Cantor Deborah Katchko-Gray Shows How to Make Prayerful Creations with Swedish Weaving in Her New Book
Books / The Arts / Embroidery

Cantor Deborah Katchko-Gray Shows How to Make Prayerful Creations with Swedish Weaving in Her New Book

Deborah Katchko-Gray is a professional cantor and accomplished needle artist. When she’s not weaving melodies with her voice she’s weaving embroidery thread, creating Judaica with a technique called Swedish weaving. Swedish weaving is a type of embroidery in which the stitches are worked on the surface of the fabric. Rather than the needle passing to … Continue reading

Embroidering Sacred Texts – A Book of Judaic Needlework Designs from Rachel Braun
Books / The Arts / Embroidery

Embroidering Sacred Texts – A Book of Judaic Needlework Designs from Rachel Braun

This month, when so many students are going back to school, seems like the perfect time to highlight Rachel Braun’s book, Embroidery and Sacred Text: New Designs in Judaic Needlework, in which Rachel draws on principles of mathematics to develop needlework designs that explore Jewish spirituality. Rachel teaches high school math and statistics, and she’s … Continue reading

Free Hand Embroidery Pattern for Tallit Atarah: “We Will Build this World with Love”
Atarah / Embroidery / Free Patterns / Tallit

Free Hand Embroidery Pattern for Tallit Atarah: “We Will Build this World with Love”

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

How to embroider the stem stitch & a little hamsa to practice on
Embroidery / Free Patterns / Projects and Tutorials

How to embroider the stem stitch & a little hamsa to practice on

To embroider curved lines, the stem stitch makes a fabulous choice. It turns along curved lines beautifully, and you can vary the thickness of your embroidered line by varying the angle of the needle as you make the stitch. These stitch diagrams illustrate the how-to, and I’ve posted a little hamsa for you to practice … Continue reading

Introduction to Drawn Thread Embroidery – Open Sky Sukkah Workshop
Communities / Embroidery / Holidays / Projects and Tutorials / Sukkot

Introduction to Drawn Thread Embroidery – Open Sky Sukkah Workshop

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