Mending of various kinds

 Tuesday I took a bunch of jewelry that needed to be tended to to the jeweler.

The safety chain on the bracelet has broken. The bracelet is very dear to me- it was a thank you gift from my friend Vivian. We were both saying kaddish for our mother's during the same year. During that year Vivian asked me to teach her how to lead services. We met a couple of times and Vivian soon took on the role of leading services. Vivian gave me this bracelet that had belonged to her mother as a thank you gift. iThe bracelet reminds me of our friendship and out year of mourning together.

The knot-shaped pin was a gift from my youngest. The pin had broken off . The pin had also broken off of the round glass and silver pin next to the knot pin--also a gift from a dear friend of a lovely thing that had belonged to her mother.

The large pin with the deer was my mother's I am having a bail added so  I can wear the pin as a pendant. I had purchased the bird pin for my mother a long time ago. I found it in an antique store on Lexington Avenue.  My mother's Hebrew name is Zipporah, bird. The pin depicts a mama bird feeding three nestlings. My other wore it for several years. That pin too is getting a bail.

I found the linked flower bracelet in a thrift store. I bought it for a pittance--probably because one link was missing. As is, the bracelet is wearable but not exactly comfortable. Like a great deal of Mexican silver jewelry from the 1940s and 50s , the artisans who made this piece used to produce lots of units of  decorative bits...in this case the stylized flower that would be combined into to necklaces or rings or bracelets or earrings depending on how many flowersand other bits of silver were combined to make a piece of jewlery. 

I have been on the lookout for the earrings that matched the bracelet. I found a pair at an auction that were affordable. One of the earrings will complete the bracelet and the other will become a pendant. I had mentioned to the woman who inventoried my pieces and the repairs they needed that I felt very sentimental about these pieces. She responded, " All jewelry is sentimental, every bit of it." 

The work on my my plate is also all about mending. My friend Elizabeth brought me a tablecloth that had been made by her husband's grandmother as a hostess gift during an extended visit.

It's cross stich embroidery on linen. The stitches are a little large but beautifully tidy.

There are several areas that need to be mended. Below you see me basting a patch made out of a napkin to the back of the cloth.

There is a mix of large and small holes and worn spots that need to be tended to. 

A few weeks ago I got an email from a woman who used to make tallitot but has moved on. Six years ago she made a pieced silk shantung tallit for a client. Shantung is wonderful. It is relatively easy to sew and looks wonderful. Unfortunately, perspiration destroys silk. When a tallit is worn the wearer holds the corners during parts of the service. Unfortunately, usage broke the silk fibers near one corner. of the tallit.

Mayris, the tallit owner came by.  We both knew that we needed to create a fabric bandage to mend the rip on the reverse of the tallit.

You see the "bandage" in place above. 

I suggested that a bit of gold braid would work to both hide the damage and strengthen the tallit (as well as looking sharp). Mayris really liked the idea. 

Mayris felt that it was important to line the tallit to strengthen the structure. I agreed. I mentioned my personal quirk of not liking a blank reverse side of a tallit. We shopped online for fabrics. We both fell in love with some beautiful striped silks that were stupid expensive.  We both had enough self contril to not go down that rabbit hole.

Instead we searched the remnants at fabricguru.com and found several beautiful choices. We finally winnowed down our choices to two.

Above you see the tallit and the two lining choices.

Both looked wonderful. I loved the striped silk, however this tallit is the work on another artist. Mayris loves her tallit. I thought that as fabulous as the stripe was, it changed the nature of the original tallit too much. It's funny, the big bold brocade print ends up being the more subtle choice than the taupe stripe.

I shipped the taupe striped silk back to Alabama and got to work.

I basted the gold tape over the mend and the seam line.

The mended shred is under the gold tape just to the right of the black ribbon. After the tape was basted into place I stitched the tape to the tallit by machine. Then I unpicked the basting stitches.

This is what the edges of the tallit look line now.

My next task is lining the tallit.

Mending is a powerful way to extend the life of something you love---and is no longer functional. Sometimes those mends are transformative instead of looking like a sad fix.