Crafts

A New “Thread”

Today I got a call from our wedding videographer that prompted me to re-publish something I have talked about in the past. I figure since this blog is so new, I may as well post this new thread: wedding crafts! Tom, our videographer, called and mentioned he was working with a bride-to-be who had seen our wedding website (seeing samples of his work) and apparently one of MY pieces struck her eye: our chuppah! She wanted to know where we got it as she was looking for something similar. Unfortunately, you can’t buy it in any store as I made it myself. So for all you newly engaged love-birds who are planning a Jewish wedding, here are a few sewing projects…and then some more for any type of wedding.

You can find more ideas on our wedding blog.

Here is our handmade chuppah, made of embroidered silk, duchess satin appliqué, antique lace and trim. The embroidered panels read, “Ani Ledodi V’Dodi Li,” meaning, “I am to my beloved as my beloved is to me.” This chuppah was designed by the bride with help from the groom, and crafted by hand by the bride herself. The florist helped put the finishing touches to it by adding grapevine, willow, berries and fall flowers. This chuppah is now a family heirloom that will be passed throughout our new family.

Why make it myself?

Well…good question. I didn’t really have anything sentimental like my father’s or grandfather’s tallis, or my grandmother’s old tablecloth. Additionally, I thought I would have a quilt made, like many brides do…but in essence I did want something unique that could be handed down to other brides in the family, that spoke of our personality and that wouldn’t cost me too much time or a fortune. As everyone knows, planning a wedding can take lots of time…or can be stressful. But this not a requirement for a happy marriage, right? Ron (my husband) and I agreed that our wedding should be a reflection of our love for each other and our families…not a crazy over-the-top party. With that in mind we picked the tasks we really cared about, like food (of course!) and some of the more symbolic things, like our ketubah (I almost made that too…but I was smart and decided not to dig that hole)…photography, music — stuff like that. As for the chuppah, I wanted something simple and not too expensive. With the power of having a sewing machine, I thought, “How hard could it POSSIBLY be to make your own chuppah? I’ll just go to the fabric store, pick out some gorgeous fabric, cut a big square, add some trim, and maybe 1 or 2 hours later, it will be DONE! One less task to take care of.”

My pattern?

The pattern, as I mentioned above was simple – I picked out some beautifully embroidered silk which was at the end of its bolt and had a small stain in the corner. So lucky me. It was on sale! Marked down twice! I took it home, laid it out on the floor of my sewing room, and snip-snip, I cut it into a square. Then I began measuring out the tassel trim for the edges. But not so fast! My husband Ron came into the room, took one look at it and said, “It’s too small!”

“What do you mean it’s too small?!” I exclaimed. “Two people can stand under here just fine!”
Ron replies, “You, me…the rabbi. Our parents?”
Argh! That’s when I had the sinking feeling I had just ruined a nice piece of silk. How do I make it bigger again? Eureka! Hanging from my sewing room door, I had kept an old 1920′s wedding gown I had bought for $10 at a thrift store (with a big nasty stain on the front). I had anticipated taking it apart one day and doing something special with it. Well, this was that moment. I can cut that up, make side panels, AND use the gorgeous lace trim from the train to act as the seam between the center silk square panel, and the side panels. Only thing is I need to make these panels interesting…I can’t just leave them white! So I designed the English and Hebrew lettering on my computer, printed it out, cut the letters out and pinned them to the panels as templates. I cut each letter out of more fabric I bought to match the center square panel. Pinned those to the side panels and used the appliqué stitch on my sewing machine to attach them to the white panels. Of course, this was the part that took the most time. Once the panels were finished, I attached them to the center panel using the old wedding lace. Then trimmed the whole chuppah with tassel. Viola we are done!Of course, we had to show it to our rabbi to make sure it was indeed big enough…turns out the only people who are required to stand under the chuppah are the bride and groom! Needless to say our chuppah was perfectly sized!

What is the chuppah doing NOW?

The last time the chuppah was out in public, my sister-in-law’s sister used it at her wedding. While not being passed around the family, it sadly sits inside a little silk pillowcase. I am just afraid if I hang it on a wall or something, it might stretch out or fade. I am really trying to preserve it for whoever wants to borrow it next. So our photos will have to do for now.

I hope I answered your questions – but let me know if you have any others, simply post a comment.

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A Touch of Glass

Now what did you expect? Me blog and not put at least ONE metalsmithing project into this entry? You know me better than that! So here is what I made for my bridesmaids.

I wanted to make one-of-a-kind handmade jewels for my bridesmaids and chuppah holders. So, while not illustrating in my Boston studio, I often metalsmith with silver, glass and gold. I made all of these pendants while at the Cambridge School for Adult Education in Harvard Square. I created each bridesmaid’s necklace using dried Queen Anne’s lace on a background of silk from my wedding gown (I asked my seamstress to save the scraps after she hemmed my dress).

Each piece was embedded in glass that was set with sterling silver bezel and strung to a necklace made of glass and crystal beading. Each chuppah holder was given a matching bracelet. I made a total of 6 – one for my 4 bridesmaids, 1 for our Best Ma’am, and one for me as a keepsake. Mine is the one of Ron and I having our first kiss as a husband and wife. I added the brass heart locket as an afterthought.

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And now for the Tallis I made for my husband…

…you know the one a bride is SUPPOSED to give to her new husband on their wedding day? Yeah…that project took me a little longer to complete (snickering), but I am proud to say that project is finished. Yes, Ron’s tallis is finished!

After many nights at the sewing machine, I finally finished Ron’s tallis and tallis bag ;) The Atarah took the most time–it’s all hand-embroidered. I wish I could have used my machine. But it’s all done and now Ron is ready to pray in style! The inside of the tallis bag is made of leftover silk from our chuppah, but the rest of the tallis is linen, silk and satin I specially picked out for Ron.

Of course now that this project is done, I am thinking I should make a nice Chuppah bag to keep our Chuppah nicely stored. I am now working on several quilt squares and a book for my mom. I am hoping to publish the book this summer. I’ll also try to continue with more posts on the metalsmithing i’ll be working on this year.

What I see as the importance of Jewish art in every day life:

One of the most obvious pieces of art one might see on a daily basis is a Ketubah – it reminds us of love, family, commitment, and building a Jewish home together. Our ketubah has a beautiful brocade pattern that is colorful and just mesmerizing to look at – I could stare at it all day and see something new I didn’t see before…just like marriage I suppose – we learn and grow from each other on a daily basis. Sometimes more obvious, sometimes ever so slightly. I think Jewish art has a rich tradition of symbolism and can be as unique as the person that owns the art. There is so much you can create that expresses who you are as a Jewish person. I also make jewelry, and lately have been incorporating Jewish symbolism in my work – I am making a jeweled Hamsa that also incorporates an illustration of birds and flowers – I love nature and science, so if I can combine those things into my non-medical art, I will!

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Our Wedding Program:

Ok, so enough Jewish art…let’s talk about other things you can craft for weddings – Here’s a fun project if you are looking to make some classy yet affordable wedding programs for your wedding. Here is what you will need to make wedding programs like this:

• Cream-colored legal size copy paper (1 ream = 500 sheets)
• DMC floss in two colors (light pink and chocolate brown)
• Pads of 11″x17″ 50 ct. Vellum (makes 100 programs)
• Paper Source “half moon” enclosures (we used Luxe Blush)
• Watercolor paper or Luxe cream paper (for sashes and for monograms)
• Cream-colored satin ribbon
• 2 monogram rubber stamps (bride and groom’s initials)
• Ink pad (we used chocolate brown)
• Double sided tape
• Small hole punch
• Laser printer/computer/design software

You will simply need to print your programs on the copier paper lengthwise, 2 per page. In other words, if you cut the paper in half the long way, you will have 2 program pages, each approximately 5″ x 14″ that you can fold in half to booklet size. The final booklet size will therefore be 5″ x 7″. You can also print your title page on the vellum for a soft effect. Once all of your bookelts are printed and folded, bind each booklet with the DMC floss.

Next you will need the program holders: For this we used the Paper Source’s blush luxe half moon enclosures with watercolor paper or luxe cream cover stock wrapped around the middle. This is secured with double sided tape. For quick results I recommend the 3M kind that comes in a dispenser. The mongrams were stamped on cream cover stock as well using a monogram rubber stamp for each of our last names and chocolate brown ink. Holes were punched in the corners of the mongrams and tied around the whole program. Slide the booklets into the folios and there you have it!

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Chocolate boxes, etc.!

Here is a perfect recipe for place card holders: Chocolate boxes!! This allowed us to make a wedding favor, place card, and food-choice indicator all in one:

We used nice little white boxes I got out of one of my jewelry supply catalogs (100 of them for about $24), we filled them with chocolate coins (for good luck wishes) and then tied them shut with smart li’l black bows. To each box we tied the person’s name using none other than the luxe papers from Paper Source – and each tag was color coded:

• Pink for salmon
• Checkered blue for chicken
• Sage green for vegetarian

Hope this helps you if you are looking for place card ideas.

The Dolly Llama?

Yes, the rumors are true. The Dolly Llama was, in fact, the official ring bearer at the Fairman-Schmelzer wedding. Dressed in his finest garb, he proudly wore each of the gold bands on his two ears, bedecked with a beautiful peach silk ribbon. His holiness the Dolly Llama rode in, high on the shoulder of the Best Ma’am, Wilson Farrar. The groom gave “Wilkie” a Llama Dolly because she was to visit the Dalai Lama the week after our wedding. Thankfully, she was not harmed in the earthquake that occurred that week!

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These are but a few of the many little things we hand-crafted for our wedding guests. For more ideas, like monogramming ideas, collage ideas, our “wedding tree”, or wedding favor CDs, you can take a look at our wedding blog. Feel free to leave comments, and enjoy!

© 2009 Willow Street Creative.