work work work

When you last had tuned in to the adventures of Benjy's Torah Mantle I had just started stitching the outlines of the letters.

After that task was completed I had to carefully pull away the fabric that had the lettering all laid out.

It's a messy job that is accomplished using a pair of tweezers and a blunt needle to loosen the warp and weft threads and then pull them away. It's a boring job---but someone needed to do it.

It is also a messy job. I ended up tracking wads of thread all through the apartment.

After that task was completed it was time to carefully cut away all of the excess turquoise block printed fabric.

Eventually, the task was completed.

The letters are exactly where I want them and are ready to be edged.

You might ask if there is a different way to complete this task. Actually, there are many. My friend Susie Kessler who made Judaica in fabric from the 70s to the 90s used to back fabric with iron-on glue-web, cut out the letters, iron them into place, and then zigzag stitch around the letters.

I had tried that method a couple of times but it just didn't work for me. My letters flopped all over the place and looked all wobbly and distorted. I could choose to outline the letters by sewing machine. I have found with relatively small letters, it's a tricky task. Given that this is velvet that isn't good at hiding undone sewing machine stitching, working by hand seemed the prudent thing to do.

I spent quite a bit of time experimenting with different thread combinations to achieve the color that I wanted.

I finally hit on the right combination of a thread of silver with a thread of bronze.

Bit by bit the task will get completed.

Yesterday my husband and I went for a walk in Central Park with a friend. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see this little stand of marsh grasses.