Back To The Stitch.....

I spent a rainy day doing what I enjoy so, gathering all the supplies to pursue the next Liturgical Stole.
I must add, the green I have in the photo is not the *real green*...the camera went off on it's own and got creative.....hmmmmmmm.......there is no glow in the dark, or tall yard after a week of rain color! Much more dignified!
Currently on the cutting table, I have the main fabric; pinned into submission on a padded flannel base. It is a lush and slippery brocade, with enough weight to require a lot of containing. The whole pattern must be straight and true before cutting, the interfacing carefully matched and pressed in. I think it will benefit from one more layer of an interlining.
Green is the color for *Regular Time* and is worn the most, yet the choices in shades and patterns are for the most part, well, awful.
I had dreamed big in what I wanted to do with this piece and then began the fabric search.
OH MY.
It was not going good.
When I was at the point of giving up, I got an e-mail from the company I always buy from that said, "See our new brocades!"
(like they need to entice me????)
So I give it a shot, thinking there wouldn't be anything in an acceptable green.
And I was wrong.
My heart almost stopped.
There it was~~exactly what I had wanted, pattern, color, everything!
EXACTLY.
But it was not the shade my minister had requested.....yet I kept looking and looking and I knew in my heart, "Anne, this is IT!"
And I ordered.
Sometimes, when you are doing what you are meant to do, the world delivers exactly what you need.
Even if it is in a slightly different color. ;-)




Pax....

Opus Est Perfectus

 

 

Pax....

It's All In The Work......

I have been diligently hand sewing a liturgical stole. It is beautiful. The fibers are from one of the most revered companies for these specialty fabrics.
I am not being smug nor conceited; it all just came together in a most spectacular way, and I discovered with every stitch put into it, I was enjoying the process more than I had any other in a long time.

There was something about the rhythm of the needle moving through the gorgeous brocade that kept me in a zen-like state. I did not think about aching fingers or a sore back~~the fact that I could barely move when I finally would stand or that I had started work at 8 in the morning and not finished until midnight.
And as I did this, I wondered:

What if the *job* you are meant to do is nothing that will make you famous, nor make you rich, nor takes you to ritzy places? What if it's something you really never considered? Or, what if you have fought and fought to NOT do it, pursuing everything else possible? What if it is a form of a life unlived from when you were young?
What if your calling is something that serves a higher power~~undefinable in this current money-driven world. What if it has been under your nose, and you did not realize it?
I guess my mind wandered abundantly.
The whole creating process was pure delight.
Beautiful things to work with, fine threads, meditation in each and every stitch and a holy purpose for it.
Tell me.....do you think it gets any better?
The joy of our gifts; it's all in the work.




Pax....

The Final Sewing Work, and Installation!

I lied.

I said I would be posting this yesterday, but I had a visitor all day. "M. Migraine" came to call, repeatedly hit me in the head and decided to keep me company until dark. I asked him to leave several times, but I must be a good hostess.

Some visitor.......hmmph!

Well, here we go with the last of the banner stories! Below you will see one of them, with a guide and the letters laid out down the center. (yes, I was standing on the table. no, I shouldn't have been but...???) These all had to be glued with a flexible and strong fabric glue---which was almost toxic to breathe!--- first before they could be stitched. I think the following photos will explain why......

The fabric the letters were made from was the heaviest weight of linen canvas, painting canvas, that I could get. Then two coats of gesso to seal it, a gel medium for texture, acrylics and other medium for color and a few glazes. All that equals something harder than leather to sew through.

Seriously, I would have rather sewn leather by hand! It has more suppleness. This.....oy. All I can say is I pinched off a nerve in my thumb cutting the edges and it still is not right and giving me pain.......

The little bowls are between four and five inches across, so there is an idea of the size of each letter. Below, is a better image of the sewing process; bead by bead, a needle being pulled through with pliers due to the heaviness of the multiple layers. Kiddies, there was nothing FUN about this part!!!

Each single bead, one by one......seven huge letters on one banner, eight on the other.....soooooo much weight. So much time.

Breaks for sore hands, sometimes a day or so between sewing.

But in the end, it all turned out beautiful. The fringe, the tassels, the sheer trim with sequins that I was unsure of when I purchased but was perfect when applied.....it is always odd how these things work themselves out and when hung, look beautiful.

And the best part, of course, is the delivery! Getting them up on the church walls and seeing the reaction from the people who commissioned them, which I must say was very happy!!! (and me too!!!)

I am completely exhausted from this project, and will be on and off blog sporadically for a while. I hustled so much to finish this that there are many, many things around here unfinished, except ME, and I think I am completely finished!!! My body is just worn to a nub from this---too much in too little time.

Blogger has changed how they have their button for text justification, so naturally it has taken FOR EVER for me to get this post up, tinkering and saying naughty words early in the morning.....quite a few in fact. QUITE a few.

It's going to be a two-pot-of-coffee day........

I hope this was worth the wait! I know for me, it feels like one more step towards clearing out the ghosts of this last year. Now to allow myself some time for other things that are piled up, and I should be back to my abnormal acerbic self in no time soon!

Which may or may not be a good thing. I leave that for you to decide.  ;-)

Have a good creative day! Make something wonderful!!!

Pax.

The Bargello Mystery.......

Well, now for the rest of the story, as Paul Harvey would say. Sorry for the hodge-podge on the photos; Blogger is being most obnoxious or I am clueless to what I am supposed to do to get them to behave.....and not awake enough to really care!

As stated previously I had this marvelous bargello piece, in fact, two identical pieces that I had received from Tristan. He had e-mailed me about how to make a liturgical stole and I sent him the *pattern* I work from, which is loose to say the least. I guess when you make then and tinker with them you don;t need a highly detailed pattern, plus the idea is always in my head. At any rate, he said since the bargello was done he was afraid he would screw it up (it was for an ordination gift) so would I be interested in finishing it? SURE!!! But I could not understand why he had hesitation about cutting into the pieces.

Until I got them in the mail, looked at these absolutely amazing works and though, OMG, I'm terrified to cut into them!!! No choice; we were working on a short deadline and I knew the amount of time I had each day to work out here was limited. I still cannot manage anything close to a full day so a job that should have taken me a day and a half, welllll, it took longer.

Yesterday I finally finished it up, except for trim on the edge, and in the meantime have written Tristan telling him it was basically done........come to find out, the ordination is TOMORROW, so I slapped that baby under the machine, got the trim sewn on, did what I was NOT supposed to do and drove it to town for overnight mailing. It should arrive to it's new owner this morning.

These pics are lousy as the last thing I did before bundling it up was snap a few photos, and by that time I had myself worked into a lather about getting to the Post Office so it would make the next day delivery. Remember, I live in the sticks and *Next Day* is relative, applying to larger locals. So I had to ask if it would be delivered today. Ask.

At any rate, you can get an idea of how it looked; I think the pics for the most part enlarge when clicked and like I said, these last ones are fuzzy, off kilter, and just not good.

Oh, and to explain the last photo. When originally corresponding with Tristan, I told him I had NEVER had the back of the neck line up, and always used a nice applique to cover it. (the ones I have made have had a woven design, that--the least bit off--YIKES....) Well, to get a good length I had to cut off the bottom of the piece which had beautiful reds...check the top photo. So naturally, when putting this together, I had the same problem with the back of the neck not matching, and carefully took apart the remnants of the bargello, getting a small, three strip piece, which was appliqued in place over the seam.

It visually tied it all together and gave the eye a place to rest.

And then I rested!

So.....this is what has kept me busy, in between naps and resting (or in other words, attempting to be good!) and I could have lived with that beautiful bargello just hanging on my pinning board for ever! But I got to enjoy it a short while and tomorrow, a young man will be wearing it at ordination, and all the meditation and prayer that I put in these as I do the handwork will be there with him, upon his shoulders, with Tristan's talent and color magic making him look wonderful!

We're kind of like Batman and Robin.......the Dynamic Duo!!!! (okay, Tristan is dynamic.....I'm more the speed of Alfred......)

And that's today's story kiddies! Tune in next week, same Bat Time; same Bat Channel!!!

In other words, have a wonderful weekend........

Pax.

Liturgically Speaking.....

....I found these images of a scarf I had made from leftover fabric from a handmade altar cloth. This was one of those jobs you made the rules up as you went along. The fabric was a rayon jacquard, ravelled like crazy, had to have a stiff interfacing to hang properly, was lined with linen and of course, needed gold and pearls.

Hmmmmmm........who would take on a task like this??? <:)

I made the little linen collar protectors with a hand crocheted edging, then they were basted in so they could be removed for washing. That, by itself was a honking headache.
Somewhere along the line I discovered I couldn't sew this on the machine and then turn it right side out. The lining and fabrics just said "NO!" which that meant sewing the whole thing by hand.
These items turn out to be meditative after a while. All the cording is couched on with a heavy gold thread (yes, real metal wrapped). The pearls are all secured by hand with waxed thread and stitched so the knots are not seen on the lining. There are also hand applied gold filled beads on the appliques and other glass beads.

The fringe on the bottom is real metal bouillon fringe, and that little tidbit on there set me back a pretty penny. But it needed it. The gold anchored all the white, and also the wool felt and gold embroidered appliques. Pearls were added with abundance, so that the scarf would shimmer, even under the lowest lighting.
Why don't I do this full time for a job? (because I probably could...) Cost, both of materials, and the toll on my hands and neck and shoulders. Most of my sources for liturgical fabrics have dried up, and the few remaining ones offer beautiful items but not at a price that I can make a profit.
However, every once in a while, I get the urge to make something delicious and wonderful and rich, dripping with elegance and history and reminding me that I still can sew pretty good.
I think I was born in the wrong era.
Or maybe it's that *Inner Nun* trying to assert herself.
You think I'm joking...don't you?
Now go find something that makes your brain perk--a puzzle to assert your creativity with!
But you might want to forget the metal fringe....... :) ...at least for now!