sarah in nyc

B and I attended the same Jewish day school. B was two  years ahead of me. We had never spoken. Given how small the school was, ( there were 28 in my graduating class) we certainly knew who one another was. B, now lives around he corner from my husband’s closest friend.  A couple of years ago, while visiting my husband's friend B. and I went for a long walk and had a long heart to heart about our school experiences.  Despite never having spoken during our school years, we really knew one another quite well. A few weeks ago  B. and her family hosted us for the weekend. Just before we left, B. handed me her tallit. she loved the tallit but hated the atara/neckband  pictured here.  I suggested that the new atara serve as B’s gateway into prayer and that she should think about a verse that would be that gateway. A week or so ago, B called . She had chosen the verse “ And the spirit of God hovered over the face of the water” Many of you may recognize t...

My friend Naamah is tall and willowy. She also is a wonderful dresser.  Naamah’s  daughter has a completely different, but also lovely shape, and completely different style of dressing. Although my daughter is not tall. her shape is more similar to Naamah’s. My daughter also has a similar sense of style. So my daughter has been inheriting some wonderful clothing from Naamah. This dress came in the latest batch of clothing. I think that it must be from the mid 1970’s. It’s knit from a mystery fiber ( a cotton synthetic blend), and edged with hand done crochet in cotton. it has a French label. My daughter loved the dress. It’s perfect to wear swing dancing.  She loved the 1930’s vibe of the dress.   She hated the color. Naamah’s coloring is like Snow White’s. The soft green is dramatic against her black hair. These sorts of soft colors do my daughter no favors.     My daughter asked me to dye the dress a dark color, any dark color. Two b...

Today I dyed the night portion of Mimi's tallit.   I guess I can call it “wet night” , the dye is still fairly wet in this picture. This is layer two of the dye job. The shine of the charmeuse  throws off light so colors appear lighter than than actually are. I have also been working away on piecing the day portion of the tallit. While the dye was wet I sprinkled layer #1 of the dye with salt and dribbled rubbing alcohol over the surface to make the sky look like outer space.  The salt gathers up the dye, so you get a more intense spot of dye underneath each grain of salt. The alcohol pushes the dye away so you get a lighter spot beneath it. I added both sugar and salt to the top layer of dye. I like creating the sense of looking into deep space.   Sometimes when dyes are out, it makes sense to dye other things that need some color.  My hands tend to get cold.  When my hands get cold, they hurt. I like to wear the sort of thin gloves women use...

Another layer of color  brings Shaun’s tallit closer to the red that I’m aiming for. The colors I’m adding to the dye mix are brown, a crazy bright red and purple.   Another layer or two of color should do it.

Often, I will describe myself as a schmatta girl. Occasionally, I will have a client that is also a schmatta girl (or boy). Shaun is is a schmatta girl. Fabric has meaning and tells a story. Shaun loves to layer shades of red. Her tallit will have reddish stripes with text calligraphed onto them. The base of the tallit is a silk/hemp blend. The fabric has a vintage feel, like a fancy dress from the late 1940’s with a cottony wrong side and a smooth satiny face. I could imagine a dinner dress made in this fabric. Yesterday, I lay down the first layer of dye. I plan to layer several layers of thin dye to get a deep maroony red. because the dye will be applied unevenly the finished fabric will have an iridescent look. I know, so far this looks pink. Give me a few more passes with the dyes and it will be a rich off-red. I plan to keep deepening the color until I’m happy with the results.

Rachel's waves I’m now working on the ocean portion of Rachel’s tallit. I layers three colors of Shantung, a turquoise a blue/grey and a dark green.T stitched waves and then began cutting away layers of the silk. while I was working, I found a length of silk charmeuse that I had dyed in blue/greens. I’m adding some waves in the charmeuse. Once the piece looks oceany enough, I will then satin stitch and cover all of the raw edges. I suppose that there other other ways to build an ocean out of fabric, but this is my favorite method. crossing Broadway Walking on the south bound lane of Broadway after the storm And now for the continuing weather report.  You can see that at 9:00 this morning, that Broadway was still unpopulated by cars, you can see the lone walker walking south.  The cross streets were still unplowed. A little later on in the day I saw parents pulling their little one on a sled, going west. During the night I saw the Chinese restaurant delivery men weav...

I made this blanket and jacket set for my neighbor's new baby. I knew that it was a hit when my two macho sons started cooing " That is so cuuuute.", with no irony in their voices. My daughter asked me to make her a similar jacket in her size, but there isn't enough dalmation spot fabric left for that. The blanket is self lined. The jacket is lined in a cushy white cotton knit. I didn't use a pattern but rather a simple dolman sleeved shape. I guestimated the size. It ought to fit the baby at some point All of the fabrics came by way of http://www.fabricmart.com/ knit bundles. When I first unwrapped the dalmation fabric, I thought, " Cute, but not for me.". I'm glad I had it around for baby duds. Gotta love them bundles. I also liked that it was a relatively quick present to make. My kids are begging me to make their as yet, non-existent children clothing. I assume that their kids will have lots of really goofy clothes made by me. I am a firm belie...