An Old Gift

I am making a tallit for Yaara. Yaara’s grandmother died just a few months ago.  Yaara and her grandmother were close ( they lived in the same building).  That death is leaving a real hole in the upcoming event.

When we met to design Yaara’s tallit her mother mentioned that when Yaara’s grandmother turned twelve her relatives from Romania sent an embroidered blouse as a gift.  We initially thought that it might be nice to incorporate that blouse into  the tallit.

Matt, Yaara’s father was reluctant to do anything that might permanently alter the blouse. As it turns out, the colors won’t work with the colors we chose for the tallit. I think that I can copy the design motif onto the pinot/corner pieces.

 

Here is the blouse.

It’s made out of a even weave linen gauze.

 

The design was probably counted off  rather than being drawn on the fabric.  I have seen this sort of work done in cross stich before, but never in these loosely formed straight stiches.

 

I like how the mix of colors creates a real sense of movement on the piece.

The blouse is entirely hand sewn. Actually more accurately embroidery stitches hold the piece together.

 

Even the hem is embroidered.

The construction is typical peasant garment,  made of all rectangles a narrow  central panel with rectangular sleeves. The narrow bodice panel is widened with two panels under the arm. This sort of a construction is economical in terms of fabric usage. you can construct a garment like this with zero fabric waste.

 

I will adapt the embroidery design for the pinot. by incorporating the look of the blouse I hope that I will include this special memory of Yaara’s grandmother in Yaara’s tallit.