Svinda has received her stoles

I think she looks pretty happy!

This is the stole she'll be wearing on her ordination day at the end of May.

Svinda's Ordination Stole is Finished!

These are the jazzy ties I selected to use for the piping. I have found that wildly patterned ties with contrasting colours look their best as piping around the edges.

A jumble of completed piping, ready to attach to the stole edges.

The finished stole for Svinda's ordination into the United Church of Canada on Pentecost.

The back of the stole. The flames were created with layers of yellow and red organza on top of gold and copper metallic fabric, and then stitched with red and gold embroidery threads. I'm really pleased with that striped piping!

A closer look at the lower finished edges.

I'm not quite ready to release these to Canada Post just yet--I'm taking them with me to Vancouver to use as visual aids for my talk to the Vancouver Guild of Fibre Arts May 12th. So, I get to live with them for just a bit longer!

The Red Pentecost Stole continued...

The piecing completed and the first rough cut made.


The stole is being cut out.

I incorporated a third bird from the Chinese embroidery on the upper left shoulder.

The Centre Back seam is stitched and the stole is on the mannequin.

Close-up of the lower left half.

To come:

(1) Piping--there are a couple of wonderful red and gold striped ties to use.

(2) Svinda has requested a flame at centre back. Paulette has suggested that some of the blue embroidered swirls could be incorporated as an edging...Interesting idea and one that was originally suggested by the donor! This has potential, but I haven't worked out the technical process yet.

(3) Lining--cut out and ready to go.

Starting Svinda's Red Stole for Pentecost & Ordination

Here's a reminder of the collection of reds that Svinda's friends and family have provided. Note the Chinese embroidery in the upper right.


I've cut a bird out of the corner, and have covered it with some tulle to protect it. The embroidery is predominantly satin stitch with some long threads--the tulle (netting) protects it from being snagged.

I've incorporated this bird into the curved piecing.

And did the same with a second bird from the upper right hand corner of the embroidery.

Here's the piecing I've done so far today.

All-in-all, a good day's work!

Svinda's Stole for Ordinary Times is Finished!

I've just completed Svinda's green stole. A time of intense creativity has come to a close, and I'm going to take a break tomorrow before starting the red stole on Wednesday.


The back detail: I went to bed last night thinking that I would be making these circles out of turned bias strips (like spaghetti straps). I woke up with another idea...I remembered that I have a handy Clover gadget for making fusible bias tape. Within 30 minutes I had cut bias strips from one of the ties and had adhered the fusible. Casting around my studio for a template, I came across a CD--the perfect size! And not only that, it is sturdy enough to press against, forming perfect circles.




I tucked the ends into the centre back seam...

...and used some leftover bits to form the cross.

Then I converted one tie--a beautiful silk tie with "Peace" written on it in a few different languages such as "Shalom" and "Pax"--into piping. There is never quite enough fabric in one tie to make sufficient piping for the entire stole so I used part of a scarf as well.

I outlined the cross in a heavy gold metallic thread to make it stand out a bit more.

A detail view of one of the trees and the finished piping.

So, what will I do tomorrow...hmmmm....maybe I'll go on dandelion patrol. It has been my job for many years to dig up dandelions at this time of year. And I've offered to sew my neighbour a skirt, and maybe I'll do some mending... These activities definitely don't have the intensity of stole-making!

Progress on Svinda's Green Stole

I started the piecing at the lower edge using strips cut from the deep green ties and scarves. I then split the fabric into the two halves in preparation for inserting the first tree.


One of the tree motifs from a tie has been framed in a log cabin-type of piecing and added to one half.

I joined the two halves again to proceed with the horizontal piecing, this time using mainly the yellow-greens in the collection.

I finished the piecing this morning, having inserted a couple more trees. Here the two halves are pinned to the design wall in my studio.

The next step was to lay the two halves down on my cutting table and use the pattern to trim to the desired dimensions.

And finally, I've stitched the centre back seam and put the stole on my mannequin. The edges are serged.

And the back view.

To come:

(1) piping made from some of the ties and scarves

(2) back detail: three concentric circles with a cross in the intersection. I think I'll probably do this with cording covered with one of the ties.

(3) lining.

And now to join Lloyd in the garden! It's a beautiful spring day here in the Okanagan, and my job is to sweep and mop the front porch in preparation for setting up our outdoor living room. For those readers who know Lloyd, he's already taken his first outdoor shower...

Refining the Design for Svinda's Green Stole

These are the green materials (ties and scarves) that Svinda collected from her congregation, friends and family. There is a nice range of blue-green, green and yellow-green for me to work with. The tie along the top is something that I think I might be able to work in as a motif, hence the following designs...


Svinda has also asked for the blue-greens to be uppermost because she says as a fair-skinned person yellow green makes her look jaundiced--I can relate to that too...

Close-up of the tree tie.