- Hang on. She puts the needle
back down to go and sew, except the needle comes unthreaded, and she proceeds to keep sewing
with the machine unthreaded. Which is a mild problem if you actually want to attach two pieces of cloth with the machine. Hello, my name is Bernadette Banner, and I sew things for a living. I'm also interested to
watch films and TV shows in which actors are having to portray very specific skills or crafts which realistically, we know take years and years and years to gain any sort of proficiency at, because not only does this person have to be competent at acting, but they also have to
convincingly portray this skill whilst in character as another person. Personally, as someone who
has spent years of my life learning how to sew, I just love looking at
performances of sewing onscreen, because you can always tell when an actor has some degree of
real-life sewing experience, and when they don't. And as a result, how the
production either compensates for the lack of realistic sewing knowledge by creative camera angles,
doing things with production, or whether they showcase
the actor's ability to perform this skill. So I've pulled a couple of films, both that have stuck
particularly in my mind of being worthy of comment, but also have taken several
suggestions from you on your favorite films and shows that you remember a nice sewing scene that could potentially
use a bit of analysis. We are not here to roast anyone today. Goodness knows, if this
were completely intuitive, I wouldn't have a job. We are merely here today to engage in a bit of pointless frivolity for our own amusement, and on that note, let
us begin with possibly the most obvious of contestants. That is "Downton Abbey". Season four takes place in the 1920s. We get to see the introduction of the electric sewing machine. And this is like a novel
new item in this household. - But if it's electric, aren't you worried it's
going to run away with itself and sew your fingers to the table? - I certainly hope not. - Here we have multiple characters sewing. Baxter's on the machine, Mr. Bates is laundering collars,
which is really exciting. They're actually doing like real tasks that would exist in the period. I love it. The other ladies' maid
Anna, is also sewing, but she is just sort of
pulling a needle through cloth, so, nothing too complicated. But she is wearing a thimble, and she's wearing it on the right finger, which is super good news. Good, good, good. So here we get to see the sewing machine in all her glory. The actress does seem like
she knows what she's doing. She does seem to be operating the machine in a very intuitive way. She's using the presser foot, which I mean, I don't
know what she's sewing. It looks like just a
square cloth of muslin. This is probably one of those instances in which concessions had
to be made for production, because if they're having to
do multiple takes of this, they have to appear like
they're at the same point of stitching every time
they start the take, just in case they're mixing
and matching different clips. Ok, so here it does look like she's sewing an actual seam on a garment, but she stops because there's dialogue. And of course they have to do that because they have to shut
off the machine noise so that you can hear. This is really cool because they've incorporated
the natural sewing process into the necessities of production. She stops sewing to take out a pin, because of course you would
have to stop the machine to stop and take out your pin. And she uses that as an excuse to let the dialogue happen
within that interval. Here she cuts the thread
a little bit too close when she pulls it out of
the machine and clips it. But these machines don't backstitch. You have to pull it out quite a bit so that you can either have enough slack that it won't pull out before you can stitch it into another seam or that you can knot it off yourself and then bury that thread. This is so cool. So what she's doing is
she's re-threading a ribbon or a drawstring, I don't know which, through the neckline of a
chemise or a night dress. This is kind of what I mean
by the variety of tasks that these actors perform
throughout the show. So of course, there's machine sewing, there's hand sewing, there
are practical garment repairs. There is laundering, collar
starching, boot polishing, all sorts of manner of things. So, well done, "Downton
Abbey", 10 out of 10, cool. We love to see it. Next on our list we have "The Grinch", which was a very popular suggestion because apparently
there is a sewing scene. The Grinch is making a
little Santa Claus outfit. First of all, I'm dying to know how this cloth is tensioned. What? Like what contraption is holding the cloth that tautly enough that he can cut? Kind of asking for a
friend, because if it works, it seems like a really
practical way to cut out cloth. Oh my God, this is gonna be so off grain. It's way smaller than
his actual dimensions, so like, hypothetically,
this would not fit him. Whatever, this is a fairytale. (The Grinch moans) No... It's ok, it's ok, it happens to the best of us. Here, okay, he's not sewing a seam here. He's sewing kind of diagonally, like going into the middle of the garment. So like, I don't know
what his end goal is, but why does he have an
industrial sewing machine if he doesn't know how to
sew, if he doesn't use it? I have so many questions. Ok, maybe in the beginning, he was just making like a
half or a third-scale mock-up before he made the actual garment, which actually demonstrates
remarkable dedication to research and experimentation
that is quite admirable. I'll give him that. I won't pretend that
the actual sewing craft in this is, A, realistic or,
B, meant to be realistic. So we will give this a pass,
but it was very amusing. "Easy A." There is a brief sewing scene in this. She is rage sewing, which is
not necessarily encouraged, nor is it the most efficient
way to obtain a garment. She is cutting out a lot of
scraps just for that one patch, but maybe she messed up a lot. Maybe she was playing with fonts. All of the sewing is basically just angrily pulling a
needle through cloth, albeit I think it's a bit satirical. Like I don't think she's meant
to be practical about this. The ability to pull out a needle that is threaded through a piece of cloth is the absolute fundamental
basic of sewing, and she has managed it. So, step one, good job. It's fine, this film is not about sewing. It serves its purpose. So, "Outlander." I think this is season three. So we have a modern actress,
21st-century actress, who is imitating a 1960s woman, with 1960s sewing knowledge, who is trying to reconstruct
18th-century dress. What is being demonstrated
here is home sewing, so it doesn't necessarily
need to be skilled sewing. But I actually really, really love that because it's so realistic. She is not doing 18th-century sewing
correctly, intentionally. It is made out of a 1960s raincoat, so, you know, it's a montage. So it's all very quick shots. She doesn't really have to be doing much, which is convenient. This might be a stylistic thing. They just wanted it to
be a fast-paced montage, or it might be a way to conceal the fact that the actress doesn't have
that much sewing ability. She's weirdly doing a lot
of sewing on the fold, which I'm not entirely sure why. It might be that that's
a continuity thing. It's just easier to fold the same piece of fabric multiple times and
shove it under the machine. Hypotheses. I love the finished garment. Observe. The hems are pulled on the diagonal. It's exactly what you
would expect from someone who has probably only
made Halloween costumes ever in her life, not an actual 18th-century
dressmaker or tailor trying to make this highly
structured, tailored garment. She doesn't have that sort of experience, so like, it completely makes sense. The final garment actually reflects these realistic imperfections, unlike in "The Grinch," where so clearly the
shape that he cuts out and the work that you see
him performing on screen would in absolutely no
circumstances produce the garment that he's wearing in the
final bit of that scene. Claire has spent some
time in the 18th century, so she would know a lot more of the nuances of 18th-century dress. She would definitely
understand how the armscyes are cut very far back
in 18th-century dress because she would have
experienced this feeling of having your shoulders
pulled back by your clothes. Although maybe I can understand
she's converting a raincoat into an 18th-century Redingote, and okay. I can, ok, I get it, I get it. She's a relatively moderately
experienced domestic sewer. She is not bothering resetting sleeves if she doesn't have to. There, you get a pass. So, "The Phantom Thread." The subject of the film itself revolves around couture dressmaking. For the actual characters,
they hired proper actors who are doing the professional acting. But what they've done is
for the background people who actually have to physically portray a lot of the making of the actual dresses, they've hired actual
seamstresses and dressmakers. The two women who are
most heavily featured throughout this film
doing the dressmaking, they are very much the central
focus of the dressmakers in the film, and they
are real dressmakers. They put them into costume, and they did their hair
up all 1950s style, and they had them sew on camera, which is absolutely wonderful. Like, clearly they know
exactly what they're doing, and it's just such a delight to watch. And the really cool thing
is they're not just sewing. They're practicing a range
of different practical skills related to the general craft of sewing. So they're handling patterns, they're making alterations, they're, you know, clipping labels or whatever they're doing. So in this scene, they've
got seven people working on the hem of this dress that
leaves in like six hours. So they're sewing very quickly. Hand sewing historically
is rather unglamorous work. It is speed. You have to work with speed, because you have to get
these garments done. This is your livelihood. And the dressmakers here
are working with that speed, but the work is not sloppy. Their hands are nice and firm. They've got that muscle memory. The whole roomful of people
are people who know how to sew and who understand the pressure to get a well finished garment that
has to go out in six hours. The main actress in the scene
is probably the only person in the room who does not
have sewing experience, which is understandable,
but it's also very obvious. She is, first and foremost,
an actress, not a seamstress, which is probably a good thing, considering she has to convey a believable acting performance for the entire rest of the film, which is probably something
we would all rather see. She's working very
slowly, very methodically, while everyone around her is like, right, let's get this done, this
has to leave in six hours. So it's probably good that they had her just do something simple like pinning, because it would probably
look more obvious if everyone around her
was very clearly working in one specific way while
she was doing something else. I don't know if people would notice that. I might. So, "The Dressmaker." This is also a film
technically about dressmaking. The central character
spends a good portion of the film sewing dresses. That is sort of part of her
character is that, you know, dressmaking is sort of her thing. Interestingly enough, though, whereas the character supposedly spends a lot of time sewing, we don't actually see her
ever do a whole lot of sewing. She spends a lot of time
moving things around. She holds up fabric, she
takes out the machine. She sort of fusses with
things a little bit. She pulls pins out of her mouth, but we don't ever actually see her do that much practical sewing, kind of if at all. It's kind of understandable. Kate Winslet probably isn't
much of a dressmaker herself, which is honestly kind of fine. She has dedicated her life to developing other
highly marketable skills at which she excels. So it is pretty clear in this film that she does not have the
most sewing experience, and the production has had to
sort of compensate for that. This measurement scene is hilarious, because she's supposed to be
taking a waist measurement but she takes the high hip measurement. It's a very common mistake
by people who wear clothes but don't actually make clothes, because the high hip is usually where your trousers come up to. Your waist is actually the
point at which, you know, you crease, which is kind of
like up here by your ribs, but measuring would logically
be the most familiar to them considering they've
probably all been measured for costumes in their lives. Hmm. Maybe it's canon within the
story that the character does not understand that the
waist is not at the high hip. I will choose to believe that. So next we have "Dickinson," which is the TV series
about Emily Dickinson. They're making bandages for soldiers in the American Civil War, which means that we are
looking at 1860s here. (rapid hip-hop music) I don't think anyone in this room really has much sewing experience at all. They're all just sort of
holding stuff, stabbing stuff. Ok, you can't be like looking elsewhere whilst you're sewing. That's like not a wise
decision to be making. - She's so canceled. - It is very highly performed sewing, but this is also you know, a comedy. So, you know, whatever. The performances themselves
are very heightened and a little bit satirical. - Women deserve the right to vote. We need to explicitly demand that the Constitution invoke
the rights of female persons. - There is a chain stitch
machine being used here. It is a treadle chain stitch machine. However, the opening shot
is of a lock stitch machine. That appearance of lock
stitch machine does not start to become a thing until the 1870s and does not gain prevalence
until the 1880s and '90s. Again, we don't actually see
the closeups of the sewing and the product of the sewing, but she is wearing a thimble. And that is really, probably
all I can really hope for. Good job. Ok. This next film selection
is a little sequence of sewing in "Deadpool," where I believe he's
making his super uniform. I'm not like the most
familiar with The Marvel. Is this Marvel? Please don't @ me in the comments. This is not my area of expertise. He's making his little superhero thing, which means we have the sewing of spandex or stretch material. We see him sewing on a machine in which it does not appear
he's using a zigzag stitch, which you would need to do if you're sewing on stretch materials so that the seam has a little bit of give and doesn't, when the
fabric stretches, just snap. We do see him doing a bit of hand sewing, which is really cool. You know, you don't just
slap together the whole thing on a machine. He's not wearing a thimble though. Maybe his, like, superhero. Is he a villain? Dani, you're gonna like
roast me on the edit. Maybe he has, like, powers that make his fingers very strong and he doesn't feel
the needle hand sewing. Or something. Next we have the new TV series version of "Anne of Green Gables," Anne with an E. She has a scissor sheath! Oh my God. (laughs) That is so exciting. First of all, she is
using a treadle machine. This is the 1890s. That is perfectly acceptable. We love to see it. She is treadling in heels, which is very difficult to do. I would not recommend treadling in heels. It makes life very difficult. Trying to figure out what's going on here, because it looks like
the machine has stopped before she puts her hand on it to stop it. I mean, I can't really
see what's going on, so I don't, like, want to
hardcore judge, but-- hang on. Ok. So, she puts the needle
back down to go and sew, except the needle comes unthreaded, and she proceeds to keep sewing
with the machine unthreaded, which is a mild problem if you actually want to
attach two pieces of cloth with the machine. Next up on our list is "Alias Grace." So what's really
interesting about this scene is that we do see
closeups of the stitching, which we don't always get to see in sort of peripheral sewing scenes. That is to say, you know, it is not an integral
part of the plot point. It is sort of a parallel theme to what they're talking about, but they are giving us closeups
of her threading the needle and a little bit of her stitching. However, we only see the hands. We don't see her doing the stitch. So it could be someone else. It might not be, it might be her. She does put the needle
through the fabric. She does not anchor the stitch. She does not knot it off in any way. She just sort of proceeds to sew with it, which isn't necessarily the strategy for stitching strong seams. But I mean, it's close enough that you can see that they
are using a two-ply thread, which is a very accurate
historical hand-sewing thread. Very well done. A lot of our modern polyester
threads are three-ply. Nextly, we have "Bright Star." Oh, interesting. Wow, that is really cool. She just buttonhole stitched to tie off the end of that ruffle bit that she's hand sewing. Wow, that is cool. That is such a like niche detail. She is hand sewing here. She's hand sewing a bit, you
know, slowly and delicately, which I presume means
she's just doing this in her spare time for funsies and is not actually trying
to get a garment done. She is not wearing a
thimble in this scene. Ok, we do see a bit more sewing action which is much more believable. She is, when she's pulling
the thread, she's making sure to tension it really tightly, so that, you know, when
you hand stitch a seam that has to actually
hold substantial parts of a garment together,
you do have to make sure that that thread is pulled nice and tight so that when you sort of pull on the seam, especially if it's a tight-fitting seam, it's not going to have gaps. I hope she's not about to cut her hair with her fabric shears though. Don't do it. Don't do it. We must give a little honorable mention to "Wonder Woman," which features our very own Constance
McKenzie, of course, in one of the department store scenes. Constance is a costume maker, so she was working in the
costume department of that film. And because she dresses
like a perfect Edwardian every day of her life,
just sort of got pulled in and thrown into the
background of that scene, which makes her undeniably
the star of that show. Okay, maybe that's debatable, but absolutely, 10 out of 10, perfect example of very
highly skilled costume fitting demonstrated onscreen by a professional. We love to see it. So that is all that I
have got for you today. If, by chance, you would like to perfect your own sewing skills so that you can perhaps go forth and demonstrate sewing
convincingly on screen, or if you would like to just actually sew things for yourself, I have a new book called
"Make, Sew and Mend: Traditional Techniques
to Sustainably Maintain and Refashion Your Clothes," which is to be released on the 17th of May of this year and is currently
available for pre-order. If you would like to go
and have a look at that, that will teach you
everything, not everything. That will teach you some
things that you need to know about hand sewing as based
on the historical methods that were used to construct long-lasting and durable garments that
people could own for a lifetime. Other than that, thank you for joining me on today's little adventure, and I wish you good fortune in your continuing YouTube voyage. Good day. If you like period dramas, documentaries, craftspeople performing crafts, or craftspeople whose craft
it is to imitate crafts that are not their craft, I can very strongly recommend that you check out the plethora of fascinating content available from our sponsor for today, Acorn TV. Acorn TV is the largest commercial-free British streaming service that
offers well-known classics, exclusive premieres, and original content. For just four pound 99 or $6.99 a month, you can get access to
a refreshing selection of content from all over the world, accessible through the Acorn TV app on both Apple and Android, as well as Amazon Fire,
Chromecast, Roku, and more. I can personally recommend this new series I've been watching on Acorn
TV called "Agatha Raisin," which is a lighthearted
murder mystery series about a woman who retires
to a beautiful village in the Cotswolds, only to find herself wrapped up in murder. With Acorn TV, there is always
something new to discover. Try Acorn TV free for 30
days by going to acorn.tv and using my promo code, Bernadette. (festive music)
