When you have tricky fabrics afoot, You know it has to be The Great British Sewing Bee semi final! Just five contestants remain, and the judges are looking for very specific abilities in order to handle those difficult fabrics, all in the hope of whittling them down to just three remaining finalists.

First up we had a pencil skirt in just three and a half hours. Just like an M&S advert, this was no ordinary skirt. We had darts, invisible zips, pattern matching and to finish, the not so easy combination of satin and lace! Yummy. To French seam or not to French seam, that was the question! Matt, Lorna and Paul decided to go with the lighter double seam option, which certainly worked for Matt, securing him first place. Boom! Unfortunately Paul’s uneven hems and lumpy zip earned him last place; I feared Paul might be in trouble. Neil seemed off the pace with this first challenge. With ripples in the seams, pattern matching going astray, and his skirt lining fighting with the outer lace, the boxing gloves really did need to come out for him to stay in this round.

The judge’s bell sounded for task two. We had Neoprene in the blue corner! I was expecting Tamara to step into the ring, she loves Neoprene, as I recall her using it in the final couture task last year. Deborah made an awesome wetsuit alteration using a fantastic digital print fabric, gaining her first place. Lorna’s alteration was Madonna inspired and Patrick seemed drawn to this rubber and lace garment and awarded it second place. Lady Gaga would kill to have this creation in her collection I’m sure! The Neoprene appeared to be too much for the boys though. Things began to get a little too much for Paul, when he had to unpick the sleeves on more than one occasion even though he had taken extra time on this process. Ironically the judges loved his combat print skirt which he had attached in a hurry and without pinning. But it wasn’t enough and Paul came bottom again.

With the last task before the final episode approaching, tensions were very high in the sewing room. Six and a half hours for a stitch once leather jacket! Things were about to get even more tense. Two people would be leaving the sewing room so the heat was well and truly on! Deborah, sticking with her turquoise theme decided to go back to 1985 and seemed pretty calm about it. However disaster struck when, in the excitement of stitching a beautiful blue zip, she zipped it right off the track. A broken zip and no lining, Deborah was doomed to leave the sewing room. Neil, however, came back fighting! I loved his jacket design, especially the oversized collars. This wasn’t his normal perfected sew, with messy zip stitches but he did enough to be redeemed by the judges, winning garment of the week! Matt was holding on by the skin of his bulldog clip teeth with his jersey pattern jacket. This could have gone horribly wrong, and it nearly did, with rather close fitting sleeves and an unfinished garment.
Lorna really took her time on this challenge and decided to sew her lining first. A smart move, as this enabled her to ensure that any alterations could be made to the lining first, without damaging the leather. Paul caught my eye with his cracking fabric choice, again. A brave red snakeskin leather which unfortunately had the fabric consistency of cardboard. He was unable to keep his cool. Even his great flat seams were not enough for him to stay in the competition, and he too had to leave the sewing room.

It seems my forecast and planning skills paid off last week as my predicted top three Bee’s remain in the competition. I was so sad to see Deborah and Paul go this week. I loved their style and fabric choices and I hope they go on to continue their own #sewingrevoultions!
With only three Bee’s left, who do you have your bets on? It’s so difficult to call with just five episodes to look back on! Neil has been scoring quite consistently over the series, however it is fair to say he had quite a wobble this week, soldiering on to redeem himself in the final task. Lorna’s crazy outbursts (which I love) seem to be keeping her focused, earning her second place in both tasks this week. Will second best be enough in the final? Matt, our bulldog clip underdog, didn’t start well in the competition but has gone from strength to strength with each episode. With the excitement and pressure of the final looming, anything can happen. Will it be down to who can stay calm and focused, or who gets high on the adrenaline? The person who ticks both of these boxes in my opinion is our extreme sewer Neil. That being said, I do love a good twist, ‘till next week stay on the edge of your seat!

Who do you want to win? Tune in next week for more sewing, gossip and blogging with @sewhq and @jennibobtaylor