Sewing Reversible Shofar Bags

A while ago I blogged about a trip I undertook with some friends to go and buy some shofars, at a place just outside of Brits. We came home with a number of shofars between the four of us, and it soon became clear that the shofars would need bags, if we wanted to protect them. I have a rather extensive fabric stash and offered to make the bags, but then one of my friends brought a whole bag of upholstery fabric off-cuts, that she had received from her mom, for me to work with. In today's blog, I show you how to sew the reversible bags, which could of course be used to keep so much more than shofars.

The first thing I did, was to cut some fabric to the required size to make sure the shofar would fit inside it.

Each bag also had to have a lining cut for it.

Line the panels up with right sides facing and pin.

Slip the sling into the side seam and pin it in place between the two right sides of the panel.

Sew around three sides of the bag.

Crop the corners.

Now pin the lining. This is actually a reversible bag, so strictly speaking it is not a lining, but we will keep calling it a lining to avoid confusion.

Sew around three sides.

Crop the corners.

Turn the bag right side out, but leave the lining inside out.

Slip the lining into the bag.

Fold the edges of the open sides in and pin.

It should now look like this.

Sew all around the open sides, right up next to the edge of the fabric.

The absolutely correct thing to do, would be to sew the opening closed by hand, but this is what I resort to when I have run out of time and need to get something done urgently. It doesn't look too badly, though not as nice as when sewn by hand.

Mark off where you wan the buttons to go.

Now mark with chalk, so that you can sew the buttonholes.

Sew the buttonholes.

Open the buttonholes with a Quick-Unpick.

Stick pins through the centres of the buttonholes to mark where the buttons should be attached.

Put your buttons in place.

Sew the buttons on the outside of the bag...

... while at the same time sewing a button to the inside of the bag as well. This way the buttons on both sides line up with the buttonholes.

The bag is now done.

I also wanted to make a matching wrapper to hold the shofar. This is more decorative than practical. I cut a small piece of fabric to fit the shofar.

I fold it in half, pin it and sew along three edges.

Crop the corners.

Turn it right side out and fold in the open edges.

Sew the open edge closed, sewing as closely as possible to the edge.

Sew some Velcro to one edge. The sew the other piece of Velcro to the opposite side, on the other edge.

This will go around the shofar in this way.

Now for the decorative part. Cut a length of fish gut and catch one end in a stopper to prevent the beads from slipping out.

String the beads the way you like. I stuck to the colour scheme of the bag I was working on. I used sets of three throughout, as this reminds me of the Trinity; Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I love the red, as this colour is symbolic of the blood that Jesus had shed for the forgiveness of our sins. I also add a small cross right to the centre of the string, so as to remind us that, as shofars were used in the Old Testament, we must not get trapped by laws and regulations, but keep our focus on Jesus.

I then clamp two stopper bead on both ends of the string.

I string three more stopper bead onto each side of the string.

Then I string a large red bead, and a tussel onto the string, bringing the two ends together.

I loop the two ends of the fish gut back through the big bead.

Then I push the ends back through the stopper beads.

I clamp the stopper beads shut.

I then sew the beads onto the wrapper.

The bag with the wrapper wrapped around a shofar. This bag goes to a friend who has a ministry linked to a bicycle. Her bike, called Bella, takes her all over as she spreads the good news of the gospel and love of Jesus Christ. She also uses the bike to promote worthy causes. She has phenomenal ministry under the homeless and destitute of Johannesburg, as well as working with abused women and other desperate people. You can find out more about Bella Adventures on her Facebook page. I would like to ask you to also look into your heart and maybe contribute financially towards this very worthy cause. I should say, these worthy causes.

The reversible side of the same bag.

I had six bags to make in total. These beads were strung for a married friend's shofar. I added two beads next to the cross to represent herself and her husband, united in faith. I added two simmilar beads with a red bead in the centre of the two, reminding her that they are both washed in the blood of Christ and have received His forgiveness. It is also the colour representing their love for each other. I strung the blue beads in groups of three, to remind us of the Trinity. I added groups of seven multicoloured flat pebble beads in between as spacers. Seven is the perfect number in the Bible. This is to remind that Jesus is the perfect Rock. The variety of colours is to remind that all can be found in Him.

The friend's bag.

The reversible side of the bag.

Another friend also received a bag. This is a very caring and loving person who will bend over backwards to assist others. She has a marvelous ministry of service. I opted to tie her wrapper to the shofar with yellow cord. This is representative of the ties that bind in friendship. I also added warm beads of love and friendship leading to the cross of Jesus. I added three crosses, not so much because there were three crosses at Golgotha, but rather because the number reminds us of the Trinity of God. However, the reminder of the suffering Jesus did on the cross on our behalf, is not lost on me either.

The bag in it's warm, loving and accepting colours that represents the character of this friend of mine so well.

The reversible side of the bag.

When it came to my own shofar, I decided to attach my artistic name to it. I had recently had it cut out and engraved for me on a keyring. I decided it might as well go on the shofar. Miekie is the name I sign my art with, and it is also the name under which I publish my books. I again opted to work in groups of three beads, as a reminder of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I also added two beads with the Afrikaans words "Vriendelik" (friendly) and "Goedheid" (goodness) next to the cross. I used the colours pink and purple on these beads, as I associate these colours with goodness and friendliness. It serves as a reminder to be kind. As always, the cross is kept in the centre, to keep the focus on Jesus. I also included caps on the ends of the beads, which somehow reminded me of a warrior's shield. We are engaged in a spiritual battle which is waged inside our heads. It is necessary to be kind to ourselves and others, as we can not see the battles others are fighting.

My shofar with its bag and wrapper.

The reversible side of the bag.

God has been teaching me about spiritual partnerships for a while now. He keeps on pointing towards these in my own life. I have a number of spiritual partners who form part of my support structure, but for whom I am also part of their support structure. We carry each other in prayer and look out for each other in more physical and tangible ways as well. With this in mind, I have also purchased a 'pair' of horns/shofars, that go together. I assume that means they came from the same animal, originally. Sometimes in my ministry, I will encourage a spiritual partner of mine to blow one of these horns with me. I have also used it in couple's counselling and relationship counselling among friends, etc. These two shofars each needed their own bag, but the bags still had to form a unity. I opted to use the colour purple, as this is a royal colour. It is also a very warm purple that I used, which brings home the message of love and friendliness.

The reverse sides of the bags. I again added the personalized keyrings to the beads. One says Miekie, and the other says APT, which is short for A Pretty Talent. the name of this blog. A Pretty Talent was founded with the idea of equipping and encouraging people to live more creative lives. We serve a very creative God, Who has given all of us amazing talents to create. Most of us are unaware of these talents and they lie dormant. We keep experiencing a longing for something that we can not name. I believe that often it is a longing to create something. I also believe that when we become creative, we find new pathways to help us deal with our own lives and our problems. It is place where the mind can relax and restore itself. This is why it remains a passion of mine to help people discover their own creative genius. When stringing the beads for these shofars, I stuck the numbers 7 and 3 for the groupings. I opted to use a lot of colour, as partnerships add variety to our lives. I have also used spacer beads in these strings. Whenever we allow people into our lives, we need to remember to make space for them. Do you hear the difference between giving them their space and creating space for them in your own life? That subtle difference lies at the heart of many of the relationship problems of our day and age.

You can watch a short compilation video of the steps above on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/fsVKQI1xljs

Marietjie Uys (Miekie) is a published author. You can buy my books here:
You can purchase Designs By Miekie 1 here.
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