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About Me |
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Who am I and how did I get here? I've been sewing since I was a Brownie Scout trying to attach my fly-up wings to my sash (and didn't know the thread had to be knotted for the stitches to hold). I began embroidering in junior high, thanks to a history teacher who allowed us to create original projects for class. Mine was a stitched sampler, done in colonial period style. In 1976, my Cadette troop adopted the Bicentennial theme and I had to make my own dress, mob cap, apron and fichu. This was my long-awaited chance to learn (and shortly after, take over) my mom's sewing machine. I began sewing all my own clothes. In my 20s, I designed and sewed several wedding dresses and bridesmaids outfits. While my husband was in graduate school, I sang in a local Gilbert and Sullivan group and beaded my sister's wedding gown during rehearsals. When the costume director resigned two weeks before opening night, I was drafted to fill in, and spent the next three years making costumes for Iolanthe, The Mikado, and The Gondoliers. Once we had kids, the sewing machine and I turned to more domestic pursuits. At my children's Jewish preschool, what began as "Lori, can you shorten these old bridesmaid dresses so the kids can wear them for dress-up?" turned into making Pesach and Purim costumes for each classroom. I also made kid-friendly costume dresses for the school, which also became a popular birthday gift item among my sons’ female classmates. Three years ago, I was diagnosed with leukemia. Talk about a life-changing event! Cancer wasn't exactly on my "to-do" list. At first we focused on the medical issues, and I struggled to continue doing my job as a 401(k) plan administrator and writer along with raising the kids. I didn’t have time or energy to even think about the larger question of “what’s next?” I was exhausted, frayed, and too overwhelmed to be any good to my husband, kids, my job, or myself. Ultimately I left my job to focus on home, and as my health has improved, to find a new path. Since that time, I have been on a spiritual journey -- first through my sons' Bar Mitzvahs and then through my own participation in an adult Bat Mitzvah class. This journey has led me down some very familiar paths, but in ways I had never seen before. Last winter, I began making Joel’s tallis. It wasn’t the first one I’d made, but it was one of the most spiritual and healing things I have ever done – and it took me utterly by surprise. I would sit in the mornings at my sewing machine, with only a couple of penciled sketches, not knowing what would come forth. Never having been a particularly spiritual person, I found myself spontaneously saying “Shechechyanu” just for being alive and creating. I started digging into my Torah portion and other verses, looking for healing. When my husband and I went to Amsterdam in February following a business trip, I spent time at the Jewish Historical Museum photographing artwork, scrolls and tallit that somehow survived the Holocaust. I searched Jewish books looking at ketubbahs, needlework and paintings for themes and inspiration. As I stitched Joel’s tallis, and since then, mine, I sewed my frayed edges together and have repaired the rips and tears. I suppose that is part of why I like crazy quilting — making seams beautiful and strong again. I’ve learned to see how my writing, photography and needlework can help not only my own spiritual growth, but I am finding ways to use these skills to make a difference for others as well. It has become a journey of not only fulfilling mitzvot, but to make them more beautiful and spiritually meaningful... ...which is how I've found myself here. |
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To contact me: |
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My tallis in progress |
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My first embroidery project (1974) |