Steps forward and back

Isabel’s tallit is complete. We just have to schedule the tzitzit tying.

I am pretty delighted with this piece.

 

The atara came out exactly as I had hoped. You can see much of it before it was sewn onto the tallit

And here it is on the tallit.

 

I could not be more pleased.

I did more work on Yoni’s tallit.I found a spool of army green thread and realized that rows of machine embroidery in the army green would be perfect.

Things were going so well that I decided to add a decorative stitch to the edge of the  rock stripes.

I forgot how the stitching will stiffen up the edge of the stripe in a really unpleasant way. I had of course chosen a stitch that was fairly dense.

 

I had a crazy amount of unpicking to do.

Unpicking stitches is probably one of my least favorite activities. I would rather clean toilets. If there were a way to NOT unpick the stitching, I would have done it.

Eventually, after several episodes of crappy reality TV streaming on the computer monitor as I pick pick picked away, the task was completed.

I think that a slight change in tactics might help me in the next series of tasks I need to do on this tallit.

I think that rather than placing the rock stripes, I will complete the atara, sew that into place and then go back to the rock stripes.

 

When I realized that I had messed up the rock stripes with the too stiff stitching, I rewarded myself by recovering one of my couch cushions.

Reminding myself that I am not a complete failure  at sewing helps me to get an unpleasant task done.

 

The fabric was a remnant purchased from the basement of ABC carpet and home about ten years ago.  The nice thing about having made a decision to cover my couches in mixed prints is that as elements get worn out they can be replaced. I have a selection of upholstery fabrics in my stash in fabrics that work together.

I am now ready to get back to Yoni’s tallit.