Kathy and Stan Kleisath: pictures

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Reflection upon making the stoles by Kathy Kleisath

I am a member of the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites. Last summer, I asked one of the Carmelite friars (a dear friend & adopted member of our family), what I might get him for Christmas. To my surprise he asked me to make him a red liturgical stole. Perhaps I should not have been surprised as he is a textile artist and he knows that I sew. I agreed to do the project, but asked him to find suitable fabric. He is stationed in Washington, DC now, home to G street Fabrics, which caters to tailors and fine dressmakers. Before long a priority-mail package arrived containing wool crepe yardage in three coordinated shades of red, a matching lining fabric, fusible interfacing and thread. I held this beautiful wool crepe fabric in my hands & knew I had to learn more before attempting to create this red stole! Over the years I had done a lot of sewing for our children, but had never considered making liturgical vestments. Now a new door had just opened a crack as I said yes! What followed was an e-mail from Fr. Dave explaining how I could introduce several colored fabrics (which he had sent) for stripes or for appliqué. Stripes, he said, are a favorite design tool of weavers. They are simple and provide variety to the eye if they are made following Fibonacci proportions. The Fibonacci series, Father continued, is a progression of numbers in which each successive number equals the sum of the two numbers preceding it: 0,1,1,2,3,5,8, etc. This series is commonly found in nature. The ratio between two adjoining numbers approximates the golden section of geometry, which is the most pleasing proportion to human eyes. And stripes made in any width from numbers in the series will always work well together. I sat back staring at the computer in shock and wondered, ‘What had I said yes to!!’ As I said, the door had opened and I was about to begin a new adventure! Now it was time to research so I sought out written information on making vestments. Not satisfied by that, I went on-line and eventually contacted Elizabeth Morgan, a wonderful maker of vestments in New York State. I ordered her kit on ‘Constructing Stoles’ which included her Children of the World fabric—a heavy tapestry used for stoles. Her pattern and instructions were included along with the other materials needed. I felt that this was the perfect way to learn how to make a stole before cutting into Father’s beautiful fabric. What followed was carefully studying every detail in her instructions; though she’d not included illustration which is rather difficult if you haven’t made one before. Fortunately, whenever I ran into what could have been a major problem I was able to call Elizabeth. For, you see, the stole ended up using a number of sewing techniques and seams that are normally the “secret weapons” of high fashion houses, & it involved a lot of hand sewing. Elizabeth had warned me that unlike the other liturgical vestments stoles are tricky & picky to make. I also needed a work surface, which Elizabeth highly suggested in her instructions, so my darling Stan made a special folding padded cutting & sewing table the height of an ironing board. Before beginning this project I had turned to Mary, & asked Her to guide me in everything which She did. And at all times I felt Her presence for this was Her stole, too. As I began my sewing assembly I learned the importance of such things as take up (each seam that is stitched ‘takes up’ a tiny bit of fabric), set back which is more intricate in finishing than the regular standard stole, & the differences between a mitered seam & the curved-neck seam on a stole. (The latter being used more frequently for priests, & the mitered seam most generally designed for deacons.) Those who sew know how important stay-pinning is, and in making stoles it is an absolute must to use LOTS of pins to stabilize & secure the stole while working on it--especially larger pins driven diagonally down through the fabric & into the padding of the work surface, which I had. With all those pins about, I inadvertently stuck myself more than once. Stan called me a human pincushion. My concern was not to bleed on the fabric! The very important use of pinning was during the finishing for the set back seams in which I would pin each end of the stole & create tension in order to invisibly stitch without allowing any puckering in the stole. It took time, but was a nice affect. Whenever I took rest periods from making the first stole I spent time planning the design for the red stole with the alternating colors. Reflecting on the Fibonacci scale using various number combinations I drew out different variations & colored them in on paper. After a week of working out different designs the perfect idea came to me while in prayer one night. Quickly the next morning I sketched it out & that was the one! I used the number combinations of 5,3 & 2 inches with the alternating red colors exactly where I felt they would look best. My deepest color had to be at the ends of the stole in 5 inches which would be finished off with gold tassels followed by 2 inches of the medium value red. In the meantime I had ordered two Greek Crosses which I planned to invisibly sew in the 5 inch main red sections. The darkest shade in 2 inches was planned above the Greek Crosses followed by the medium value red in 3 inches--total 5 inches for balance. It was on its way, I thought. Finding the gold tassels was more difficult, but not impossible & through Elizabeth I was able to order the special tassels to finish off my Children of the World stole. I was so grateful, too, for Fr. Vu who allowed me to borrow one of the stoles from the church. It was such a great help, and in setting in the tassels. I’d like to share that in the beginning I questioned the wisdom of saying yes to this project as I was close to having spinal surgery. The excruciating pain in one leg caused by the compressed nerve in my spine could have prevented the time I needed for completion on these stoles. So I prayed that Jesus and Mary would take this pain away long enough to do this. My family & loved ones had been praying for a long time as well. Just as I began this project the pain left in my leg and hasn’t returned. So my Greatest joy in the completion of these two stoles is in knowing God made it all possible; and as I’ve shared Mary assisted me in every decision & stitch I made! The stoles were finished by Thanksgiving. On December 5th our priest from St. Mary, Fr. Vu Tran, came by for a visit and put them both on. He was the first priest to wear them. The next day I carefully wrapped & mailed them to Washington DC. What a joy, too, that Fr. Dave received these stoles on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception which is the anniversary of his Solemn Profession in Carmel. Mary had answered another prayer! Fr. Dave told me later he could think of no better gift than something that would let me have a part in Jesus’ own gift of Himself in the Mass. Happy Birthday, Jesus! And thank you for this share in your gift of yourself. Note: I have shared my experience in designing & making my first stoles; though it’s difficult to describe all that I felt during those three months. This project was more than a challenge, & after deciding I would do it there still remained many doubts & concerns. One night after I’d begun this project I was in quiet prayer and received a deep loving awareness from Jesus that these stoles were not only for Fr. Dave but also for Him. This love I felt from Jesus went into every stitch I sewed into the stoles. I was also told that Mary would guide me. Mary has always been my dearest companion & spiritual Mother. During all my sewing I asked for Mary’s help in things that I feared; such as my first time sewing the inside seam of the stole perfectly even by machine in order to turn it over in preparation for the set back seaming. Any tiny mistake would have been visible so Mary assisted in giving me the courage to do it. Then the curved neck seam had to lie perfectly flat in order that each side of the stole would hang absolutely straight. I held my breath while stepping out in blind trust asking for Mary’s guidance. Sometimes I couldn’t see the holes in my needles to thread, but I asked for help & received it. I would often work later in the evening in order to complete an important section. On one of those occasions while sewing the outside seam the eye of my needle pierced deeply under my nail. It took time to heal so my thimbles came to my rescue. The most important thing at that time was my set back seam, & I was accomplishing the invisible stitching—again, with Mary’s help. After I finished my stoles & sent them off I experienced an empty feeling. I hadn’t realized how much of myself had gone into the making of these liturgical items, & especially all the love & help from Jesus & Mary. It almost felt as if I’d sent away a family member. I wrote to Elizabeth in New York and shared this. She e-mailed me saying, “In case you hadn’t noticed, we do tend to put a lot of ourselves into our vestment projects. No??? It’s like postpartum blues to send them off! And, send them off we must! We don’t make them to keep them at home! Last week I sent off two chasubles and had the same empty, lost feeling. My work room looked so bleak!”