Project Runway 7, Episode 7: Hard Wear

Welcome back, fashion fans! Last week, or rather two weeks ago, the designers each got a cute new model in addition to their cute old models. Tasked with creating age-appropriate, cohesive looks for both of them, Seth Aaron delivered a striking combo that easily gave him the win. Janeane, on the other hand, designed cheap mall outfits, so she got cut.

Emilio is proud to be halfway to Bryant Park. Jay was nervous about going home first. Now, he just has seven more people to knock out. Mila thinks it's a bit of a bummer that so many women gone home, but finds it empowering that she, Maya, and Amy are the strongest women this season.

Heidi greets the designers on the runway for the next challenge, in which Seth Aaron is immune. She sends them on a trip to meet Tim and a famous designer for the tools for the next challenge. That designer is none other than judge Michael Kors. Michael tells the designers that they'll have to design in an unconventional way.

To do that, they'll be shopping at a hardware store. So Project Runway has been pretty much everywhere now – the supermarket, the florist, the recycling plant, the newsstand, the farm, and now the hardware store. What's left for next season? A restaurant? Emilio does not feel good about this because he doesn't work with odd materials like this, being a sophisticated designer. As an additional challenge, the ten will be designing an accessory to compliment the main look.

Off to Mood Scheman & Grant. Wow, even the hardware stores here are chic. They have $150 each and 35 minutes to shop. Maya is excited about the challenge, as she has made dresses out of screens before. Emilio notices that everyone is choosing "material" that comes in yardage, so he'll be working with washers instead. Jay will try to make a garbage bag feel like leather. Didn't Daniel Franco get eliminated (the first time) for trying something like that? Amy wants to work with different shades of sandpaper. At the checkout, Emilio is over budget, so he has only half of his original materials to work with. He's in even more trouble than before.

Before the designers get designing, Tim tells them that the winner gets the usual immunity for next week. Jay thinks everyone else is going the easy way out with a dress, so he'll challenge himself with a pair of pants that fit well. Jesse is seeing a bunch of different ideas going forth, and he hopes for someone to crash and burn. Maya will be making a necklace using keys.

Anthony's innovative approach will be making something hard feel soft. Um, exactly how is that innovative? Didn't Amy and Jay do that with the burlap challenge? Jonathan finds working with hardware a pain, so he lightens the mood with some humor. Amy likes it. Emilio notices how everyone is molding a bodice while he's making a sort of macramé dress instead. Jay thinks Emilio's outfit would be more appropriate for a stripper.

Emilio grows frustrated, since his materials were not made for fashion. Ben's hands look like a wild animal chewed on them after working on his copper. Mila is color blocking again, and she hopes the judges are not sick of it. The constant hammering of copper and whatever gives Emilio a migraine. Jesse finds out his mesh roll is sticky on one side, so he thinks he's screwed.

On to the weekly moment that attempts to elicit tears through a usually doomed contestant's back story. Jay's parents would be proud of him if he won, since his large family always fought for everything. Whenever someone talks about his or her life with this sad music playing, it usually means that designer is a goner. Uh oh...

As the designers figure out how to sew their materials (with Ben doing well), Anthony pretty much destroys his look via a bad experience with the sewing machine. He feels his materials are starting to control him, not the other way around. Maya is working on a jacket made of Venetian blind cords, and if the machine won't accept it, she has a lot of hand-stitching to do.

Tim stops in for a visit, so let's find out who's not 100% safe this week. Mila shows off her mod inspired dress made of paint tray liners and gaffing tape. Her accessory will be a wide cuff using some placard or something with writing on it. Jesse's design makes Tim think of an Elizabethan mini. Tim also thinks it would be seen in an elementary school play. He also notices copper everywhere in the work room, including Jesse's form. Jesse's accessory will be a hair piece with a Dior style. Tim warns him to watch the costume aspect.

Emilio shows off his "interpretation of a bottomless dress," as Tim puts it. Tim doesn't know if he has enough material for anything other than a bikini. Anthony wants to put structure at the top, but he's not impressed so far. Tim calls it tortured, and Anthony is on the same page. Anthony opts for abandoning the original skirt and starting over with something more airy.

Jay's faux leather pants get a "spectacular" from Tim, but Jay's just hoping they will fit. The bags keep shrinking on him. He hasn't started on the accessory, but he's thinking of a belt. Tim asks him not to forget it. Maya gets compliments for her cord jacket, and much more praise for her "stunning" key necklace. Tim thinks it will be phenomenal if she pulls it off.

Tim is done chatting with the designers (which means Ben, Jonathan, Seth Aaron, and Amy don't have to worry about winning or losing this week). Now the models come in for fitting. Jonathan compares his look to Veronica Lake meeting C-3PO. His accessory will be a clutch. As feared, Jay's pants don't fit. Brittany can't even get her feet through them. Emilio decides to go for "Valley of the Dolls 2009," resorting to a bathing suit design. He feels like he'll have to move out of New York after this debacle.

Jay has to fix his pants using straps, hoping it fits now. In the meantime, he works on a sexy belt to cinch Brittany in. In order to differentiate his copper flashing from the others, Jesse uses paint to transform the color of his piece. Yeah, because dull silverish is so much more interesting than shiny copper.

Runway day arrives. Seth Aaron believes this will be an out of the ordinary show. That's sort of the point, dude. Maya can't wait to use real fabric again. Emilio believes everyone will be in the bottom ten. Jesse thinks there will be a safety in numbers at this point.

Back to work. Jesse tapes off interior of his bodice in order to forego sewing. Tim sends the models in for the usual preparation. Emilio reveals his bikini to his model. Amy is in love with the combination of the colors of the sandpaper and Monique's skin. Jay has to sew Brittany into the pants, and since he's working with plastic, every hole is permanent. Also, his model can't pee with those pants on. Sure she can, but it'll be there a while.

Emilio's bikini bottom is so heavy with washers that it won't stay up. Anthony says Brittany looks naked, and that design was not done in best of taste. He's also scared for Jesse, because his material looks tortured. The same goes for Seth Aaron and Ben. Mila's proud to have created a mod rock star in her model. Jesse thinks his look fits Alexis great. Emilio's just happy that he made a "head-to-toe committed look."