Project Runway 7 - Episode 2

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judith neukam, senior technical editor

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Jay Nicholas Sario won this week's competition by designing and making this dress, next dying it, and then trimming the skirt with an aqua braid that made it pop.

Lifetime Television

Amy Sarabi got the judges attention with ombre edges and great design. Judge Lauren Hutton liked this one.

Lifetime Television

It's hard to imagine that Mila Hermanovski's dress was a potato sack one day before this photo was taken.

Lifetime Television

Jay Nicholas Sario won this week's competition by designing and making this dress, next dying it, and then trimming the skirt with an aqua braid that made it pop.

Photo: Lifetime Television

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I am finally willing to admit that I always underestimate how long it is going to take me to sew something. How these Project Runway designers manage to blast their garments out week after week is mind boggling. They must develop a strategy before the filming starts on how they can streamline their designs for the most construction efficiency. This week the designers were given one day to turn potato sacks into a party worthy garment. Of the fifteen remaining competitors, all but one made a short dress. Jesse made pants and a vest. Six of the 14 dresses were strapless and not one of the garments had sleeves. They seemed to pare down all but the most essential elements of their garment. Most of the designers did some kind of whole cloth dying or printing treatment to modify the burlap before making the garment. As far as I can tell, there isn't access to a clothes dryer—so just getting the fabric dry also cuts into their construction time. This involves so much more than just a design challenge.

Jay won this week with honorable mentions given to Mila and Amy. You can see their dresses above. The best part of these three dresses is that they didn’t look thrown together; each one looks intentionally executed and thoughtfully planned. Ping and Pamela were left standing at the end for the final sorting out. I was very sad to see our dear Pamela Ptak leave, she is such a lovely person and a talented designer—her students are indeed fortunate. We’ve already talked about Ping here last week and I think it’s clear that we’re enjoying watching her. The back side of her skirt this week looks like she popped a seam. Do you think she actually designed that slit—surely not?

My last thought is about the designers who are told “You’re safe, you may leave the stage.” They disappear and we don’t see them again until next week. I’m beginning to think that Project Runway should start the series with two hour long episodes so we can get a better look at some of the "safe" people's work. We’d all watch it. You can, however, see more about the garments at Tim's extended workroom critiques. There were at least four other contending garments that could have had more explanation: Anthony’s dress—how did he get that wonderful rich color and drapey texture? Anna’s potato print fabric made a wonderful improvement to her burlap. Janeane made a lovely little strapless dress with contrasting fabric details. Emilio’s dress was quite sophisticated and I would like to know what he did to get the design in the fabric. When he won last week we didn’t have a full explanation about how he engineered the look. Now that the show is back on track I want to see more! What do you think?

Until next time….

Anthony Williams

Anna Lynett

Janeane Marie Ceccanti

Emilio Sosa

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Project Runway Season 7 Opening Night

Comments (13)

texasgalfw writes: I think Ping should go - her dress was abominable - even the construction looked bad. Pam's dress was not flattering on the model but I loved what she did to the sack with the dye and I thought the design was catchy - not flashy like some of the others - but I could have worn it. I agree with Heidi - I don't think Ping understands everything that is going on. She cries at the drop of a hat - apparently she can't take criticism at all. But everybody is pretty tough so I don't think I could take it either.
Posted: 5:54 pm on January 27th

RobinDee writes: I think Amy should have won. The designers did a great job with this challenge. There were some really cute wonderful designs. I agree I would have liked to see more of the designers who were "safe." I knew that Pam would go; they highlighted her with the off-camera side interviews, always a bad sign. Her dye job was beautiful but the dress was very dated and not flattering. They seem to like Ping and let her stay, but her dress was really gross. The rosette and the collar and actually the whole thing was a mess. Why didn't she make it longer..."I feel like I'm taking crazy pills." The top of Ping's dress reminded me of Andre's garden party dress, which he got eliminated for. I think they should have kept Pam and Ping and eliminated the guy who put ribbon all over the skirt part of his dress; this dress and the last dress that looked like a lizard were bad.
Posted: 11:50 am on January 27th

nativemsn writes: I agree with just about everyone here about Ping's dress. Why was she not eliminated last week? I thought for sure she would go. I also agree, though that the designers this season are much more talented than season 6 and glad they are back in NYC.

I was impressed with Amy's dress and thought she should have won. Not that thrilled with Mila's because of the gaping that Kors mentioned. I thought the exact same thing. It was modern looking, but the gaping bothered me. Does anyone else think that Mila looks just like Louise from last season (is that the right season?)?

I also liked the geometric design with Emilio's dress and the colors used. I was amazed that the designers could pull off so many different looks with potato sacks--I never could have done that!
Posted: 1:51 pm on January 26th

peej2 writes: Ping's clothes aren't wearable for the average woman, in MY OPINION.
I am a "Short, fat, middle-aged woman" and know that I would look incredibly dumpy in her clothes.
BUT . . . what I see in magazine as the couture collections, aren't realistic for the average woman. I mean, even if the pricing WAS somewhere near what I could pay.
Posted: 12:55 pm on January 26th

msbyrdt writes: "DITTO"
Posted: 8:58 am on January 26th

mirela writes: Ping, no more! Why Pamela? She made a pretty jeans dress, what is wrong with looking a little bigger and having curves? I liked the jean dress, fit very well, very nicely constructed...wish I would see more of Pam's designs instead...maybe they will bring her back some episodes
Posted: 8:19 am on January 26th

emmyt writes: I agree with the person who said that Ping should have gone. That dress was pure porn and not even appealing to me. I did like Amy dress she had some really good design and construcion as well as keeping the orginal concept of the potato sack. I think it is really amazing what all the designers did, with the exception of Ping. Hated that dress, cannot stess that enough.
Posted: 11:18 pm on January 25th

coatcheck writes: Renni, here's an idea for your stretch fabrics..I am a costumer who works w/stretch fabrics all the time. Use a zigzag stitch @ 3.0 to 3.5 and also, you can use invisible thread..it has stretch to it...not elastic but it will give more than regular sewing thread. Hope this helps!
Posted: 7:59 pm on January 25th

Renni writes: These are awesome. Beautiful creations. By the way, can anybody tell me what should I use to sew a stretch fabric without using the stretch setting on my machine which I don't really like doing. Is there a special thread I can use so that the finish products don't break when I put them on like they always do.....HELP!!!!!
Posted: 5:30 pm on January 25th

annielise writes: I think they made the wrong elimination choice here. Other contestants had questionable sewing besides Pamela. The person to be eliminated should have been one of the two who did not take Tim's advice. But this is not really a contest is it? It's a game and there is a lot of chance in a game.

Posted: 5:05 pm on January 25th

nannysgirl writes: Count me in on the fact that I always underestimate the time needed! And after all these years sewing! I thought Ping's dress was a simple fix. Why didnt she just cut a longer skirt? I thought the design was ok (nothing great) but that skirt was a silly mistake. I liked the braided rosette and the trim on the bodice.
Posted: 10:45 am on January 24th

Kate_W writes: I agree with Sews4fun, some of the designs were just terrific! I too always underestimate the amount of time it will take me to do a "canned" project -- i.e. I know the fabric, pattern, the client is me, etc. -- so the creativity and artistry the designers were able to tap into in such a small amount of time makes the runway results all the more impressive. I also wonder, how many burlap sacks each of the designs took ... Ping should have grabbed one more ...

Pam seemed to get alot of air time which I took as either a good sign (winning) or bad (auf wiedersehen). Reality TV. She was closest to my demographic and I will miss her.

I wish the program spent more time on the thought process and construction techniques behind the designs. I'm glad they're back in New York. Design-wise it's cranked up a notch or two. These designers are GOOD. Looking forward to the rest of the season ...


Posted: 10:30 pm on January 23rd

sews4fun writes: How can ANYONE do THAT with a burlap sack? In my opinion, most of them were FABULOUS! Ping's was a bit on the porn side but that is ONE potato sack that will be remembered! I was sorry to see pam go, I think Jesus should have been eliminated, he totally missed the point and what he did was downright unfair to the other contestants, he seems angry when hes told his work is not good enough. I hated Maya's dress, it was downright U-G-L-Y, I have no idea why she wasnt in the bottom two. I think Pam is too nice to have lasted long, she lacks the ruthlessness to go after another contestants jugular and it gets dicey when it gets down to the last few. I think pam's sewing techniques were flawless but she needed to take more risk, it felt like I had seen her dresses before. At least when she left, she still had her self respect and her integrity, I think a lot of them leave some of that behind when they go, not Pam. Anthony sure had a MUCH better garment than last week, hes shaping up to be a real drama queen in the following weeks I think. Lots of these designers are GOOD! I mean GOOD! I wouldnt want to be a judge this time around, the majority of them are real contenders. Ping? one word for your model....PANTIES!
Posted: 7:20 pm on January 22nd

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