A very traditional wedding gift

I had made this atara/tallit neckband about 15 years ago.

The grandson of the owner of this atara is now marrying my niece.  It is traditional for the bride’s family to buy the bridegroom a new tallit. My future nephew-in-law asked me to recreate this atara for him.

 

I was more than happy to oblige. The tallit that Eli chose is a pale blue waffle weave with darker blue and white stripes.  He’s a red head. Soft blues suit him.

 

My first task was creating the choshen/ the priestly breastplate.

I bought the mirror squares at my local least favorite store, Michael's. I glued the squares onto the silk which I had backed with fusible fleece.

My plan was to sew each mirror square onto the prepared silk using a different stitch pattern.

All in all it took about two work days  to get all of those squares done.

Eventually, I finished.

Now it’s time to construct the rest of the atara.