Freedom shoes (Liberty Espadrilles)

Earlier on this year I noticed that my local haby Creaseys was selling espadrille soles, what a lovely idea!  They very kindly ordered them in in my size, have rather large feet.....and I started looking for inspiration. 

I have box of fabric strips, mainly Liberty Tawn Lawn which I had used for decoupage, 

that were perfect. The backing was just a pair of old jeans. 

You draw round the pattern provided with the soles and then get creative.

I simply stitched the stripes down with a line of back stitch in embroidery silk, 

so that the fraid edge of the fabric was a feature.

It was only after I had finished the tops that I realised the denim had some stretch....

not what you want for the top of a shoe!  So I backed them with a woven interfacing. 

Creaseys by now were also selling the espadrille thread, a nice strong (red)  cotton, 

perfect for doing the traditional blanket stitch to hold the top to the bottom. 

The only problem I had was as you fold the fabric under to do the blanket stitch, it meant I was sewing through two layers of denim and interfacing plus the rope sole, so I ended up having to use a pair of pliers to pull the needle through!

Must say I am very please with how they turned out, I decided not to do the backs as when I used to wear espadrilles a lot and you always stood on the backs, so why bother with them in the first place?

And today they have had their first outing in the sun!

That gold cross!

 I do always like a challenging question!

Well we all know that the Guernsey Flag is a mix of

 the Cross of St George and the Cross of William the Conqueror - Duke of Normandy.  

 But last week a gentleman who was a keen history buff

 said he had never seen Williams cross before,  stopping to think about it neither had I. 

 Later in town I bumped into the Head of Museums here, and so I asked him.

Turns out in 1066 William persuaded Pope Alexander 2 to send him a papal banner, 

to show him backing of Williams invasion plans.

 

 As you can see it is definitely the gold cross from the center of our flag.

 It also features a fair few time in the Bayeux Tapestry, though you do seem to have to know what you are looking for, its not obvious.

So we now know, and I bet you anything I am never asked that question again!!!!!