Tying Two Scarves, Dressing for a Granddaugter's Bat Mitzvah

I've been married and covering my hair for close to forty-seven 47 EEKS! years already, and for a good portion of that time I've worn scarves of various styles, shapes, etc. but always one at a time. Last night for my granddaughter's Bat Mitzvah I decided that I needed to tie two up. Many young women wear a whole closetful on their heads all systemically and artistically wound up together. It looks much too complicated and uncomfortable to me.

After I bought my dress, I realized that the unusual wooden necklace I had gotten from my parents years ago would be perfect with the dress, which it was. (A Hila dress, but not their usual form-fitting style.) And I planned on wearing it with my long gold scarf. That would be a very simple way to accessorize the dress which is classic black A-Line with large pieces of dark red and dark green fabrics sewn in. It's very subtle. Actually it reminds me a bit of the 1960s Mary Quant and Courreges shapes and style.

And then we had Silk Painting in the Senior Citizens Crafts activities I have been attending religiously ever since I left Yafiz. I suddenly saw colors that would be perfect with the dress and necklace, and I painted and created like some sort of nutty arty demon.
Since the dress is very dark, I loved the idea that the scarf would brighten the outfit. And of course it is always nice to wear one's own artistic creations.

The long piece of silk seemed the perfect size for my head when I was working on it, but afterwards, especially after the hemming done by a neighbor, I realized that the effect would be awfully flat and boring if I wore the silk scarf on its own.

There was only one solution to the problem. I had to tie them both on my head together, and after a bit of experimenting, this is what I managed to produce. Being that one is silk and about half the length of the other, I found it easier to work with than I had expected once I realized that I had to combine them before putting on my head, wrapping and tying.

I took this picture, yes a "selfie," after I got home so the scarf isn't all that neat, but you get the idea.

The moral is that we're never too old to try new things.

Painting on Silk, Another New Hobby!

Being old is such great fun. I've been getting to learn new things in the Shiloh 60+ club, like crafts I've only dreamt of or not even realized they could be done by mere mortals like myself. Yesterday, for the very first time in my life I painted on silk and I'm in love with that art medium!

As usual, I had no idea what I was doing. There was also an option to take a printed piece of silk and fill it in with the colors of your choice. A couple of the women were working on those and producing extremely professional looking pieces to either be hung on the wall or finished off as Challah Covers.

The rest of us were more interested in discovering the surprising dynamics of the medium and the various abstract effects we could generate by giving the silk, paint and salt a chance to do their magic. We were also happy with the unexpected lines produced by the "crinkled" plastic underneath the silk.

I plan on wearing the long silk piece, Gd willing. And next time we do this craft, I want to write "שבת שלום" or "המוציא לחם" on the square one to use on Shabbat or Jewish Holidays. The challenge will be finishing them off, the hemming, and lining for the Challah Cover.

I dream of doing this as a "retirement business" and selling unique, one of a kind Silk Challah Covers and pillow cases. Of course it depends on how complicated all of the rest of the production really is. I understand that after they dry they must be "steam-set" or something like that, and then there are the hemming and lining for decorative pillow cases, Challah Covers or wall hangings. I doubt if there's all that much a market nowadays for scarves to wear.  Of course, dreaming and doing are two different things...