The Hearts Of The Arts: Grateful Threads by Lisa Gruber

It is like an impulse to search through each bag to find your favorite music icon. Whether you are
into The Beach Boys or you’re a Madonna fanatic—there is something to feed your inner
rock star at Grateful Threads. It was a sigh of relief when I found one of my favorite artists amidst
the collection of bags. Like every artist at Arts In The Plaza, there is a story waiting to be
unleashed and Lisa was no different.

Lisa started creating at five years old when she made clothes for her Barbies. She started to make
them for everybody and as she grew older, so did her creations. As a teenager, she transitioned to
making her own clothes. This sparked her interest in making clothes for different band members
during her college years. After college, she became a costume designer for various movies,
television shows, and theatre productions. It was when she had her kids that Grateful Threads
came to fruition. But, she still has her roots in “rock and roll,” and makes clothes for local
bands.

Grateful Threads was born when she was looking through her dresser drawers one day and came
across an “... old Paul McCartney t-shirt from a concert many years ago.” She loved the t-shirt
but she never wore it and she found it “...stupid to have it sitting in a drawer,” and in that
moment it dawned on her to make a bag.

When she started wearing the bag to local clubs and music scene in Long Island she would get a
lot of attention. She states that people started to ask; “Where did you get that bag? It’s so cool!”
or “Oh my God, I want a bag like that. Can you make me one?” It was because of the constant
admiration of her bags that pushed her to make them for the public. Now, people from all over
bring her their old t-shirts and she makes bags for them. Besides the craft shows and local orders,
she sells her bags at Jeans for Less in Rockville Centre.

Overtime she has tried different linings and fabrics to create the bags. But, overall, she has stayed

“...true to her original idea,” because “...you know, it has worked.” Her favorite bags to make
are the classic rock and musical theatre. An odd combination of favorites, but, Lisa states “...
many people love the musical theatre ones.”

Lisa’s other passion is music. She states; “We are so blessed on Long Island to have a fabulous
local music scene. We are so lucky to be able to see first-class music for free half the time or
with a ten dollar cover charge.” She’s very passionate about supporting the local musicians on
Long Island.

If interested in Lisa’s bags or custom work, you can reach her by email at gratefulthreadslongisland@gmail.com or like
her on Facebook for the local craft fairs, art shows, and musical festivals she will be at.

To follow the happenings of Arts In The Plaza, click here.

Written by: Christina Romeo

She is a 20 year old Long Islander that studies English up in
Albany. She has been writing creatively since she knew how to form
sentences. She is ultimately dedicated to catering to the writers,
poets, and English enthusiasts on her college campus. The club she is
dedicated to gives opportunities for students to hone their writing
skills and find their voice within the written word. When she isn’t
organizing events, she is cooking cruelty free recipes and tending to
her plants. She is endlessly passionate about the bridges between
political science, literary criticism, environmental studies,
women/gender studies, race, and philosophy. She is dedicated to serving
her community, both by being a voice and active member within it.
Contact her to write for you at christina.romeo5@gmail.com or visit her website here.