Help create a Nationwide Skirt of Welcome!

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Little Amal is created by the same team who create the puppets for War Horse.

Little Amal is created by the same team who create the puppets for War Horse.

I am delighted to be doing a shout out for your help on behalf of costume designer Annie Symons. She is creating a Nationwide Skirt of Welcome for Little Amal, a 15 foot high puppet (made by the same talented team that created War Horse) who will be walking an astonishing 5,000 miles to raise awareness of displaced and refugee children, many of whom have been separated from their families. The epic voyage starts on the Turkey/Syria border, crosses mainland Europe and culminates later this year in Manchester.

But making a skirt for a 15ft puppet is no easy feat so Annie has asked me, my ladies and gentlemen if we would like to help.  The plan is that we will each make a block and those blocks will become an integral part of the design of the skirt which will take 30 metres of calico!

Are you interested in having your block in our Nationawide Skirt of Welcome? Below are some important points to note.

Little Amal’s 5,000 mile walk will take her from Turkey to the UK.

Little Amal’s 5,000 mile walk will take her from Turkey to the UK.

  1. Your finished block needs to be 6.5 inches square and this includes a ¼ seam allowance so once sewn into the skirt the finished square will be 6 inch square. Do, make sure your design works within these 6 inches and doesn't stray into the seam allowance.

  2. The block must be made of fabric (preferably cotton) and can be created however you want. It could be:
    • pieced block (just the top fabric no wadding or backing please)
    • appliqued
    • fabric painted
    • beaded 
    • embroidered 
    • cross stitched 

  3. The theme is British flowers and colours of the countryside. A few things that might help inspire you are Mandy Shaw’s Bee Friendly quilt pattern, Janet Clare’s Wildflowers pattern book and the 100 Any-sized Flower Blocks book.

  4. Feel free to add a welcome message and also anything that reflects your background or memories you have 

  5. But please DO NOT include religious or nationality symbols.

  6. Send your finished blocks to:
    John Scott's Sewing World
    PO Box 6688
    Stratford Upon Avon 
    CV37 1TZ

  7. The deadline is 30th September 2021

The final skirt will be made up during October (we may need some help with this so watch this space) and presented during a welcome festival in Manchester in November.

You can find out all about Little Amal’s journey and much, much more here or if you have any questions, or think you might be able to help us make the skirt up in October just drop me an email on info@johnscottssewingworld.com