December 14, 2008

White on White Tallis

A long time friend commissioned me to applique some white doves and leaves on a white silk tallis. Heidi is doing a lot of white on white hand embroidery. I hope you can see the dove in this photo, it was very difficult to photograph. There are 10 doves in all, 5 on each side panel.It is very understated and elegant. Her son will be using the tallis at his wedding instead of a chuppa. Sounds like it's going to be a very grand affair at the San Ysidro Ranch in Montecito. There is a very good chance that this wedding will be highly publicized.
Here's a little experiment I tried with a 1" styrofoam ball. I felted wool roving to the styrofoam. Little by little, the styrofoam seemed to disappear, leaving a felted ball in its place. I flattened one of the balls into a button shape and punched two holes through it. This is a lot of fun, I can see myself making enough felted beads for a necklace.
You could feel a storm approaching this afternoon, the temperature started to drop and the clouds were rolling in quickly. It made me want to cook a large pot of chicken soup, so I pulled out carrots and look at what I found!