth can there be 14 pieces in such a simple dress? I recognise the style of dress but I always assumed the blocks were printed rather than it being such a patchwork dress. Obviously I was wrong.

Joyce appears to have learnt her lesson after last week and is following the pattern to the letter. She does seem to have an advantage here having used those machines before, and she seems determined to prove she can follow a pattern exactly.

Personally I really liked Jade’s monochrome block dress. I can see the other colour combinations are striking but just not really my taste. I kind of like Rumana’s pastel blocks as well (anyone who’s seen my house will tell you I like pastels), but I’d have gone with something other than orange.

Am I the only one who loves the little historical snippets each week. I knew a little bit about Sixties fashion from art at school, but I really enjoyed learning more about the Mondrian dress and how it became so widespread. I’m sure there are some lessons for modern-day marketers in there.

The precision demanded of the sewersat this stage is just unreal. I know it’s a competition but I never want to be in a position where anyone is judging my sewing with a ruler.

Incidentally, is anyone else slightly confused by Esme’s outfit this week? It’s very individual but really?

Back to the challenge… A few people seem to have been caught out by the the need for precision here. Jade, Tracey and Rumana all got pulled up on using the wrong colour top stitching. Add to that the trouble people had with that zip and there’s a few in trouble here.

Patchwork patterns done with, we move on to alterations. This week we have PVC raincoats. Well why not?!? Why would anyone want to wear PVC clothing? Friends who have worn PVC (you know who you are), is it as uncomfortable as it looks?

They’re starting to get more daring now with the alterations. Admittedly, working with see through plastic makes anything seem daring, but there’s certainly a lot more variation in what they come up with.

I like Tracey’s target pockets idea, I’ve not seen anything like that before. Having said that, I can see what Esme means about the shape of the dress, but then Tracey doesn’t really seem to do anything fitted. That might trip her up soon if she’s not careful.

Joyce is having a really good week. Top of the pattern challenge and again with her alteration. She’s obviously in her element this week.

This week’s made to measure challenge is jackets. Not just any jackets – they have to use vintage 60s patterns. 

My personal favourite is Charlotte’s Jackie Kennedy-inspired jacket – such a classic shape. Angeline’s orange monstrosity on the other hand… Ok, orange is possibly my least favourite colour so I was never going to love this one, but adding Paisley and faux fur to that? Psychedelic is the right word!

I like the look of Jade’s jacket as well. Not fabric I’d have personally chosen but it’s a lovely style and if she does it well it could be stunning. Let’s hope all that pattern-matching pays off.

Had anyone else ever heard of grown-on sleeves before? I have this bizarre image in my head of some sort of tree with sleeves instead of leaves… I do like that there’s a story behind Tracey’s jacket – it obviously means a lot to her and I hope she’s happy with the end result.

And we’re back to bagging out! This looked bad enough when they were putting the linings on their capes a few weeks ago. Adding sleeves to that? I don’t know how they didn’t end up tied in knots.

Angelline’s really isn’t having a good week. Even taking orange fabric out of the equation her coat’s a mess. It’s not hanging right and her lining’s pulled everything out of shape. I don’t know if she’s done enough to be safe this week. Usually made to measure is her strong point.

Oh no, we have tears! We’ve not even got to the judging yet. Anyone want to join me in giving Tracey and Rumana virtual hugs?

All of Jade’s patience and hard work has paid off. That jacket is lovely, a well-deserved garment of the week.

And we say goodbye to Angeline! I don’t think she was surprised – like we saw with Jamie, she just had an awful week. Can you believe we’ve had five weeks already? There’s so few sewers left now.

So next week we move out to activewear. I’m not sure what that will involve – running gear, yoga tops? I guess we’ll find out next week.

So to sum up Sixties week:

• I now know how important interfacing is, especially with tailoring
• I need to start looking out for some vintage patterns – love those jackets
• I still don’t like orange – not sure that will ever change…