Keeping memory alive

There are some pieces that I make and then I never see again. Hilary's tallit is a piece that I suspect that I will have a long relationship with. Hilary came to me after she had experienced a series of deaths in her family. The tallit that I made for Hilary is made out of her late father in law's white silk opera scarf, a red silk scarf that Hilary had given to her mother before she had died and part of the tallit that had belonged to her great grandfather. This tallit was part of Hilary's emerging from the land of sickness and death and carrying the memory of people she loved with her.

The silk tallit was fragile. When I made the tallit we discussed that it may very well disintegrate. In 2018,

I encased the most damaged bits in tulle. I used a combination of hand and machine mending to do my best to keep the tallit intact.

A few weeks ago Hilary got in touch with me. Some of the fringe was torn off by a chair.

The damage looked drastic.

Once the tallit was in my hands I noticed other areas of silk breakage. I was, to tell the truth, a bit terrified of tackling the fringe so I began working on the other bits of wear and damage.

I purchased three spools of silk thread in various shades of ivory, only two have arrived so far.

Usually one mends by using a running or straight stitch. I decided mend the tallit using a chain stitch instead, so I could not only cover the holes but also add an additional layer of silk over the weakened segments of the tallit. This photo is several times bigger than the actual area of the tallit.My stitches are teeny and the silk thread is about the thickness of a hair. Silk is a really strong fiber.

I have been addressing one broken bit of the tallit after another.

Yesterday, I decided to tackle the torn fringe. First I sutured the broken off fringe into place.

For insurance purposes I cross stitched over the seam.

The fringe is now secure.

I can now go back to the slower job of mending all of the weak spots in the more than century old tallit.

I have been so touched to see the wear caused by Hilary's use of this tallit.

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sarah in nyc

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