deacon ordination

The Minister of Christian Education at our church recently became ordained as a Deacon in the United Methodist Church.  I was commissioned to make her a Deacon stole.

She is *a bit* on the petite side, so a store-bought stole doesn't fit her.  (Like so petite I'm probably going to end up taking 10 inches off the one she bought!)  She wanted a green "everyday" stole for the longest season of the Christian year, but loved the idea of having the whole rainbow showing.  So we decided on a patchwork style, with a majority of it being green.  It was also important to her that the Deacon symbol - the black cross with red flame - was included.  You can see it just below the hip.

 She was ok with a little "bling" so I included some shimmery fabrics and cottons with a little sparkle on them.  I included numerous textured fabrics (home dec weight, velveteens, polyesters, whatever I could find!) to add even more to this beautiful rainbow patchwork.  She didn't want anything dangling off because she was worried kids would be grabbing at it during Children's Time.  Unfortunately for her my son was pretty interested in touching all the fabrics as I was making it! ;)

You can see a little green strap at her hip that holds the front and back pieces together.  There are many ways to do that part (snaps, clips, buttons, ropes/tassels) but we decided that just a permanent fabric piece would do the job.  It can even hold her microphone clip if necessary!
Each square started off at 1-1/2" so the finished stole is approximately 4" across.  I used a light suede-y feeling fabric for the back, interfacing to help it keep its shape, and piping at the edges.  The back is an exact replica of the front except for the way the angle was cut at the hip.  Ha...ask me how I know that.  ahem.  The deacon cross is appliqued on the front and the back.

Congratulations, B!  May the stole serve you well for many years of ministry!