sarah in nyc

 Just before Passover, I washed my bedroom curtains. I noticed that the lace curtain, the one that Victorians would call the glass curtain because it is the one next to the glass window had developed holes. These curtains had begun life as my living room curtains about thirty years ago. My husband kept saying that since they are made out of lace they ought to have holes in them. I think that he really wanted me to avoid unnecessary work. The holes were beyond what I could tolerate. While my old curtains were the height of late 80s early 90s interior design style finding such curtains or even such yardage wasn't easy in 2025 where minimalism is prized. Eventually a bit of internet searching turned up some yardage that would work well enough. The fabric arrived a few days ago and now, we have a new pair of glass curtains in place and unfiltered morning light won't make my husband miserable. They even look OK at night. Actual time to cut, sew and put up these curtains? probably le...

 I delivered the Torah mantle Wednesday afternoon. It was an emotional time both for me and for Benjy's parents. They both wondered about how I applied the beads to the surface of the mantle. They were surprised that I had hand-stitched each one into place and were delighted by the variety of beads I had used. We spent a long time together talking about many things, family, Benjiy, the meaning of the verse chosen, grief, children, and the mantle. Our conversation swooped and looped. At various moments there were tears.  I am just so happy that Benjy's parents are so pleased. I have been working at a supercharged speed since switching the house over for Passover. If you are attuned to the Jewish calendar that's seven weeks. My husband strongly suggested that I take a day off.  Yesterday, I took something of a busman's holiday. I made a small batch of napkins. A number of our napkins have been demoted to the schmatta pile over the past several months. Our everyday napkin...

 When I have a big project to do (like Max's tallit) it often really helps my focus to have little side projects going at the same time. If I don't work on the little side projects than when I run into a problem with my main project I will just spin my wheels, feel guilty about wasting time and worry about the problem that has cropped up in the process of working. I devote this post to four such small side projects. Side project #1 A while back I had purchased two coordinating striped shirtings from  Fabric Mart Fabrics  planning to make two sets of pillowcases out of the fabrics. When the cotton arrived I was delighted to see that they were both the same really high-quality cotton shirtings that are as smooth as silk and wash like a dream. I don't know which shirt manufacturer had sold leftovers to Fabric Mart but clearly, it was from the sort of shirt maker that charges big bucks for their wares. I made two pillowcases using the narrow stripe for the body of the pillowc...