sarah in nyc

Lettering painted on mystery fabric. One recurring issue in my Art History classes in college, is the frustration that Art Historians, restorers and viewers of later generations have with artists who use materials that change nature or even disintegrate over time. The Madonnas of early Renaissance paintings were painted wearing sky blue robes, apinted with ultramarine, that have darkened to dark lapis blue over time. The Abstract Expressionists of the 1950's used house paint or car enamel on canvas. Paintings have rotted away because the paint and backing didn't like one another. As someone who now makes art, I understand why artists make those errors.  I'm working away on the parochet/ark curtain for the Solomon Schechter School. Right now, I'm working on a celestial archway that will contain the words " Raise up the gateways above your heads". I chose a beautiful bronze fabric with a metallic sheen for the arch. I have no idea what the fabric is. I susp...

I grew up just south of Boston, about an hour north of the cranberry bogs of the Northern Cape. One of the real signs of fall, aside from the crunch of leaves as I walked home from the train station was the new crop of cranberries. Each Friday, my mother would transform a bag of cranberries into a jar of whole cranberry sauce. The sauce would accompany the Shabbat chicken. But during the week, I would eat those cranberries on everything. I love that sweet-tart taste. You could say, that as a child I had a crush on cranberries. Ocean Spray ran a tourist attraction called "Cranberry World" in Carver, Massachusetts. I really wanted to go. My parents never took us. My husband though, made me a very happy woman. He took me to "Cranberry World". I got to soak up all of that cranberry goodness. When I was little, my mother used to buy jars of Ocean- Spray orange - cranberry relish. I loved the deep magenta color. And there again was that intense sweet tart taste that alm...

Forgive me...I mistyped the amount of water to add to the challa. Many thanks to the people who emailed me for clarification. You add 2 1/2 cups of water. I corrected the post as well. If you try my recipe, let me know how it came out. I'm dying to know how it works in your kitchen.Given number of emails I have received from South Carolina, there seems to be a  real need for good challa there.

About ten years ago, I made a couple of table cloths out of denim from Paron's half price store. This was long enough ago, that the half price store was an actual stand alone store, and not just an alcove in the regular price store. Those cloths got lots of use. They went from looking spanking brand new, to looking nicely mellowed, to looking so bedraggled that my boys suggested that they needed to be demoted to the rag bag. If adolescent boys notice that a table cloth looks tired then it is clearly way past it's prime. A few weeks ago I found the perfect replacement fabric, delightfully, I found it at Paron's half price store. It was a deep blue, waffle weave cotton. The bolt was nearly done so the cutter threw in what was left on the bolt. I had forgotten about the extra fabric and simply serged the ends. The cloth fit my dining room table perfectly. Not only that, my youngest, not Mr. Domestic by any stretch of the imagination loved the feel of the cushy waffle weav...

This is Ella's bat mitzvah gift from my family. The bag to hold her tallit. It's made out of a piece of fabric that my friend Welmoed had used both as an elegant curtain for a competition at a drapery convention and the dress she made to go with it. It is a really heavy crushed velvet. This is also the most expensive fabric I have ever sewed. It is a German home dec fabric that apparently retails for $250 a yard. Welmoed gave me some of the left overs from her really impressive drapery vignette as a house gift a few years ago. She said that she figured I would put it to good use. I have. Given that this tallit bag will get lots of use, I'm glad I had this really sturdy fabric for the bag. I added the couched ribbon as well as a nice celestial sprinkling of sequins and beads. The bag refers to God's blessing of making one's descendants as many as the stars in the heavens. The bag is lined in a blue rayon faille. I constructed it like a simple envelope bag after bind...

These instructions are for a knit skirt. I fell in love with this ruffled grey knit. I had seen similar fabrics in ugly colors. I have also seen this fabric in really ugly print made up into shirts. I bought a yard of the fabric. I have enough left to make a top. Cut fabric to desired length. This fabric has the added benefit of having a line knit into it. That makes it really easy to cut a straight line. The fact that the ruffle will cover the raw edge means that I don't have to hem this skirt.  I measured the fabric around my hips being sure to include a bit extra for ease. I held that spot on the fabric with my fingers, folded the fabric until that point, alligned it and then cut along the raw edge. I folded my skirt width in 1/4, with both raw edges and the skirt center on the left. Here I show a thick strand of yarn where I will cut a hip curve. You can figure out the difference between waist and hip both in width as well as the distance between waist and maximum...

Although I haven't written about it in a while, I have been working away on Noah's invitation, refining the design, based mostly on input from Noah's parents. These conversations have been lovely, far ranging in scope, all of these versions of the invitation with small variations are sharpening the final design in a really good way. It's taking Noah's mom a little while to realize that I actually like the input and don't feel at all criticised by it. Our discussion this morning, made me realize that I need a smaller square tipped nib. I do most of my calligraphy on fabric and not paper, so my supplies for doing calligraphy on paper are on thin side.I have a really large selection of paint brushes and only a small selection of nibs. Today, was one of those perfect New York fall days. it seemed like the perfect day to bring my husband to the High Line. I had been a few months ago with my sister. It was an atrociously hot and muggy day when we had gone but it...

I realize that I didn't say how much flour one uses to make challa. The right answer is, it depends. The amount of flour you use depends on how the flour was stored before you bought it, how you store the flour and how damp it day it is when you bake. It also depends on the size of egg you use and all sorts of other variables. The easy answer is, have a 5 lb bag of flour handy. You won't use all of it, but you will use most of it. You add flour and knead the dough until it really has the feel of  ( I know this seems weird, but it's the closest description I can figure out) a baby's tushie.  You have gone too far if the dough is completely coated with white flour. You have not added enough if the dough is sticky and messy to touch. if you have added too much flour, pour a bit of oil on your hands and continue to knead until the dough is back in balance. If you try this recipe, let me know how it turns out. If there are problems, let me know and I will try to fig...

Several friends have told me that they don't care what I serve them for Shabbat, as long as my challa is on the table. I have been receiving requests for my challa recipe. I had written it out a few years ago at my son's request. This summer when I was away taking care of my mother, he baked challa following my recipe that really did taste like what I bake for each Shabbat. So this isn't like one of those recipes where an essential ingredient is left out. I started baking challaas a form of hand therapy. Like many people who sew for a livingI was suffering from sore hangs from doing the same movements over and over. Kneading the dough is really thereputic and moves your hands in the opposite movement that sewing does. Most of what you need to make a good challa, hard ware wise is simple. You need a big bowl, a baking sheet, and the only specialized item you may want to own is a dough scraper.It makes cleaning up much easier. Probably the most important ingredient in ch...

My oldest has always loved dress-up. Dressing in costume was just a big part of her life from the time she was really teeny. When she was little, maybe, three or four, she used to get all dressed up at the end of the day in the black lace bathrobe Mrs. Garcia gave my mother in law as a post surgery gift, a set of wings, a babushka and high heels, and wait in the lobby of our building for her father to come home from work. Once a cranky neighbor took a look at my daughter in one of her get-ups and snottily commented " Is it Halloween?". I replied, "No, it's Tuesday."  In our house, dress up was an every day activity. My daughter still has more fun with clothes than anyone I know. People ask me if she sews. The answer is, on occasion. Halloween is approaching. it's also my daughter's birthday, and so for her, a really big deal. Two years ago, she bought herself a boy's Batman costume to wear at an event in college. Since then,. her friends associat...

There is a group of stores in the fabric district run under different names but managed by the same group of people. The men who run the stores wear giant kippot, are of Sephardi extraction but are also followers of the Lubavicher Rebbe. If you enter one of their stores early in the morning, you are likely to have the sonic treat of hearing the Psalms of the day chanted in the melodic modes of the Sephardic traditions broadcast over the PA system. One of the men who works in these stores keeps a complete set of the Zohar by the cash register to read  when things are quiet in the store. Because of  this off-time study of Kabbala, I call this confederation of stores "Kabbala Man". The locations of the Kabbala Man stores shift. There used to be two on 35th street. Now there is just one. For a while there was a location on 37th street. But there are now two locations on 39th street in addition,to the one on 35th street. How can you tell when you have arrived at a Kabbala ...

Yesterday, my husband and I planned to go swimming at the city pool on 25th street. We hadn't realized that it was closed. We decided to take advantage of the fact that out kids weren't with us and do the many antique stalls in the garage near 6th avenue. During the week, it's a garage but on the weekends it's two floors of antique vendors. Our kids hate going antiquing. On our walk east, we passed this dress making dummy store. I had to take a photo. Among the various goods offered in the garage, there were lots of clothes. Mad Men is making the 1960's Balenciaga influenced egg shaped coats in mohair look wonderful. I also saw lots of heavily beaded cashmere shells from the mid 1960's. I own two, this may be the year to wear them again. I may have to resist doing the twist when I wear those tops. It's funny, after watching Mad Men, some of the clothing that had seemed too awful to even think about is seeming interesting. As I went through the racks of c...

When I work, I often have ear worms, that is little chunks of music that play themselves over and over in my head.  I have learned, over the years, to pay attention to those ear worms. Often they have something to do with my work. One of the pieces that I have been working on is the Parochet /ark curtain for the Solomon Schechter School. I had met with the 8th grade girls who are commissioning the piece just after Rosh ha Shanah. The text that they chose, comes from the Psalm that we recite, actually, more often, sing, as we return the Torah scroll to the ark after we have completed reading it for the day, at services.  "The earth is God's and all it contains" The melody that we most often use, is a wonderful grand Germanic stately march. When you hear it you can, in your mind's eye, see the angels marching across the clouds. This morning as I was going about my business, eating breakfast, putting up the challa dough, taking my shower, I kept hearing th...

Tomorrow afternoon, we are bringing our oldest son to the airport. We thought that he might want to go out for dinner tonight. We discussed various options.  My sister offered to pay for this evening out. My son, instead, asked for "home food".  How sweet is that?  Last night we had lots of discussions about what this meal would be. The planning for this meal began at dessert. He wanted cream puffs. By breakfast, he knew he wanted crispy kale. I decided on the rest of the meal, mashed potatoes made with lots of cream and tuna cooked in Teriyaki sauce. We also had a loaf of what we call " Ho bread", or home made peasant bread. I hope it sustains him during his adventures.

Coat with covered button The coat in it's quiet glory My friend, Mary Katherine, was doing a closet purge. She thought I would like this Tomotsu rain coat. I was delighted to take this coat off her hands. It's black, what could be bad about that? It also has a cool crinkled texture which keeps it from being completely boring. The cut, despite it's very basic shape is flattering. I can also wear it with a belt for a more dashing look. I took it home but soon discovered that it needed some repairs. Some buttons were missing. I hadn't noticed at first because it was warm when I got the coat. I didn't have a button that matched. Like any sewing person worth her salt, I have several button jars. I had buttons the right size, but none the right color. I decided to cover a white button and use it as the top button. At first, I had thought to cover the button in velvet. I decided against that elegant look, because that would limit the coat season wise to winter...

My son leaves Wednesday for his stint in the Israeli army. My ex-sister in law, Shula, has graciously taken on the job of being my son's Israeli mom. I made Shula this necklace as a small token of my appreciation. It made out of a wide range of pearls. ( Some of them are really fancy, other's are less so) The necklace can be worn as one long length or can be looped around Shula's neck twice. Shula is slight, pale and blond. I think the light colors will look pretty on her. I had first taken photos of this necklace on a piece of dark blue fabric. The pearls looked completely lusterless in those pictures. So, I tried again with the pearls resting on some pink knit. The pink did the trick. Same pearls, but they look a whole lot better. Now that the holidays are over, I can have an actual full week of work. It feels like a luxury. I have to work on an additional draft for Noah's invitation and get cracking on the ark curtain. There is also a tallit screaming for a...