'Runway' designers get down to nuts and bolts

"Project Runway" took a break last week (to avoid competition with the Olympic ice skating finals we were told).

For week 7 on Thursday night, the 10 remaining designers were back with a "hard" challenge: to create a look and complementary accessory out of materials found in a hardware store.

They used everything from bolts and brackets to garbage bags and sand paper, sheets of metal and cooper, screens, even paint trays; whatever they could gather in 35 minutes with $150.

Tampa's Ben Chmura went for cooper sheeting; Emilio Sosa grabbed washers, Mila Hermanovski choose paint trays and Jay Nicolas Sario gravitated to garbage bags.

Not surprisingly, there was a lot of banging and clanging back in the workroom, and a few tin men and fembots worked the runway at judging time. Isabel Toledo (who created Michelle Obama's inauguration look) and jewelry designer Stephen Webster were guest judges.

Once again, Chmura scored high enough to make it to the next week.

Sario leather-looking pants and top made of garbage bags took top prize. The look was punctuated by a braided belt with blue painter's tape that blew the judges away. This was Jay's second win.

Maya Luz also delivered with a stunning key necklace and screen mesh shift dress with an accompanying jacket molded from black wire. Her model looked like Elvira - Queen of the Dark accessory.

Hermanovski's black and white paint tray liners also scored well, although she again shows she's the color-block queen (how many times has she done color-blocking)?

Jesse LeNoir got the big buh-bye for his painted copper dress that made the judges think of the Tin Man from the "Wizard of Oz" and a dirty vacuum bag.

Excuse me, but nothing on that runway looked worse than Sosa's swimsuit. He didn't have enough washers to make a dress, so he sent his model down the runway in a tasteless, tacky, barely-there hooker ensemble that left little to the imagination. It looked ridiculous.

And for the first time, the judges seemed clueless he didn't set out to make that get-up, he simple didn't have enough materials to complete the look. Yeah, right.

Here's what Ben had to say about last night's Project Runway episode.

Q: How difficult was it to make an outfit from materials found in a hardware store?

A: It was very difficult for me to decide what materials I was going to use. Not only did you have to think of the garment, but also how you were going to fasten it together. There was no guarantee that you could sew it. I bought some hinges, but ended up using them for my accessory because I bought keys as well to make a necklace. Once I saw that Maya was doing the same idea, I scrapped it immediately and decided to make a cuff. We were definitely out of our element and needed to be innovative.

Q: You went straight for the cooper sheeting. How come?

A: I have a huge love for copper; it's one of the metallics that I'm naturally drawn to. I first found the telephone cord which was copper and clear. I thought that would be a great way to bring in texture, sort of a futuristic element and ribbed element that would simulate the diagonal paneling that show up in my work. Then, I found the copper flashing and thought that would be a great complement; I just wish I had brought gloves like Jesse did because as you heard, my hands were torn up. I managed not only to injure myself, but [model] Allison as well. I felt horrible. The idea was to do a metal dress that somewhat reflected Paco Rabanne as well. A retro-inspired dress that would look sort of space-age and levitate away from the body. I was a little disappointed with how wrinkled the copper became, but Tim seemed to like the texture and how it looked like fabric. I discovered that I was able to sew through it and that was a huge time saver for me. I did a double top stitch to resemble the bolted seams of a plane fuselage.

Q: Did you agree with the judges sending Jesse home for his "tin-man" dress?

A: I didn't necessarily agree with the judges' decision because Anthony [Williams] had been in the bottom a few times before that and it just makes me curious how many times can you be in the bottom before being eliminated? I did think that Jesse's was one of the weaker looks, but the judges didn't like Emilio's either. I think Emilio fell short on this challenge. Emilio's look ended up becoming pure shock value and not thought through. He had to rely on styling and Holly's physique to "sell' the look.

Q: The judges - and me - thought Jay's garbage bag look was amazing. What did you think?

A: I loved Jay's look. It was definitely innovative, and the belt came out beautifully. The only thing that was starting to concern me with Jay at this point is that the second win started inflating his ego. But this win was definitely well deserved. We were both planning on using the wig for this challenge without even knowing it. He totally beat me to it, but I feel everything works out in the end.

Q: What was it like to meet Isabel Toledo and Stephen Webster?

A: It was phenomenal. We were all trying to figure out who would it be. I thought maybe The Blondes, since they do a lot of metal corsets and hardware embellishments. Some people thought maybe it would be Lady Gaga. When we saw that it was Toledo we were all amazed. Many people don't know that her past work is full of innovative construction and pattern-making. She was a perfect judge to have for this challenge. I wished I had gotten a chance to speak with her on the runway, but at least I got to be in the same room with her.

Project Runway airs at 10 p.m. Thursday's on Lifetime. Look for Chmura's updates Friday mornings on TBO.