Iron on cross Appliques

Iron on Cross Appliques: Today, January 2nd is a special day. There is a birthday in the Ecclesiastical Sewing family and a wedding anniversary. Although I will not say how old she is, Carrie will have some candles to blow out tonight. Travis & Ashley are going to have a nice dinner on one of the lakes this evening and maybe go swimming at the pool.

It has been a little hectic here at the sewing headquarters. Travis and Ashley moved back home and are now trying to learn about some of the physical parts of Ecclesiastical Sewing. One of these parts is to train Ashley in the art of clergy stole-making. Ashley has been sewing since she was 7 years old (she is now 23). But never has she had the chance to dabble with church vestments.

One of the projects the young adults did: Cross Appliques.

Ecclesiastical Sewing sells small iron-on cross appliques.  There are a variety of colors and sizes. These little crosses can be used on the neckline of a stole; they can be used to decorate the front of a stole; or they could be used on chalice veils, burses, or other church vestments. Ecclesiastical Sewing will have finished stoles for sale in the upcoming days, as soon as the holiday mania settles down. As we complete the stoles for our soon-to-be-released line of ready-made vestments, there are some finishing details to be completed.

The line of stoles has orphrey trim that will be sewn on the stole fronts. Since the trim on the stoles was being sewn on, Ashley had not put crosses on the fronts of the stoles yet.

So where did these iron-on crosses go? On the neckline of several finished stoles.

¹

¹Zerwas, Ashley. Cross on Neckline. December 24^th, 2016. Personal Collection, Ecclesiastical Sewing, Baxter, Minnesota.

Adding small crosses to clergy stole necklines:

For those of you interested in using these little appliques on vestments, here are the simple steps to attaching them to completed vestment projects.

First, we preheat the iron; our iron takes maybe a minute top to reach the heat.

Then we measure & center the cross on the neck seam of the stole.

2

3

4

2Zerwas, Ashley. Measuring #1. December 24^th, 2016. Personal Collection, Ecclesiastical Sewing, Baxter, Minnesota.

3Zerwas, Ashley. Measuring #2. December 24^th, 2016. Personal Collection, Ecclesiastical Sewing, Baxter, Minnesota.

4Zerwas, Ashley. Choosing a Cross. December 24^th, 2016. Personal Collection, Ecclesiastical Sewing, Baxter, Minnesota.

Third, we set the hot iron down straight onto the cross. This is where precision is key; we do not want the cross to shift and become un-centered after we carefully measured.

⁵

⁵Zerwas, Ashley. Iron Pressed. December 24^th, 2016. Personal Collection, Ecclesiastical Sewing, Baxter, Minnesota.

Let the iron sit for 15 seconds, lift the iron, and allow the cross to cool slightly. Then place the iron back on, and repeat the process for a total of three times.

6

⁷

6Zerwas, Ashley. Cross Cooling. December 24^th, 2016. Personal Collection, Ecclesiastical Sewing, Baxter, Minnesota.

⁷Zerwas, Ashley. Checking Cross. December 24^th, 2016. Personal Collection, Ecclesiastical Sewing, Baxter, Minnesota.

Cross Adhesion and Finishing Touches

The nice thing about these crosses is that the adhesive holds them in place.* It is then recommended that the crosses be tacked with hand stitching (or machine stitching, depending on the progress of the finished stole). This added measure may seem time-consuming, but taking the time to do extra steps makes a garment (or vestment) truly a masterpiece. So Carrie hand-stitched, while Ashley machine-sewed necklines on stoles, interfacing, and lining.

Ecclesiastical Sewing is excited to share more of our line of completed stoles and other projects such as chalice veils in a few days. Keep checking for more information and tips on liturgical vestment sewing. And thank you for using Ecclesiastical Sewing as your ecclesiastical source.

God Bless & Happy New Year!

~Nihil Sine Deo~

SHOP Small Crosses HERE.

Be sure to visit our online store front Ecclesiastical Sewing where you may shop for Liturgical Fabrics, altar linen fabrics, church vestment-making patterns, liturgical machine embroidery designs,  church vestment trims, notions and so much more. You may also find us on  Ecclesiastical Sewing on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Sign up for our mailing list at the bottom of the page on our online store front and receive a free copy of our Small Linens Booklet as our way of saying thank you for following along.

*If the item is to be laundered, the crosses must be stitched after ironing in place.

Small Altar Linens and a Gift for You

Embroidered Appliques: How to Apply Goldwork Pieces

Exciting News! Pastoral Stoles

Sewing a Chalice Veil: Construction Details

Our Saviour’s Church in Copenhagen

Wash on Friday, Iron on Saturday

Save

Save

Save