Problem Solving

I’m working away on Tess’s tallit.  I decided to get to work on her tallit bag. I made Tess’s sister’s tallit a few years ago. her tallit bag was made out of an upholstery weight olive green velvet. The bag was embellished  with vintage lace that had belonged to a relative.  We thought that it would be nice to use some of the other vintage laces in the family treasure trove. A couple of weeks ago, Tess's mom sent me a bag of old lace.

It was lovely stuff. Unfortunately, much of it was too fragile to use on the outside of a tallit bag. It seemed like an invitation for destruction of the old and fragile textiles. there was one hardy piece of corded lace pictured here. I suppose I could ask Tess’s mom to go through the lace she inherited and ask her to find some sturdier lace. I suppose I also could have gone into my own stash of old textiles and found something that would work.


I have been doing lots of stenciling for the bein gavra. I have stencils on the brain. I decided to photocopy the lace with a back background to better show off the design. A black napkin did the trick for me here, creating a nice black background.

Then I began to cut away the lace design with my trusty X-acto knife. No, I didn’t cut out the entire design. I’m not THAT crazy.

I then pulled out my trusty Shiva paint stick and stenciled away.


I’m happy with the look. I plan to applique the corded lace to the center of the front panel. I haven’t quite decided on my technique, but will keep you posted.

I did sweep my floor. it looked like a snowstorn had hit my kitchen.