Elizabeth Talerman and Stephanie Pinerio are combining their creativity to make change.
In the first week of February, the pair launched a hand-embroidered repurposed clothing line in The Bellwether. Customers can drop off clothing items that they’d like stitched with one of three phrases — “Love Wins,” “Love Thy Neighbor,” or “ICE Out Now.”
“I’ve been heartsick about what’s going on around the country, especially in Minneapolis, and the other day when ICE descended on Greenport and kidnapped these three men, I thought, I’ve got to do something local,” says Talerman.
Each design is $50, with all proceeds plus 5% of each order donated to OLA of Eastern Long Island, a Latino-focused advocacy organization serving East Hampton, Southampton, Riverhead, Southold and Shelter Island.
In creating this initiative, she hopes to raise at least $1,000 for the organization.
“Once we saw the kind of workmanship that she was putting into this and how heartfelt it was, we were so happy to know that she wanted to give part of the proceeds to OLA,” says Minerva Perez, executive director of OLA of Eastern Long Island. “We are grateful for her support and we’re grateful for the many beautiful folks of the North Fork and also the South Fork who are supporting the actions that we are doing, who care very much about their neighbors and the state of our local community.”
Talerman, founder and creative director of Three Sheet Makers Co. has been using art to make change and challenge concepts since the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
She did her first stitch work on $1 doilies from the White Flower Farmhouse, and later stitched an image of former supreme court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg for a show at Floyd Memorial Library.
Talerman was invited back for multiple shows in which she used her talent to comment on banned books and unsung female artists.
Pinerio, owner of The Bellwether, encountered Talerman’s work while in a show with her at Floyd Memorial Library and asked her to bring her embroidery skills to the shop.
“Since then, it’s kind of snowballed into two crazy people with five million ideas,” says Pinerio.
Vintage embroidered items offered by Elizabeth Talerman and Stephanie Pinerio. (Photo Credit: Stephanie Pinerio)
What started with stitched tabletop pieces like napkins, table runners and tablecloths has since become clothing items. The first few items Talerman embroidered were sourced right from her and Pinerio’s closets, but now they’re looking to other quality products that might otherwise end up in the garbage or in a landfill — Pinerio primarily tackling sourcing and Talerman doing most of the stitching.
“I’m just looking for things that are heritage textiles or natural fibers like wools and cashmeres, not the polyesters and things that do get thrown away, unfortunately, but kind of deserve it,” says Pinerio. “We’ve just been focusing on things like that and more classic lines of clothing like denims and t-shirts.”
As for the future of the shop, the pair is open to commissioned embroidered pieces and Pinerio says there will be additional custom work sold in the shop.
For more information, check out The Bellwether and Three Sheet Makers Co.’s Instagram accounts.
