A progressive die assembly and method for manufacturing lamina stacks from a strip of substantially planar material, in which at least some of the individual laminas are formed with portions which extend from, or are otherwise not within, the plane of the material strip. The visualized points are defined by their polar coordinates in a polar coordinate system in the viewing plane. The spacer grid holding unit includes a holding jig onto which the spacer grid is seated and held, and a rotary index table which is coupled to the holding jig to rotate the holding jig. Further, the textile support layer in the open areas of the stencil can be colored with a sublimation dye to suggest to a user the colors that should be applied in the various areas of the stencil.