Sew a set of honeycomb place mats for your Rosh Hoshanah table and get ready for a sweet new year. These mats would be great in the sukkah, too. This is a simple pattern, easy to sew, and it’s a free pattern to boot. L’shanah tovah! Wishing you a good year! Materials Recommended fabrics: The … Continue reading
Let’s talk about that moment in a sewing project when you’re about to make that first cut in your fabric. It can be intimidating. Sometimes it can be downright scary. And sometimes that fear is enough to stop a project in its tracks. I’ve had sewing students tell me they’d pay someone just to stand … Continue reading
I’ve really been inspired by people who’ve put themselves on the line for the sake of building a better world. I’ve been looking for ways to contribute, if only small ways. This is one of those small ways. It’s a pattern for a hand embroidered atarah, a neckpiece for a tallit prayer shawl. The design … Continue reading
Even the little ones can get in on the holiday fun with their own soft toy dreidel. An you can get the PDF pattern in the shop! This dreidel sports the traditional Hebrew letters and a pointed bottom just like a classic dreidel, but in soft toy form. The letters are machine appliqued, and I’ll … Continue reading
![How to Sew the Slip Stitch [Video Tutorial]](https://sewjewish.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/slip-stitch-matzah-cover-video-thumbnail.png?w=290&h=290&crop=1 "How to Sew the Slip Stitch [Video Tutorial]")
The slip stitch is a great hand sewing stitch for closing an opening in a seam from the right side of the fabric, or outside of the project. Even though you’re sewing on the outer surface of the project, the stitches are virtually invisible. I use the slip stitch often in finishing projects, including the … Continue reading
The dream: make a matzah cover that looks like a piece of matzah. For more than a year the idea had been kicking around the back of my mind, and after two months of getting the pattern just right –as well as figuring out how to photograph it– the dream is now a reality. You … Continue reading
I know we’re in Purim mode at the moment, but we’ve just set the date for a Passover matzah cover sewing class at Beetle and Fred that you might want to put on your calendar. The class will be on Sunday, March 11 from 11am to 1pm. Beetle and Fred is located on Main Street … Continue reading
This is the season when the weekly Torah portion returns several times to the subject of the Tabernacle the Israelites built after leaving Egypt. Building the Tabernacle was a community project that involved sewing, weaving, and embroidery, among other crafts. I thought this would be a great time to post an excerpt from the introduction … Continue reading
This Fabric Friday’s selection is Robert Kaufman Fabrics’ Kona Cotton in the color “Wheat,” to coordinate with the matzah print fabric you probably already have in your stash. I walked into one of my local quilt shops this earlier this week, not sure if I would find a color that would coordinate well with my … Continue reading
When I do machine applique, like the almond blossom in the image above, I typically secure the applique to the background fabric with iron-on adhesive web and then finish the edges of the applique with zigzag stitches. Several sewists have asked me if I’ve ever tried a fabric adhesive stick instead of iron-on adhesive web. … Continue reading
There’s a new challah cover pattern in the shop: “Almond Blossoms.” Almond trees are the first trees of the year to blossom in Israel. They produce flowers even before the leaves appear. In late winter, as the days grow longer, the almond trees come into bloom, a welcome sign of renewal and a promise of … Continue reading
The open skies and vast mountain ranges of Aspen provide a breathtaking backdrop for this romantic wedding chuppah created by floral designer and event stylist Frances Harjeet. Harjeet, whose firm Prema is based in Colorado, is known for her lush, romantic floral designs and impeccable styling. Her creations often emphasize our connection to nature. For … Continue reading
Reasons to make a reusable coffee sleeve: It saves resources over disposable cardboard sleeves. You can personalize it. You can make a gift of it for someone to let them know you care. Reasons to make this reusable coffee sleeve: It’s reversible. Unlike most coffee cozy patterns, you don’t need to add a button or … Continue reading
Use this technique to add a lining to your challah cover and give it a clean, finished look without needing binding or trim. To illustrate, I’m the using the Cut and Sew Shalom Challah Cover fabric panel available through Spoonflower. That’s the Hebrew word “Shalom” in the center with clusters of pomegranates, figs, and quinces. … Continue reading
Here’s a quick way to make a whole field of embroidered flowers: the lazy daisy stitch. It’s another variation on that versatile chain stitch. Instead of the loops forming a line, they radiate out in a circle from a center point like flower petals. Five or six loops make a full flower, depending on how … Continue reading
The chain stitch is one of the most widely-used embroidery stitches in folk needle crafts, especially Jewish folk needle crafts. It’s also one of the most versatile. Most of the time the chain stitch is used to make a continuous line of linked loops, like the outlines of the fish and the letters in the … Continue reading
When looking for Jewish design inspiration, illustrated Jewish manuscripts offer a treasure trove of themes and forms. And now, the British Library has made dozens of illustrated manuscripts from the Middle Ages accessible online through the Hebrew Manuscripts Digitisation Project. Within the digitized collection you’ll find hand calligraphed Passover Haggadahs, daily prayer books, Kabbalistic texts, … Continue reading
Update: You can now see the replay on the InterfaithFamily Facebook page. Is there a chuppah –or chuppah making– in your future? Join Rabbi Jillian Cameron of InterfaithFamily/Boston and me this Sunday LIVE on Facebook as we chat about everything you didn’t think you needed to know about the wedding canopy – chuppah! From logistics … Continue reading
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