Reversible altar cloth for retreats, home churches, small groups & more

I am fairly often looking for ways to easily make a space feel holy, or to engage people in tactile ways of praying for the world. I designed a fabric for sewing into a round tablecloth/altar cloth for use in retreats, small groups, home prayer or house churches or whatever. I designed it with an image of planet earth on one side, and the pattern of the Chartres labyrinth on the other--it ends up as a circle approximately 28" in diameter. In the space leftover in the fabric, I also included two pieces that can be sewn into a small table runner or antependium, with a reversible green or white Celtic cross design. (This piece is about 7.5" x 27", depending on your seam allowances...)

I imagine you could use these in a multitude of interactive ways--pinning prayers onto the earth, tracing the labyrinth with your finger, touching and holding and adding to them. Or, you could simply use them as an image for visual focus. 

I designed them to fill one yard of the linen-cotton fabric that a Spoonflower offers--the fabric is extra-wide to accommodate the design, and the weight is substantial and elegant. 

Like my stole designs, the fabric is available for sale thorough Spoonflower--they handle the order and print and ship the fabric. It's up to you to cut and sew it, if you'd like to do so. :) I didn't write instructions for sewing in this fabric, as it seems pretty simple; I just cut the two circles and sewed them, right sides together.

(I basted a section about 10" long, then sewed about halfway around. Then, I turned and pressed that half; after pressing, I removed the basting, and sewed the rest of the way around, back to the point where I'd started basting. Then I turned it all right side out, pressing the rest of the way around. Finally, I hand sewed the previously basted and pressed section closed. The basting and pressing made it easier to keep a smooth, even curve all the way around.)

The Circle Cloth is available now--I'd love to know how you use it!!

DIY Baptismal Stole Tutorial (freezer paper stencil)

One of the panels of stole fabric that I designed has a blank stole (with sewing pattern) included. It's a blank canvas for decorating your very own custom stole.

I convinced the kids at my church to help me decorate a special baptism stole, using a simple freezer paper stencil and fabric paint--here's what we did!

Supplies:
-Sewn-together blank/white stole, using the pattern on this panel
-Freezer Paper (comes in a roll like waxed paper, with one shiny side and one flat side). You'll only need a small amount.
-Fabric Paint in 2-3 colors
-Sponges or brushes for painting
-Fabric markers (optional, for writing on the back of the stole)
-Scissors
-Iron
-Pencil

For my design, I chose a simple dove (for the Holy Spirit) along with some waves, representing water, at the bottom.

First, I cut out my shapes, knowing that the shapes were the parts of the stole that would remain white. To make my waves, I simply cut freezer paper to the width of the stole, and the free-handed some waves, letting the bottom of each wave be the top of the next.

 Next, I created my dove shape, again working from paper that was about the width of the stole. (I started with paper a little wider, know that I wanted the edges of the dove to just barely go off the stole, so I could gain all the width I could and keep the scale of the dove decently large.)

 When your freezer paper shapes are cut out, and you know where you want to lay them, simply iron them into place, shiny side down. (The heat of the iron lets the shiny side stick to the fabric.)

 I enlisted the help of the children at my church (and a fabulous and willing Children's Ministry Director) to do paint the stole. First, we had our kids sign their names to the back, using a fabric marker, and we also put a little dedication (naming our congregation, along with the date). If you want to do this, you definitely want to have the write on the back of the stole first, since it will be covered with wet paint in a little bit...

Now, with the freezer paper ironed on, and names on the back, cover the rest of the front of the stole with fabric paint, using a sponge or foam brush to stamp it all over.We used 3 colors to give more depth to the pattern--but didn't give them any other direction. We just let them cover it all. It's okay if the paint goes onto the paper. (It's important that it be painted right up to/over the edge of the paper in order for their to be a crisp edge after the paper is removed.)

Lay it flat while the paint dries. Then, peel off the freezer paper, to reveal your dove and waves beneath!

With this same basic technique, there are a multitude of design possibilities--I love how it balances the joyous unplanned feel of kids art with a bit of clean sophistication in the symbols used. It's definitely fun to wear it for baptisms here, when the kids who made it are present!