sarah in nyc

 If you have spent any time at all reading this blog you will know that I work best when I have several bits of projects going on at the same time. I have three big projects all due on the same day (just under two weeks from today). I am attacking each of these projects from a variety of directions. When the dust settles all of them will be completed. Friday I sewed Ale's tallit together. In terms of actual tasks, I folded it in half the wrong side out, sewed the raw edges together being sure that the stripes aligned as I stitched. I then unpicked some of the stitches and then turned the tallit right-side out through the small hole made by the un-done stitches. I then carefully pressed the tallit and topstitched all the way around. Much to my delight... You can read the text straight across each stripe --from one side of the tallit to the other. I am so chuffed about this. I paint the text freehand. I am not painting the text while paying close attention to a ruler. This nearly per...

 When I have a chunk of work to do that requires a great deal of concentration and focus and has zero room for errors, it makes me a little bit anxious. That anxiety can lead to paralysis and procrastination. I have found a way to work around that paralysis. I call it priming the pump. I actually have had experience using a water pump (Thank you Curtis Betts). If you come across a water pump that hasn't been used in a while, the way to get it to work is to pour water down into the pump. The new water is somehow drawn into the workings of the pumps and then you are able to pump as much water as you need. I was about to start doing the lettering for Linda's tallit. It was difficult to source the fabric and it was expensive. The lettering for this piece just needs to look good.  In order to get ready to begin the lettering, I tackled a bunch of jobs that on the face of it looked like nothing but busy work. I had purchased the Ikea fabric for this tablecloth with my sister. It was...

Usually when I do a project it is a collaboration between me and my client.  These two atarot are a collaboration between my client, my sister (who did the calligraphy) and me. This is the atara for the bat mitzvah girl. Below is the atara for her mother. I didn't want the two to be identical despite being made using the same fabric and the same paint colors. I want to show you how I built up the decorative stitching at the ends of the atara. First I stitched rays in straight stitch using gold metallic thread. I thought the diamond shaped stitching would add the right amount of punch. I use a thin bronze colored thread. It is meant to be used in sweater knitting to add a bit of elegant sheen. The thread was not made to run through a sewing machine. If you aren't used to the thread it breaks often and causes the user to do a great deal of cursing.  After so many years ( I have a giant cone of this thread) I have terrorized the thread into...

The time has come to start another batch of challah covers.  I started yesterday and Amazon.com Widgets continued working today. Three of them have  Most of this  liturgical poem calligraphed onto them. the poem was written as an introduction to one of the Shabbat morning prayers but has migrated and is often sung as an after Shabbat dinner table song. Here is one setting of the poem. it's lovely, but not the melody was thinking of as I carefully painted each word. The chorus of the poem, my soul thirsts for the living God  is a quote from Psalms. Each verse is packed with references to Biblical quotes that rhyme internally. Everly verse ends with the word chai,  lives. This another lovely setting, but also not the one I was singing as I painted. The text shimmers on the silk. It isn't visible at every angle or in every light. The meaning of the text is a little obscure as well. I like how the way I painted the text...

Yesterday my case of the yucks  had retreated enough so I could get a bit of work done. Amazon.com Widgets This tallit is being made foe Cavill, a rabbinical student. The due date is soon, really soon. My fist task was to cut strips of silk for the stripes. The best way to do this task is to snip a cut into the fabric, and then pull a thread at the center of the cut. The pulled thread leaves you with a line that shows you exactly where to cut. This beautiful silk tussah made the task of pulling the thread difficult. But time on the phone with BOTH of my sisters made passing the time a bit easier. Eventually it was time to start painting the text. Both my home growing up and the Jewish day school that I attended had similar approaches to spirituality in prayer. This approach may be foreign to those more familiar with the world of Jewish Renewal where the attainment of spiritual satisfaction is both more paramount and more public. I was brought up in a tradition where t...

A Little Bit O This  I have bad old lady feet. I have had old lady feet since I was in my teens. I love fun, funky shoes but I enjoy them vicariously.  If I could buy any shoes on the planet I would buy shoes like these or these Or, perhaps these. For the most part I have made my peace with the fact that I will live out my days wearing men's cowboy boots when the weather permits and wear German old lady sandals in the summer.  If I want to buy pretty shoes, I buy them for my daughter. I have noticed that many of the cool blogging women swear by John Fluevogs. They are shoes that look quirky but seem to be comfortable, They don't come in wide. And they are expensive so I had admired them in store windows. Today, one of the local thrift stores had these shoes. I tried them on assuming that they would not fit. They fit. The price tag read $25. I took them home. Well, as a good thrift shopper I know that the joy of thrift shopping is increa...

Because I had sold my only copy of this matza cover, it was time to make some new ones for my stash. I really like the design. my lettering has improved a whole lot since this was made several years ago. The center of the matza cover is made out of a quilting cotton that is no longer in print. Now that I have access to really beautiful silks and wools, it seems like a waste of time to make challah covers and matza covers in quilting cottons.   The stone path through the water is the major focal point of the matza cover, so I had to figure something out. I’m also trying to figure out how to do work in less obsessively labor intensive ways. When I actually sit down to figure out how much I make per hour, it can be pretty depressing.   I decided to try painting the rocks. I pulled a piece of  ivory wool/rayon broadcloth out of my stash. my tallit is made out of this wool as is my son’s. This is what I came up with. Rocky enough for you? I then cut strips ou...