Blog

In the Studio | Designing an Heirloom

In 2022 my long time friend and team member was engaged to be married, and planning an Autumn wedding in the Adirondack Mountains. Zoe and her partner Loyd organized an interfaith ceremony that incorporated elements of each of their faiths & histories. While I had the honor of standing next to my friend while she took her vows, I also had the great pleasure of designing her wedding tallit.

A tallit is a Jewish prayer shawl. It is a sacred item which traditionally takes the form of a large rectangular white cloth. Often, it is decorated with stripes and is finished with tassels. Tallits can be worn during prayer, or in this case, hung from the chuppah during the wedding ceremony.

Research & Design

As is the case with most custom projects, I started off by doing research into traditional tallits. While Zoe wanted her tallit to be colorful and contemporary, we chose to incorporate some traditional elements in order for it to be recognizable as the distinctive prayer shawl. I started with the idea of stripes, a decorative element that appears on most tallits. On a large piece of paper, I mapped out three large blue stripes in pencil. Around these stripes I drew out a garden, which crept across the stripes, bringing movement, color, and a sense optimism. The original design was painted with acrylics in various shades of blues, greens, yellows, and reds; a lively color palette that reflected the joy and positivity that Zoe and Lloyd always exude.

Printing & Finishing

After the painting was complete, I brought the design onto the computer where, after cleaning up the rough lines, I began to play with the color, balancing the hues for cohesion and fluidity. Together with our digital printing partners, we finished the piece on a beautiful light weight linen, which was printed with low-impact, sustainable dyes (just like our other products!) After hemming the long sides, we painstakingly created the tassels, pulling lengths of fabric from the weft and tying the the frayed edges together down the short sides of the shawl.

The Wedding

The finished tallit was draped under the Chuppah at Zoe & Loyds memorable wedding on a lake in Upstate New York. The two exchanged rings underneath the fabric, surrounded by their closest friends and family. They now keep the fabric in their shared home as a reminder of the vows they took that day. L'Chaim!