Future Projects Design Time

After a weekend of cleaning and organizing all of the pattern ideas and printouts for Ecclesiastical Sewing and Ecclesiastical Embroidery Designs, it was time to start working on some new Ecclesiastical embroidery patterns.  The first design getting under way is an IHS Ecclesiastical Embroidery Design.    IHS is a symbol for the name of Jesus.  It has an ancient history and use in the Church. A variation of the symbol that is often seen is IHC.

The IHS Ecclesiastical Embroidery Design will be used on the Rose Set of Vestments.  The Rose Vestments and altar hangings are used two times during the church year.  The first use is on Gaudete Sunday which is the third Sunday in Advent. The second use of Rose Vestments is on Laetare Sunday, the fourth Sunday in Lent.

The IHS Ecclesiastical Embroidery Design must be rather on the simple and elegant side.  And, as luck would have it, there is a design that I like that is very simple and elegant.  It will be worked on a background of silk stitched in place over linen.  When completed, the design will be pounced on to a colored silk, and stitched with goldwork threads.

The design for this is a photo copy that does not need much in the way of work. There were a few design lines missing on the pattern, but that was soon fixed.  The lettering style on this design is rather flowing with some curls and little flourishes.  The IHS Embroidery design is in the foreground  with a cross in the background.  Surrounding the IHS and cross is a variation of quatrefoil design framing the letters.

After enlarging the Ecclesiastical Embroidery pattern to about 14″ in size for use on an altar frontal, it was time to start transferring the design to paper. The paper must be a proper weight when using the prick and pounce method to transfer the Ecclesiastical pattern onto the fabric.  I use a home-made pricker made out of a piece of cork and a size 10 needle.  There are fancy hand embroidery prickers available for purchase, but the homemade versions works well for now.

Now one has to admit that pattern making can go one of two ways. It can be a great deal of fun, or it can become tedious.  It is a process that I enjoy most of the time, and there are certain times, when I’m in the right mood, and I love this part of the process in Ecclesiastical Sewing and Ecclesiastical Embroidery.

So this is the project for now as far as the IHS Ecclesiastical Embroidery Design goes.  There is another part in planning the design, how and on what it will be sewn on, and the colors. That part also happened, and decisions are made.  I look forward to sharing those thoughts with you soon. I can tell you this. The background on this design will include some silk fabrics  The next part it getting silks ordered for the background and stitching.  I’ll share more about the silks and the reason for their selection soon.  I will also share photos of the beautiful Ecclesiastical Fabric which is a tapestry that will be used for the orphrey bands.  Now it is back to pattern work and the making up of a few more designs.  Happy stitching!

Solo Dei Gloria

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