Tuesday, July 6, 2010

In which I make things.

Because I am a dumbass, I forgot to take pictures of this project while I was working on it. But sometimes, there's something even better than a picture of a finished sewing project on a hanger. What is it? A finished sewing project on a person!

Meet my friend Emily. Or should I say, Rev. Emily.

That's her at her ordination service late last month. And that lovely green number she's wearing around her neck? That's the stole I made for her as an ordination present. Green happens to be her favorite color and it's also the liturgical color for ordinary time, which is a hefty chunk of the liturgical year. (Non church geeks click here to find out what the hell I'm talking about.)

Anyhoodles, since I love Emily and she is 800 percent fabulous, I knew I wanted to make a stole for her big day. I didn't use a pattern, but if I make another one, I'll tweak it a bit so it wasn't so wide. The hardest part was getting the stole to lay flat along the back, so I borrowed a bunch of stoles from my pastor friend and tried to figure out what worked best. (BTW, I have a lot of minister friends. And seminary friends. And yet I have the world's foulest mouth. They love me anyway, because that's the kind of people they are.)

Here's a strangely cropped picture showing Em serving communion to her hubby. Note the pretty back of the stole. Say it with me: Ooooh. Pretty.


And here's an even more strangely cropped picture showing the full stole. It's a little rigid because I put interfacing on both sides, but I hope once it gets a few washings that it softens up a bit.

Even though I forgot to take pictures of the project (and here's where I should give a shoutout to Emily for letting me use her pictures of the blog, since I am a horrible friend and missed the whole service because I was drinking mai tai's on the beach in Hawaii), I had a ton of fun making it. It actually was a pretty simple project and I love the idea of making something for clergy who aren't into the standard stoles that are a) heavily brocaded and look like they were made with my grandmother's old draperies or b) look like they should be accompanied by Birks and a rousing chorus of Kumbaya. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) I really hope I get to make some more!

It's hard to see here, but there's a smattering of stuff from different designers including Denyse Schmidt, Amy Butler, Anna Maria Horner and Art Gallery Fabrics in there. I used mostly fat quarters and lined the back with two different Amy Butler prints.

Woot! And, may I be one of many to say congrats Rev. Emily! I'm so proud of you!

3 comments:

Sew Here We Are said...

Love it. I wanted to make one for the ordination service for our new pastor, who is also a great friend, And would be my new boss!! I am the church secretary. But was too scared it wouldnt turn out right...And lay down correctly around the neck. You say you didnt use a pattern? Awesome!! If you ever come up with a pattern and/or tutorial I would love it.

Anonymous said...

Oh oh oh!! It was super simple. I will try to make another one and a proper tutorial. I basically sketched it out first - figured out the length of my two main panels and knew I wanted each to be five inches across when it was finished. Then I sketched out a pattern for the patchwork and used some wax paper to trace out a pattern for the nape.

But reading this now, I think it def. calls for a formal tutorial. I know Em was interested in getting a red/pink one for Pentacost, so maybe that will be a good chance to try one then. But really, just check out how they're made and play around. It didn't use much fabric at all. You could play with muslin if you were really worried. You can do it, lady!!

The Modern Gal said...

Love it!

But shouldn't you say The Rev. Emily?