jews in the d
All By Hand
Sharon Blatt’s creations
can be found worldwide.
JOYCE WISWELL CONTRIBUTING WRITER
PHOTOS BY RUDY THOMAS
S
TOP: Sharon Blatt with some of her
handmade, personalized blankets and
pillows; her stylized dollhouse in the
background became a replica of her own
house. BOTTOM: Blatt adds a sukkah to her
dollhouse — and other holiday traditions
— as the calendar progresses.
haron Blatt of Farmington has always
loved being a homebody. But rather
than veg out with a book or TV show,
she used her free time to create works of
art. Today, her handiwork can be found all
over the world.
About 45 years ago, the former Detroit
Public Schools art teacher crafted a per-
sonalized patchwork gingham pillow for
her daughter Susan, then created less frilly
versions for her sons Neal and Jonathan.
Before she knew it, she was making per-
sonalized items as gifts for friends, and her
hobby soon turned into a thriving cottage
industry.
“It just mushroomed,” said Blatt, 82,
who attends Adat Shalom Synagogue in
Farmington Hills. She named her business
Sharynne Originals, choosing a stylized
version of her first name.
Blatt started selling her creations at
Heaven to Seven, a gift shop in
Birmingham, whose owner Barry
Parson encouraged her to find a
larger audience.
“He kept telling me they were
too nice to just leave there and
that I should take them to Saks,”
Blatt recalled. “I thought, ‘I can’t
handle a big thing like that.’”
But she gave it a go and the
upscale retailer put in an order for
17 stores and featured her pillows
and quilts in its baby gift catalog.
Orders started pouring in and
Blatt, with the help of her dear
friend, the late Peggy Rose, got
to work. “I still have the receipts
when I would get an order. I
would send them to New York
and they would send them all over
the country. We were able to keep
up with it all,” she said. “We must
have made thousands. Someone
told me they saw one at a house in
the Middle East. When I took the kids to
Europe, I made pillows for our guides and
their grandchildren as a nice way to say
thank you. I am so pleased they went to all
those places.”
Though she rarely sews anymore, Blatt
keeps the business running with the help of
her daughter. “I am just too old to do it, but
once in a while I can squeeze out a pillow,”
she said.
The biggest challenge is finding peo-
ple who know how to do the sewing and
applique work, she said. Currently, a local
woman is making the products, but she
works fulltime sewing in an awning factory
so can only devote so much time.
One of Sharynne Originals’ biggest cus-
tomers has been Doris Werner, 88, of West
Bloomfield.
“I started buying pillows 40 years or
more ago and have given them to hun-
dreds of kids,” she said. “I have spent thou-
sands of dollars on those pillows! Everyone
adores them.”
Among the recipients are Werner’s many
nieces and nephews (and years later, their
own children) who live in Israel. When the
family gathers for Sukkot, everyone brings
their pillow and they all pose for a group
picture to send to Werner.
“In a way, it’s my legacy, not only
Sharon’s,” Werner said. “Those pillows have
a tradition of history and love.”
A REALISTIC DOLLHOUSE
Blatt’s creativity goes far beyond the pillows
and quilts. Her handcrafted jewelry was
sold at Saks and the DIA giftshop; but per-
haps her most treasured creation, a large
dollhouse, will never leave the family.
The Blatts bought the dollhouse for a
young Susie, but it soon became Sharon’s
pet project. The more she worked on it, the
more it began to resemble her own house.
The children’s rooms are accurate repli-
cas of their childhood quarters, while the
front hall is filled with items that reflect
the family’s Jewish heritage, including
a Shabbat prayer book, menorah and
Chanukah giftwrap. “Dad’s Office/Den,”
the space favored by the late Ronald Blatt,
includes a wee copy of a TRS-80 Radio
Shack computer, which was launched in
1977. Many rooms include, naturally, tiny
Sharynne Originals pillows, quilts, sheets
and towels.
“I was amazed at how it became to
look more and more like our house,” said
Blatt, who has promised the dollhouse to
a granddaughter. “It’s really a reflection of
what was going on in our home.” ■
jn
October 18 • 2018
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