Measure Twice, Cut Once

Measure twice, cut once. That's a tried and true saying, but what if you don't measure at all? It would have helped me if I had measured the Torahs for the high holiday total covers that I wrote about previously. 

But who would have thought to measure? Aren't they all the same? I've made a bunch so far, all the same length. 

I was surprised when I received a call from our synagogue 2 weeks ago. One of the Torah covers is too short. Really?? How could that be? I am used to screwing up, but I couldn't figure out what I had done wrong. A friend of mine suggested I sew some jumbo Rick rack along the bottom. Not a look that I would like. So, I headed over to check out my shortcomings - oops, the cover's shortcomings. It wasn't an inch or so too short, that could be remedied with Rick rack. Ha!  It wasn't 2 " too short. IT WAS 4 INCHES TOO SHORT! I wish I had taken a photo, but I thought it would be inappropriate, especially in front of the Rabbi.  It was like high water pants, but on the Torah. I wanted to laugh, but at the same time I was appalled by my mistake. Measure twice .....even if I had measured once, I would not be in this predicament. 

For those who may not have read my initial post, this is one of the covers that I delivered at the end of October. I have a unique way to create the cover that involves wrapping the cover onto a wooden top and attaching it with Velcro. It makes the cover easy to remove, store and clean. It's like a wrap around skirt. 

Deciding how to add 4 inches to the cover without it looking like I had added on 4 inches was my challenge, especially since this was one of 4 companion High Holiday Torah covers. I knew adding onto the bottom was not the solution. It would always remind me of my faux pas. 

Surgery was my only design solution. I sliced it right through the gold and white silk. 

I had to unstitch the side binding before I cut it, so that's the fabric that is hanging off the side. I would have to extend that too. 

So what was I going to do to add 4" to this cover? The cover is definitely contemporary and I thought something traditional would be a good counterpoint. The curves of a vine and appliqués leaves would integrate the top half with the bottom. For some reason, and I usually don't know where my ideas come from, I felt compelled to hand stitch the vine. It was meditative. 

I found another use for Curvalicious - to draw the vine!

It was perfect. 

I drew right on the silk with a Frixion pen. 

I used gold metallic DMC floss for the stitching. 

Then I added the silk leaves. 

And voila! The finished cover. 

I'm happy with the result and this cover will definitely blend nicely with the others, even though it's 4" longer. We all know the moral of this story. 

The Frixion pen was instrumental for this reconstruction. 

The marks disappear when ironed. It's just amazing. You can purchase these ones at Staples or your local quilt shop. 

And now that Yom Kippur is upon us, I'd like to wish all my Jewish readers, L'Shana Tova and have a sweet, healthy and happy New Year.