Speaking of lifetime project....

[Alaric]

It's been rumbling in the back of my tiny brain to make an appropriate garment to send me off in. I wish to make my own shroud.

To buy the amount of Aida required would be way too expensive, so im looking into getting some nice cotton cloth with a regular weave in it. I'll have to go and see the cloth for myself , so an online purchase would not be possible. Thus it would require a trip to the mainland. I envisage a 6 feet by 4 feet cloth, hemmed in white, with nice stitched corner motives. For the picture I thought of a nice pic I saw in a book on the Jordan river. It spills into a whirlpool: very foamy and lined with trees and blue sky.

The amount of stitches to fill the cloth would be approximately 677370 stitches. For some reason I thought was more than that... This is based on a 14 count kinda weave.

Couple of logistics to deal with: 1 how long am I going to live? 2 will my eyesight ( and sanity) hold up?
Even if I don't get it done, they need to put the finished part PICTURE DOWN on my face, so I can enjoy it.

In the end , just wrap me in like a taco. Don't forget to throw in floss and needle so I can finish the parts I missed.

This lifetime project is best enjoyed from a pine box.....
Alaric... Canada

[Squirrel]

Well now - that sure is different. It would certainly be a lifetime or 2 to get something that large stitched. I wonder if it will ever get done.?
Of course the biggest stumbling block is that none of us know how long we will live which adds a whole new dimension to such a project.

[Allyn]

I've seen Aida either 56 inches wide or 60 inches wide sold by the yard in a continuous piece up to 10 yards (10 yards is a whole bolt) and it wasn't that expensive by-the-yard not like buying those little Aida scraps like you get in the tubes. Check whatever local fabric/sewing store you have there...like Joanns or similar. If you can't find it locally, would you consider buying Aida by the yard online since you know it is Aida?

[Alaric]

Originally my shroud idea was to make it fit over my coffin as it would be on display for visiting hours in the funeral home, but that required a much wider and longer cloth. I have no idea how to stitch two Aida cloths together, so I focused on getting a cotton weave.

But a smaller shroud could be in Aida. A company in Brooklyn, New York sells Aida by the yard, so this would be my best bet.

Only one thing: I find Aida rough on my skin, so being wrapped up in it. Ach ....but then again , I'd be dead.....no sense, no feeling

Alaric... Canada

[vanessanjf]

That is certainly an amazing idea. Good luck with it. You will need a lot of patience

[Allyn]

Originally my shroud idea was to make it fit over my coffin as it would be on display for visiting hours in the funeral home, but that required a much wider and longer cloth. I have no idea how to stitch two Aida cloths together, so I focused on getting a cotton weave.

But a smaller shroud could be in Aida. A company in Brooklyn, New York sells Aida by the yard, so this would be my best bet.

I guess I'm not clear on the project. Is a piece of Aida 5 feet wide and 30 feet long not big enough? An interment flag used to drape a coffin is 5 feet x 9.5 feet, so if the Aida was a full 60 inches wide off the bolt, you'd need 3.25 yards. Double-check the width before you buy, since some manufacturers may make it in only 36 or 45 inches wide, and specify that you need a continuous piece.

[Serinde]

Back in the day in this part of the world, but especially in the islands, a girl needed a certain number of sewn garments and objects for her 'bottom drawer'. Included were the usual wedding and household items, baby clothes and... a shroud (that is so say, her own shroud, childbirth being an iffy business). So what you are contemplating isn't so unusual. In fact, coffin covers of various sorts have a very ancient history indeed. Indeed, if you google 'pall' you'll find companies that sell cloth for this exact purpose! I have no idea whether it's stitchable. I wonder -- regarding the Jordan River picture, perhaps you could inkjet it to cloth, perhaps embellish it with stitches and appliqué it to your shroud?

[cristaltipps]

Well I did a little calculation for you
677370 total stitches divide by 200 which I find a perfectly doable amount of stitches per day would take you 9.27 years to complete
It sounds a most interesting project, keep us updated on what you decide to do x