I was really excited when I saw a post for the British Heart Foundations yearly sewing challenge The Big Stitch.  I had not realised it existed until now.  As soon as the summer holidays started, I hot tailed it down to my local BHF shop to find something I could transform into something.  I didn’t know what I would find and what I would make.  The first spot was a beautiful white tablecloth, appliqued with blue flowers.  It was so lovely I wasn’t sure at that point whether to use it for the big stitch or keep it as a tablecloth.  I then spotted a silk scarf near the till, it was beautiful with an Indian style block print all over it and the colours flowed into one another.  The last find was a touch of luck, I always look at the shoes but to find a pair that I like in the right size is the stuff of legend!  These shoes were brand new, never worn and reduced, how could I resist!

I thought long and hard (well not that long as time was not my friend with a July 31st deadline!).  The tablecloth had interesting corners and when I put it up against me,  one of the corners made a perfect top if I cut it on the bias.  It was then I decided to dye the tablecloth, I knew I could never get away with wearing a white dress.

Browsing the colours of the dyes I was torn between red and orange; eventually choosing red as I thought the blue flowers might turn purple, rather than brown with the orange.  

I didn’t have a dress makers dummy at the time, so I draped the fabric over myself pinned it, cut it and I was away! I didn’t want to ruin the lovely scarf so I used it as a halter neck for the dress.

I loved making the shoes; using modge podge and scraps of book (which was falling apart) I carefully I carefully shaped the and cut the pieces to make it as smooth as possible.  Then I made a flower using my scan n cut from a bit of the dress fabric and the book.  They are my favourite part of the whole make, you just can’t wear them on a wet day – a rare occurrence in England!