sarah in nyc

 I have been working away on Benjy's Torah mantle. When you are close to the mantle you can see the little glints of light from the metallic embroidery threads. However, from far away that swoopy Divine spirit shape just looks like fog. ( Yes, dear reader, I do see that I haven't quite finished chain stitching around all of the edges of the letters.) A Torah mantle has to look good from close up it also has to look fabulous from the very back of the room. I have discovered over time that if I add a sprinkling of glass beads to a Torah mantle the beads will catch the light and send it to the very back of the room. I always love when one of my mantles twinkles to the very back row of the synagogue. I started stitching beads along the lines of embroidery threads. I kept checking my work by holding the mantle up to a mirror in a room with low light. Eventually, it looks like sparks are shooting out of that misty shape. That is exactly what I am going for. Last night, as I was sleep...

The reality is, Passover was mostly pretty wonderful. Our Sedarim were both pretty great. Having family and friends celebrating with us was really wonderful. We have learned that the unbearable parts of the Haggadah are much better when read in Italian by my husband. Amazon.com Widgets There were far too many big meals, but the food was pretty excellent (if I may say so myself). As always, none of  Passover could have taken place without everyone pitching in. i am grateful to everyone who helped out this year in ways great and small.  On the creepy side of the ledger, as I was walking to synagogue on the seventh day of Passover a smiling bum flung the content of his very large bottle of beer on me. I was completely soaked in chametz.  Even if it weren't Passover it would have been a gross experience.  In addition to all of the cooking for all of the meals and doing an insane amount of laundry and ironing on the days that weren't holiday I gave the d'v...

I guess if I wanted to create an umbrella topic for this blog post it would be about the process of working. Amazon.com Widgets When i last showed you the Torah mantle, it looked like this. Clearly, a something in progress. This is the stage when I know exactly where I am going and feel pretty good about myself. I understand that if my client were to see this photo she might have some doubts about how the project was going. I get that it does at this point look like something of a mess. But letter by letter, I stitch down the bits that make up the appliques letters. i then carefully cut away all of the extra fabric with my trusty cuticle scissors. Some of the fabrics are easier to cut than others.  This orange hand stitched  Indian cotton is a dream to trim. The needle-pointed kippah is something of a bear to trim.  The needle-point is dense and has been stitched to a black backing. It's a whole lot of careful snipping with a tool that does not especially want t...

We changed the clocks so Shabbat once again starts early. Everything needs to get done 20 minutes before sunset. So before my morning workout, I got the meat portion of tonight's dinner going. The roast that looked big raw looks like enough for three or four dainty eaters.  Amazon.com Widgets The seats at our table will be filled with one dainty eater and the rest really love meat and eat like they have been doing hard physical labor all day.   So a mess of wings cooked in a smokey date molasses and mustard sauce should keep my guests happy. I have roasted mushrooms, tomatoes and slices of red pepper to add to our salad. My son made the challah last week. I had to pick up a few things. I couldn't resist take a few more pictures of the trees on the block. The ginko is starting to turn yellow. I loved the way the light hits the leaves. I know one usually doesn't think of nature on the streets of Manhattan, and I know I keep taking photos of the tre...

I have been working on making a Torah mantle for the past while. The mantle is being made in memory of someone named Baruch. Developing the design for this piece was a long, long process that took a few years. The text I am using comes from the daily prayers  Amazon.com Widgets והאר עינינו בתורתך ודבק לבנו במצותיך Enlighten our eyes with Your Torah, attach our hearts to your commandments My client   and I decided to use textiles that mattered to her and to Baruch to create the lettering. One of the textiles was a kippah worn by Baruch during the many months that he was bald from his chemo treatments.  Applique is basically collage on fabric. A few things complicate the task. One is that the base fabric for this Torah mantle is velvet. Velvet is beautiful. The wonderful nap has a tendency to shift when being sewn.  The other technical challenge is how to get the lettering onto the fabric. Early in my sewing career I attempted to attach a backi...

For synagogues world over, in a few weeks it will be the equivalent of opening night, the High Holidays. In anticipation of that season the synagogue needs to be in tip top shape.  Amazon.com Widgets A couple of weeks ago I was asked to repair this Torah mantle. You don't have to know anything about Judaica to know that this mantle looked pretty terrible and was unacceptable for use. The damage looks pretty spectacular but it is in fact an easy fix. You just stitch in a zig-zag fashion from the top of the mantle to the skirt. After about an hour, I was done. My thumb was sore, but the job completed. So now the skirt of the mantle is completely secure.  And now for tonight's dinner.usually when I plan dinner I take into account all of the things I can't serve. My husband abhors garlic and raw onion.  My daughter detests broccoli and raw kale. My older son is highly allergic to pumpkin seeds and hates spinach, but loves kale and collar...