Sewing Community
A podcast where quilters, tailors, fashion designers, garment industry workers, and fabric/textile artists from Westchester, NY share personal stories and family histories related to sewing and fabric. ArtsWestchester, the officially designated arts council for Westchester County, is working with Amanda Browder, a Brooklyn-based fabric artist, to transform a 9-story building in downtown White Plains into a cascading colorful, large-scale fabric installation called METROPOLIS SUNRISE. All of the stories heard in this podcast are from individuals involved in the building of this monumental work of public art. While this project is currently on hold because of COVID-19, our hope is that these stories, will in some small way, sustain and deepen the social fabric of community. Sewing Community is part of ArtsWestchester's Folk Arts Program, made possible in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
Episodes
19 episodes
The Viking Sewing Gallery
This episode features Christiana Sunshine and Talia Martineau, former and current managers of Scarsdale's Viking Sewing Gallery, as well as Metropolis Sunrise volunteer and clay artist, Myrna Goodman. The interview was recorded at the Viking Se...
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Season 1
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Episode 19
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11:16
Alayne Fitzpatrick & Karen Davern
This weeks episode features mother and daughter, Alayne Fitzptrick and Karen Davern. During our interview, they discuss their love of fashion, their family’s sewing history, the Hudson Valley fabric stores history, and mask making during ...
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Season 1
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Episode 18
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27:56
Becky Sussman
This week's episode features Rebecca Sussman, Director of Parent Education at Neighbor’s Link - an organization in Yonkers, NY whose mission is to strengthen community through the healthy integration of immigrants. In her free time, Becky colle...
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Season 1
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Episode 17
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27:41
Haifa Bint-Kadi
In this week's episode guest host Asavari Sharma speaks with Yonkers resident Haifa Bint Kadi, a Palestinian-American public mosaic artist and educator. Their conversation explores the power of embroidery for Palestinian women, the connection b...
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Season 1
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Episode 16
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33:20
Carmen Galiano, Fashion Designer
In this week's Sewing Community episode, guest-host Asavari Sharma speaks with New York fashion designer and educator Carmen Galiano. This interview was recorded over ZOOM on October 8, 2020. Music:
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Season 1
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Episode 15
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35:37
Nydia Novoa Sancho, Marylou Santoro & Arlene Brill
This week's episode features stories about family fabric arts traditions, sewing for charity, and the garment design industry with Nydia Novoa Sancho, Marylou Santoro, and Arlene Brill. Interviews with Ms. Sancho and Ms. Brill were recorded at ...
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Season 1
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Episode 14
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13:41
Rona Spar and Kim McCormack
This week's episode features stories from Mt. Kisco quilter Rona Spar and Katonah-based fabric artist, collector, and educator Kim McCormack. The interview with Rona Spar was recorded at ArtsWestchester on Jan 5th, 2020 while the intervie...
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Season 1
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Episode 13
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10:26
Chris Rodriguez, Deslyn Downes-Dyer & Marianne Corbino
This week's episode features interviews with Port Chester resident Chris Rodriguez, Croton-on-Hudson resident Deslyn Downes-Dyer, and White Plains resident Marianne Corbino as they reflect on the power and meaning of fabric in their families. I...
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Season 1
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Episode 12
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14:21
The Arc Westchester, NY
This week's episode features several interviews conducted at the Arc Westchester, the largest agency in Westchester County supporting children, teens and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, including individuals on the auti...
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Season 1
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Episode 11
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14:05
Peggy Robinson, Nandita Sinha & Katherine Creag Gafner
This episode featuring sewing stories from White Plains resident and upholsterer Peggy Robinson, Pelham resident Nandita Sinha, and WNBC TV News Journalist Katherine Creag Gafner. The interview with Peg Robinson was recorded in Hawthorne, NY at...
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Season 1
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Episode 10
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10:10
Valerie Miller Villafane & Mary Anne Ciccotelli
Valerie Miller Villafane and Mary Anne Ciccotelli discuss the power of fabric and quilts as they are passed from one generation to the next. The interview with Valerie Miller Villafane was recorded on January 12, 2020 at the ArtsWestchester bui...
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Season 1
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Episode 9
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10:04
Evelyn and Larry Eidelberg
White Plains residents and married couple Evelyn and Larry Eidelberg share personal stories of doll making, sewing machine collecting and of NYC's fabric and garment design industry. For podcast audio with images go to
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Season 1
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Episode 8
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11:27
Gerri Napolitano and Kristin McGuinness
This week’s episode features stories about Italian-Americans in the garment factories of Westchester. Gerri Napolitano discusses her family’s connection to two sweatshops in White Plains, while Kristin McGuinness shares memories and stories of ...
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Season 1
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Episode 7
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9:43
Diana Loja and the Loza Family
Diana Loja, Hispanic Community Liaison for the Village of Sleepy Hollow, as well three members of the Loza family, a father, brother and daughter, discuss their personal and family connections to sewing and tailoring in Ecuador. The inter...
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Season 1
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Episode 6
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8:47
Mitchell Wasserberg, Sewing Machine Repairman
In this week's episode, life-long New Yorker and go-to Westchester sewing machine repairman, Mitch Wasserberg, shares stories about growing up in the family trimmings and fabric business and discusses how got his start in with sewing machines. ...
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Season 1
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Episode 5
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9:48
Fatiha Makloufi and Regina Farrell-Fagan
White Plains resident Fatiha Makloufi discusses her inspiration for starting a clothing design business in New York City as well as her connection to a long lineage of independent seamstresses in Algeria, her place of origin. This interview was...
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Season 1
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Episode 4
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10:03
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Kenneth G. Wray
Ken Wray, Mayor of the Village of Sleepy Hollow, NY, reflects on his first job out of college working with the Amalgamated Clothing Workers Union and discusses the importance of public art to local community. This interview was recored on Febru...
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Season 1
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Episode 3
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10:26
