The Jewish new year is on its way — challah dipped in honey! — and the autumn holiday season right behind it. It’s a time for new beginnings, and a great time to start the year with a new challah cover. So I’m releasing the challah cover pattern from the Sew Jewish book as its own PDF pattern. You can find it now in the Sew Jewish Shop.

The cover features the traditional Hebrew phrase “Shabbat v’yom tov ,” which means “Shabbat and holiday,” making it a great centerpiece for your Shabbat table as well as all the Jewish holidays (except Passover with its matzah, of course).

The sample cover in the image above is made with white and yellow-gold fabric, which are great choices for the High Holidays. Traditional white captures the purity of new beginnings. Gold fabric honors the traditional gold hand-embroidered lettering of old-World challah covers. The machine appliqued letters sew up much more quickly than hand-embroidery, though, and they provide a shot of color — a great approach for modern sewists and a modern holiday table.

For sewists new to machine applique or experienced sewists looking for a refresher, the pattern includes a section of machine applique techniques with illustrations.

Visit the Sew Jewish Shop to order the Shabbat and Holiday Challah Cover Sewing Pattern.