Couples planning weddings have lots of options when it comes to their chuppah, and the person supplying the chuppah frame is often not the same person creating the canopy. How do you make sure the canopy and the frame will be the right size for each other? This blog post explains the dimensions that count … Continue reading
Roses are red, or yellow, or blueish, But did you know they can also be Jewish? OK, that was kind of corny. And we all know roses come in a lot more colors, like white or pink or peach. But the rose’s status as a Jewish symbol is less well known. A Symbol of God’s … Continue reading
Are you sewing a wedding chuppah canopy or having one made for you? You’re probably also looking for poles or a frame to hold up the canopy. Birch branch chuppah frames are popular for weddings because they just look super charming. And birch chuppah kits can be ordered online, which makes them super convenient. Last … Continue reading
Online sources to order matzah print fabric for your fabulous Passover projects. Continue reading
Have you ever finished an embroidery project and wanted to hang it up using the hoop as the frame? Use these instructions to add a back to a hooped embroidery project and give it a finished look. Add a ribbon, and it’s ready for hanging on a wall or window. For the hoopla in the … Continue reading
Get Stitch-a-hedron! in paperback (Amazon) or PDF (Etsy). Stitch-a-hedron! the latest book by Cathy Perlmutter, is just plain fun. Or maybe that should be fun with planes, as in flat surfaces. All the projects in the book are based on polyhedrons, three-dimensional shapes made from flat surfaces. Combine six squares and eight hexagons, for example, … Continue reading
It’s Hanukkah season and here’s your dreidel game refresher in fabric and thread. There are lots of variations, but this is the classic version as I learned it. Good luck! Start the Game At the start of each round all players put a chocolate coin into the center pot. The first player spins the dreidel, … Continue reading
Did Hanukkah sneak up on you, too? Heck, even Thanksgiving snuck up on me. Only yesterday I realized I needed to check in with my kids on which foods they’d like for Thanksgiving. Then I realized Hanukkah starts only 10 days later. That doesn’t leave a lot of time for Hanukkah sewing. For folks who … Continue reading
Personalize your cell phone sleeping bag, the cut-and-sew project available at Spoonflower (Cell Phone Sleeping Bag Cut-and-Sew Project), by adding your name with embroidery. You can use an electronic embroidery machine, of course, and you can also embroider a name by hand. If you’re giving the bag as a gift, a hand-embroidered name gives your … Continue reading
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
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
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 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
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
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
This Sukkot I got the chance to lead a workshop for the Beacon Sukkah Project, a Sukkot-long program of arts and lectures organized by the Beacon Hebrew Alliance and Beacon Arts in Beacon, New York. To fit this year’s theme, “Open to the Sky,” I led an introduction to drawn thread embroidery, and thought I’d … Continue reading
Sew Jewish 