A Deacon Stole is Taking Shape

I am thrilled to be back in my studio creating a Deacon stole for Lent.
At the end of November I was contacted by Jann Brooks, asking if I made Deacon stoles. Here is her inquiry in part:

"Hi Janet!  I saw your work on line and had tears in my eyes I loved it so much!

I am to be ordained a Permanent Deacon into the Anglican Church of Canada (Diocese of Niagara) on Jan. 29.  I too love fibre--I love to spin my own yarn from fleece and then MUST spend at least an hour knitting per day or I get the shakes!"

In a subsequent email, Jann told me a little more about herself, namely that her ministry is to The Mission to Seafarers in Southern Ontario, and she is Chaplain to the port of Hamilton.  She goes onto the big ships in the harbour, and that her work clothes include a pink hard hat and pink work boots! 

So, we're off to a good start.   Not only do I get to work in my favourite colours (purples) but I am creating this for a fellow fibre enthusiast.

I pulled out my purple boxes...

And selected some likely candidates...

The ties at upper right are potential piping materials.

Then created a couple of designs...

Jann chose the more dramatic version on the right.  I started work yesterday, cutting the strips in preparation for piecing...

Then started piecing....

Today, I finished the piecing, and will soon trim the edges, and sew the shoulder seam.

A Surprise Stole for Rev. Joe

Early this spring I received an inquiry...
"Our current pastor will be leaving our church in mid June and I am hoping you might have time to create a stole for him out of ties.. we would most likely use a theme of mountains and water, since we have beauty in both in our part of WV." 
In her next message, the writer went on to elaborate... 
"Rev. Joe is being relocated. I think I initially said retiring. (Crazy woman moment) this is a surprise for sure. There are others involved with this project, but we have perused your site and blogs. We can easily get photos of area along with secret stole template created. We may be methodists, but we are really good at having surprises. So far most folks that know of this possible project like the tie idea."  

That's why I wasn't able to post about creating this stole during the month of May. The stole has now been presented, and here's the story of its creation:

A couple of packages of ties arrived in the mail at the beginning of May.  Meanwhile I had googled "West Virginia landscape" and found several photos to stimulate some ideas.  In this image, you can see some of the photos, my sketches, and the neckties.

In this image, the ties have been cut into strips and laid out in the order I expected to use them--pale blue for the sky, grey blue for the distant mountains, deeper blues and greens for the hills in the mid-ground, and brown for the rocks in the foreground.

The completed piecing--I managed to incorporate a little "water" in the foreground.  The softly rounded mountains and hills of West Virginia lend themselves well to my technique of bias-strip piecing.

Once the piecing was done, I cut out the stole and prepared the piping from a couple of highly patterned ties.  In the next images, my husband is modelling the stole once the piping was applied (and before the lining.)

Back view

Front detail--you can see the paisley tie that I used for the piping.

Full view of the stole in progress.

The completed stole

Lower left detail view--there was a lovely "fish" tie sent to me, and I was delighted to incorporate the fish eye into the "rock" piecing!

Back view--finished.

Lining.  The commissioners requested the words to the song "My home among the hills" on the label.  If you google this song title, you will find a Youtube video with beautiful photos of the West Virginia countryside.
I created the lining fabric years ago using cedar branches on top of green cotton broadcloth and spraying with bleach.  The small piece of "tree" fabric on the right was sent along with the ties and I was happy to incorporate it into the lining.

The stole was presented on June 15th, and here's the happy recipient!

 

Joy's Stole is Finished

Another wonderful project comes to an end.  This stole has been particularly satisfying because of the good materials.  I didn't have to improvise or delve into my stash.  Herewith the finished stole--ready to ship to Oregon....

The completed stole

Back view

Lower detail

Upper detail

Lining--I added some pockets made from the tips of three of the ties.

This was the tip from a particularly special tie.

My custom label at the centre back.

May Joy have as much pleasure wearing this stole as I had creating it!

Scott's New Stole

It's always a relief to hear that a stole has been safely delivered, and a thrill to hear what the response has been.  I received this picture of Scott in his new stole with the following comments:  

"Our congregation was thrilled!! Scott loved it and says he will cherish it".

A Tree of Life Takes Shape

Both halves of the stole have been on and off my design wall for  the past week.  Yesterday I finally felt ready to start stitching the "stems" and "leaves".  Here's a view of the stole with leaves and stems stitched down on the left side.

A view of both halves of the stole on my design wall.

One of the light green cotton fabrics used for the background had ladybugs on it.  I was able to place one of these insects so that it's just peeking out from under a leaf!

Once most of the stems and leaves were stitched down, I  trimmed the two halves with a half inch seam allowance all round and then sewed the centre back seam.

  In this image the edges have been serged and the stole is on my mannequin.

Here's a detail view of a couple of the leaves:

Slow and Steady Progress...

This is the first time that I've attempted a Tree of Life motif and so I'm taking it slow and steady...I work for a few hours, then take a break, sometimes a day or more, before getting back to it.  I leave the work on my design wall so that I see it all the time--I make little changes or notes of ideas to consider.

A few days ago, I stitched the "tree trunk" using a selection of browns--solids, patterned and striped.  This morning I added the "water" below.

This is all bias-strip pieced.

My next task is to attach the stems and leaves.  I've made a pile of cording from a couple of the brown striped ties, and MANY leaves in various greens--dull, dark and bright greens.  I have managed to use a bit of every tie that was sent to me.

The "stems" have been pinned on, and I'll play with the placement over
 the next few days before committing to sewing.

Next to be pinned were the "leaves"--here's the current arrangement which will likely change:

This is a useful exercise--I've discovered that some leaves are too big.

I've learned not to ignore the "wrong" side of a fabric.  A quilting buddy of mine once said, "I've paid for both sides--I should use both sides!"  Sometimes a neck tie that is too bold or bright is better on the reverse side for the project.  This is true of these two ties:

The stripes are less obvious on the reverse side.

Starting a New Stole

This stole has been commissioned by a congregation as a gift for a departing pastor.  It has to be green for Ordinary Times, and a Tree of Life motif was requested.  The narrow width of a stole (about 5 1/2 inches) does not allow much room for such a large motif--it was my husband Lloyd who suggested using the negative space in between the two lengths as the trunk of the tree.  I think that was a pretty good idea!

Designs #1and #2

 I sent this image to the client a few days ago and she indicated that she liked the motif in #1 and the water in #2.

A wonderful array of materials--neckties and cotton fabrics--was collected by the congregation.

Design #3 combines the tree of #1 and the water in #2.
I've also stitched some sample leaf and stem shapes.  

 I think I'll be making a lot of cording for stems and faced shapes for the leaves!  These will be appliquéd onto the background.

I plan to piece a light green background out of these fabrics:

"Water" on the left and background materials on the right.

Materials for leaves, stems and trunk

Bob's Ordination Day

What a happy and delighted guy!


The Abrams family on Bob's ordination day, September 17, 2011.

Back View

Suits him, don't you think?

I love getting pictures of my stoles being worn. They look so much better than on my dressmaker dummy!

A Picture of Kimiko at her Graduation, May 2011

I was thrilled to open an e-mail from Kimiko this afternoon. Attached was this picture:

And this message from Kimiko:

Hello Janet
I've been holding off to see if I could get a good photo from my graduation with the stole. There isn't really anything that truly shows it off. In the attached photo I am wearing the stole. This is just after the graduation ceremony. This is me with my mom and her sisters who all came to be part of the celebration of ministry ceremony.

The stole really is beautiful. I have had many people ask about it and they are always intrigued at the history from which it is made. I have also pinned my dad's mother's deaconess school pin to it so that she is also part of it.

I have it hanging on the wall of my office when I'm not wearing it. It also looks lovely hanging. I will try to get a photo of me wearing it to send to you so you can add it to your blog. Of course you may post the attached photo if you like.

many blessings
Kimiko

Piping and finishing

I love to use striped ties as piping. Striped ties are obviously neckties and difficult to use in the main body of the garment--they scream "This stole is made from ties!" I prefer my work to be more subtle in that you have to get up very close before it's obvious that the stole is made from ties. In piping however, striped ties shine. These are the striped ties that came in this collection:

And the jumble of piping I created from the three ties:

Piping is a lovely way to finish the edges.

Once I applied the piping, all that was left was to stitch the lining and presto, the stole is finished!

Back view:

The Designing continues

My client commented that the first sketches are beautiful, making her think of a specific stained glass window that is particularly meaningful for the family.
She wondered if a radiating pattern like this stained glass were possible -- those sun bursts that start yellow and gradually fade to red. So, I have created another couple of sketches...


This will be a bit of a departure from my usual linear swirls but I'm looking forward to the technical challenges!
Meanwhile my husband took the ties apart while watching TV and I washed them yesterday...

After a couple of rinses, I spun them in my salad spinner, and then pressed them while damp and leave them hang to dry.

So, today will be spent cutting and stitching!