#thebigstitch

Today's make is inspired by two things. One is the incredible experience of being nominated and attending the Mollie Makes 2018 Handmade Awards this week. It was such a privilege to be asked to go, especially seeing as this is such a new space, and although we didn't win, the girls that did, utterly deserved it and my heart couldn't have been happier.

Part of the day was a talk by a group of ladies who have made a serious living out of their craft passion. That was inspiring enough, but Sara Tasker, social media super-pro, said something that really resonated with me:

"Share the things you love, because people will know if you're being inauthentic".

I have been trying to think of the best way to order the things I share in this space, the build an 'identity' around it. And do you know what I really wanted to be doing? I wanted to be playing along with the British Heart Foundations #thebigstitch that's running until the 15th of July. So that is exactly what I have done.

Which means that today's make is another upcycle. This time, a piece of inspiration more than an exact pattern, but hopefully it'll get your creative thoughts flowing and you'll think of something that you can turn on its head too.

Allison Playsuit
You will need:
Massive dress with sleeves
Scissors
Needle & thread
Sewing machine
Fabric scrap

Step 1 Don't bother with unpicking, just go straight in with the scissors and chop the sleeves off...

...the sleeves will then become the new legs! Line them up, wiggle things into place and pin. If you prefer, rather than pinning, run a round of running stitch to get them in place.

Step 2 Get the sewing machine out and stitch them all together. Look! Hareem pants!

Step 3 . Using your scissors, fold in half and neaten up the arm holes. As this is made of jersey, I'm just going to leave the edge raw as it will roll nicely.