The antidote to a throw-away world: a fine seamstress

FALLS VILLAGE — In the age of disposable cheap clothing, purchased at big box stores, there are a few holdouts who appreciate those items of lasting value that can be repaired, altered and otherwise have their lives extended.

The trick, of course, is to know a good alterations person. They are rare. Gabriele Spaziani of Falls Village is one.

Spaziani, who lives and sews on Sand Road, said she began taking in work three years ago. “I started off slow, just to bring in a little extra income.�

Her home has a modest sign out front, advertising sewing and repair. And she had cards made up, which she distributed at laundromats and at Noble Horizons and Geer Village.

Spaziani learned the basics of sewing from her mother, and began using those skills when her own kids were young — she made stuffed animals for them.

She experimented with making clothes for the children, “but I found that making clothes was more expensive than buying them.�

The thriftiness, and the business opportunity, is what inspired her to do repair work.

During a recent visit to her shop by this reporter, she had two play dresses for young girls ready to go. She had fixed them up with clever button-and-snap arrangements to shorten the dresses’ length. This will allow them to be used when the children get taller, without requiring another trip to the sewing machine.

Business picks up at her shop before Christmas and New Year’s, she said, and prom time is always busy.

Spaziani charges $10-12 for basic hemming services, and $25 for zippers. The cost of other jobs varies; she will give a client a price at the consultation.

Regular customers take advantage of her drop-off and pick-up arrangement. “If you have something easy, pin it up� and leave it in her enclosed front porch. Or a client can leave written instructions.

There is a payment and receipt box on the porch as well.

Spaziani’s day job is at Stadium Systems in North Canaan, where she repairs and refurbishes athletic equipment. She gets to use old Singer sewing machines there — “They’ve even got an old pedal machine.�

Spaziani’s home is at 84 Sand Road in Falls Village, and her telephone numbers are 860-824-5409 and 860-459-5782. New customers should call for an appointment, preferably on the weekend.

Latest News

Walking among the ‘Herd’

Michel Negroponte

Betti Franceschi

"Herd,” a film by Michel Negroponte, will be screening at The Norfolk Library on Saturday April 13 at 5:30 p.m. This mesmerizing documentary investigates the relationship between humans and other sentient beings by following a herd of shaggy Belted Galloway cattle through a little more than a year of their lives.

Negroponte and his wife have had a second home just outside of Livingston Manor, in the southwest corner of the Catskills, for many years. Like many during the pandemic, they moved up north for what they thought would be a few weeks, and now seldom return to their city dwelling. Adjacent to their property is a privately owned farm and when a herd of Belted Galloways arrived, Negroponte realized the subject of his new film.

Keep ReadingShow less
Fresh perspectives in Norfolk Library film series

Diego Ongaro

Photo submitted

Parisian filmmaker Diego Ongaro, who has been living in Norfolk for the past 20 years, has composed a collection of films for viewing based on his unique taste.

The series, titled “Visions of Europe,” began over the winter at the Norfolk Library with a focus on under-the-radar contemporary films with unique voices, highlighting the creative richness and vitality of the European film landscape.

Keep ReadingShow less
New ground to cover and plenty of groundcover

Young native pachysandra from Lindera Nursery shows a variety of color and delicate flowers.

Dee Salomon

It is still too early to sow seeds outside, except for peas, both the edible and floral kind. I have transplanted a few shrubs and a dogwood tree that was root pruned in the fall. I have also moved a few hellebores that seeded in the near woods back into their garden beds near the house; they seem not to mind the few frosty mornings we have recently had. In years past I would have been cleaning up the plant beds but I now know better and will wait at least six weeks more. I have instead found the most perfect time-consuming activity for early spring: teasing out Vinca minor, also known as periwinkle and myrtle, from the ground in places it was never meant to be.

Planting the stuff in the first place is my biggest ever garden regret. It was recommended to me as a groundcover that would hold together a hillside, bare after a removal of invasive plants save for a dozen or so trees. And here we are, twelve years later; there is vinca everywhere. It blankets the hillside and has crept over the top into the woods. It has made its way left and right. I am convinced that vinca is the plastic of the plant world. The stuff won’t die. (The name Vinca comes from the Latin ‘vincire’ which means ‘to bind or fetter.’) Last year I pulled a bunch and left it strewn on the roof of the root cellar for 6 months and the leaves were still green.

Keep ReadingShow less
Matza Lasagne by 'The Cook and the Rabbi'

Culinary craftsmanship intersects with spiritual insights in the wonderfully collaborative book, “The Cook and the Rabbi.” On April 14 at Oblong Books in Rhinebeck (6422 Montgomery Street), the cook, Susan Simon, and the rabbi, Zoe B. Zak, will lead a conversation about food, tradition, holidays, resilience and what to cook this Passover.

Passover, marked by the traditional seder meal, holds profound significance within Jewish culture and for many carries extra meaning this year at a time of great conflict. The word seder, meaning “order” in Hebrew, unfolds in a 15-step progression intertwining prayers, blessings, stories, and songs that narrate the ancient saga of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery. It’s a narrative that has endured for over two millennia, evolving with time yet retaining its essence, a theme echoed beautifully in “The Cook and the Rabbi.”

Keep ReadingShow less