Advent Star Stitching Underway

A new project is being attempted here on Ecclesiastical Sewing.

It will be a new Advent Altar Frontal, Chalice Veil, and Pulpit Fall. The Altar Frontal will have a large Star surrounded by four smaller stars. The framing on the Ecclesiastical Embroidery Design for the Advent Altar Frontal went very quickly!  I promise to fill in the details of the framing up on this new Ecclesiastical Sewing Project, but let’s get to the fun part – stitching with new Silver Metallic Threads and hand embroidery.

The Silver Metallic Threads being considered for the Advent Star Altar Frontal are very lovely. Unfortunately, there is a teeny, tiny problem.  The Silver threads are – for the most part – teeny tiny!  Most often, I use the Goldwork Metallic Threads which come in a large range of sizes. The available sizes for the Silver Threads are more limited in comparison. Perhaps in other places, there is a wider range of sizes available in the Silver Metallic Threads.

When the twinkle and glimmer of this starry project started taking root a few weeks back, an order was place with several of my favorite needlework vendors which include Hedgehog Handworks, and Tanja Berlin, and a variety of Silver Threads soon arrived.

The  above photo shows No. 5 Smooth Passing Silver Plated Thread, which was the starting point for stitching the Large Advent Star. Two strands of  the No. 5 Smooth Passing Thread were laid side by side and couched in place. The two couched Smooth Passing Threads are about the size of a single strand of Imitation Japanese Gold Thread in size No. 8.  Although very lovely and delicate, the two strands of Silver Smooth Passing  will take forever to stitch in place.  This will never do…………  This has to be a “fast” project to hit the deadline for the first Sunday in Advent.

Thinking through options, the Smooth Passing Thread can be the base outline for the Star Embroidery Design, and have additional Metallic Threads such as the Silver Twists in Sizes Super, Size 1, Size 1 1/2, and Size 3 added on either side. The Twists will add some textural variations and dimension as well as width.

Check Thread, which has a crinkled or crimped appearance, is a lovely Metallic to work with, and it looks beautiful when couched in pairs. The No. 7 Check Thread is about the same size as the Smooth Passing, so we shall have to see if this will work its way into the Advent Star Ecclesiastical Embroidery Design. Check Thread is also available in a size 5, which would need to be ordered.  One additional thread to be considered is Rococo, which is available in Silver, but this, too, needs to be ordered.

The plan is to outline the Advent Star with a border using a variety of Silver Metallic Threads, but nothing will be filled in completely. By using a variety of Silver Metallic threads, the light will play off the stitching, creating that lovely sense of shimmer and shine.

During Advent, we have evening midweek services, so the shimmer in dim evening light is a desired effect. The idea for outlining the Advent Star Embroidery comes from a beautiful Russian Ecclesiastical Embroidery piece featured on a favorite Russian Blog. The design, a delicate stylized Russian Cross Motif, appears to be hand embroidered with Silver Twist and Pearl purl combined to make the outline of the shape. The cross centers are filled in with white pearls in a variety of sizes. The Star Motif for Advent will not have use any white pearls, but perhaps a few spangles might work their way into the final design.

It’s back to work with more planning and stitching, and perhaps another quick order of Silver Twist Threads that are not quite so teeny-tiny.

Solo Dei Gloria

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