Since their start in 2004, SM Stitches LLC has gone on to revolutionize the needlepoint industry. Mother-son duo Selene and Morris Shwecky dusted off a timeless tradition and gave it a whole new look and began serving the community with their creative pieces 13 years ago.

Looking back on the history of Judaica, we might not find the most beautiful or lavish of products being used by our ancestors to carry out certain mitzvot. This is because of the history of oppression and hardships that the generations before us had to endure. Things like a curacha (literal translation: leather sack, used to hold a man’s tallet and tefillin) would have most likely been a plane and common looking bag years ago.

A curacha set created by SM Stitches.

Today, we are fortunate enough to be able to practice our religion out in the open which enables us to indulge in using more beautiful ‘sacks’ to hold our precious religious items. These bags have become a way to showpiece a work of art that is crafted with the true intention of beautifying the mitzvah altogether.

The craft of needlepoint goes back as far as ancient Egypt. Jews began using this medium for Judaica in the past several decades consisting of basic drawings of Jerusalem or doves and other symbols related to our religion that were sewn into challah covers and curachas. More recently, it has been a hobby of elderly women who would sew tapestry or a scene that they would later frame and hang. Selene and Morris founded SM Stitches due to the need they saw in the industry for a balance between classic needlepointing and modernization.

A personalized challah cover created by SM Stitches.

The co-owners of SM Stitches have successfully modernized the needlepoint industry by offering an alternative to their clients. Selene and Morris take a more youthful approach to a once dated craft. Not only does SM Stitches offer classic religious items such as challah covers and curachas, but they also offer mezuzot with lucite cases, mazzeh pouches, megillah cases, and more.

Not only do they focus on Judaica, but SM Stitches also creates purses, backgammon sets, laptop cases, and many more practical everyday items as well. Every item sold is guaranteed to be completely unique both in its design as well as in its stitch work.

A needlepointed backgammon set in a lucite container created by SM Stitches.

Each item sold comes with unlimited teaching and instruction from our community’s top stitchers. They sit in the store and teach each customer stitches from basic to intricate and everything in between. This is Selene and Morris’s way of keeping the classic craft of needlepoint alive and well within our community for generations to come.

SM Stitches’ customers are a loyal bunch because each time they come back, they see new and exciting options, patterns, and prints that are constantly being updated. The artists behind the pieces keep in mind current trends in fashion, architecture, and design. They only create pieces that are fresh but stand the test of time. Some of their best customers have purchased over 20 products with SM Stitches and keep coming back for the warm inviting service, quality, and attention to detail of the products.

A needlepointed pictured of David, crica 1970, part of Morris's personal collection.

Some community families have three generationsof men in their family all carrying gorgeous curacha bags designed and crafted by SM Stitches. They have also made curachas for many young boys celebrating their bar mitzvahs and have later had their fiancé’s come in to Stitches later in life to make them their wedding curachas. These situations truly display how much of a staple this particular business is in our community.

“I feel such a sense of accomplishment being able to re-introduce this calming and timeless hobby into the modern world we live in of screens and more screens,” said Morris Schweky, co-owner and creative director of SM Stitches, “To see my customers faces when they receive a finished piece and know they themselves created it is a very rewarding thing for me.”

Two boys, Esses and Aboud, celebrating their Bar Mitzvahs with SM Stitches creations in Israel.

Since SM Stitches is always looking to the future, they have many things in the works. They already do business with the Sephardic community in Panama and are looking to continue to grow nationally as well as internationally. They are developing a website for online sales, developing their own thread line, and are working with different artists to make even more one of a kind designs to offer to their customers.

To learn more about SM Stitches follow them on Instagram @smstitches, check out their website, or visit their retail stores located at 335 Ave U Brooklyn, NY and 1191 Lincoln Square, Long Branch, NJ.

Frieda Schweky

Frieda@sephardic.org

Frieda Schweky is Sephardic.Org's official community events reporter. For inquiries and to get involved with our site, please contact Frieda via email.