A New Batch is Done

That is, of challah covers.

The text of this one is Seudata D’malka, the royal feast. It comes from an aramaic formula that is recited before birkat hamazon. This text is not recited in my community but it is recited in some communities. regardless, it’s a nice idea for a challah cover.

The crown was first painted onto the Ultrasuede and then further embellished with a mix of hand and machine stitching. The lettering was painted by hand.

On paper I think that none of these fabric ought to go together. In reality though, they all play nicely. The fabrics are, from the center working out, an upholstery weight Ultrasuede, rayon, cotton and metallic checkerboard ribbon, an assortment of striped tie silks in oranges and yellows and a mystery fabric satin that I block printed with a crown motif . I bound the cover with a vintage black velvet ribbon which is attached with a blue metallic thread sewn in an arrowhead pattern.

On paper, it sounds crazy. But in real life, it is harmonious .

Many years ago when we painted out apartment I told my parents on the phone the colors I had planned to use, deep red, pumpkin yellow, periwinkle blue, Wedgewood blue and electric blue.

When they came to visitafter the apartment was painted, my mother remarked that when she heard the description of the colors she thought that my apartment would look “ cuckoo”. Instead, in real life she found the range of colors to be quite delightful.

This is the second iteration of the same theme. The center panel is a mystery satin in black. The crown began as a simple painted outline and then was duded up with couched gold Lurex yarn, hand applied sequins and beads, hand and machine embroidery.

The red border is linen and I painted the arabesques in gold.

The orange border is two layers of sheer cross dyed silk organza. The inner lining is a semi sheer ecru poly crepe. The poly was a nasty fabric on it’s own but it does magical things to the orange silk.

The cover is bound with a black grosgrain and the black velvet ribbon. I used a gold thread in a scallop stitch to finish the piece.

The third challah cover in this batch is this one. The text is that of the Friday night kiddush. The text is calligraphed in red onto jacquard woven linen.

The border is a rusty brown silk shantung.

All of the surfaces have been further embellished with hand painting. The challah cover is bound with a bronze metallic ribbon stitched with a scallop stitch. Gold Lurex yarn has been stitched along the seam lines.

There is a lot going on but it is a quiet piece.

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sarah in nyc

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