Stuck in Chicago!

Well, we missed our flight to Delhi, sitting on the tarmac at O'Hare Airport. So, this am we are still in Chicago, and hopefully will be on our way to Delhi posthaste!
Unfortunately, we will miss our flight from Delhi to Leh. And the phones appear to not be working in India. And the computers are on the fritz at the Indian airlines.
Oh, well! Somehow we'll get there!

What about India?

We've been going to India for 6 years now.

This year will be our 7th and 8th trip there. We most often go and trek in northern India in an area called the Ladakh. Most of the people are Buddhist, and are of Tibetan origin.

The Ladakh is a beautiful, mountainous desert area. In the midst of the Himalayan mountains, it is nothing short of stupendous. Here are some pictures for your enjoyment.

I will be attempting to post occaisonally from India. And, perhaps, my DH or DS, who will remain at home, can post something from stateside. However, there will be weeks where I will be camping among the nomadic ChangTang peoples or in small villages where there is no electricity or cell phones.

See you in five weeks!

New Hat for India!

Starting to pack! I got a new hat--my old hat is floppy and too small. It did not fare well in the washing machine. So a new hat to ward off the sun, which is VERY bright that high in altitude in the Himalayan desert.

And new sock liners. I could only find 2 and 1/2 sock liners. Now, before you nod your head, yes, of course, I'm missing sock-like articles of clothing, understand that in this household, the socks multiply. I believe that this particular dryer is where all the socks in the universe go. So if you're missing a sock, just ask...

No, here we lose clothes hangers. I believe I've bought 17 dozen (yes, you read it right) hangers since moving here 5 years ago.

Maybe we trade hangers for socks....

Happy Father's Day!

Across
4. Ephraim and Manasse 5. Rehoboam

7. Hezekiah 9. Moab

11. Nimrod 12. Obed

15. Joshua 16. Esau and Jacob

17. Jesus

18. Isaac and Ishmael 19. Samson

21. Joseph and Benjamin

23. James and John, The sons of thunder

Down
1. David

2. Jonathan, Merab, and Michal

3. Cain and Abel 4. Simon Peter

6. Samue l8. John the Baptist

10. Absalom and Solomon

13. Rachel and Leah

14. Shem, Ham, and Japeth

20. Jehoshaphat 22. Jesse

Homeschooling and a few oddsn'ends

Ya' know, my homeschooling days are almost over--my youngest will be a senior next year--if he gets all of his courses done!
But he will, he's a strong student (when he wants to be) and can certainly do the work. I'm very proud about the schoolwork he is doing this summer.
When he graduates next year, I will have homeschooled, let's see--17 years? Wow.

It's been great, and I will miss homeschooling.
So I know part of going to grad school is to deal with this change in my life--I'm just not the kind of person to sit still! And I'm not going back to the career I had before we had kids. DH and I prayed and talked about it, and the Lord just opened that door (so fast!) I feel confident about this step. Well, most of the time!
I will only go to school part-time next year. Even tho' our youngest DS will be taking most of his courses outside the home (co-op and college classes), I still have homeschooling things to do! Like graduation.

Boy, it's going to be quiet around here in a year or so!

New Nightie

I used the 1893 chemise pattern from The Ladies Treasury of Costume and Fashion.

http://www.tudorlinks.com/treasury/freepatterns/index.html

Though it looked daunting, it was quite easy to draw the pattern. There were no instructions, so I decided to line the yoke and not gather on the sleeves nor use the sleeve band.

It's quite a loud plaid, but oh, such a soft cotton! Great for sleeping. I made this to take to India.

I also had some fun with my fancy stitches on my (fairly) new Viking machine!

I finished one salwar!

This is a traditional salwar kameez, with the slightly old-fashioned (but oh so comfortable!) loose salwar pants.

I was fortunate to find some lovely crinkly chiffon in my fabric stash for the dupatta (scarf). Yea!

A new Salwar Kameez for me

I didn't feel like setting in sleeves in the Vogue top, so I decided to sew up a traditional salwar kameez. It's a pretty simple outfit to sew.

I decided to make a rounded neckline in the front, so here I've cut out the facing, fused it to the interfacing, and am going to sew the facing to the neckline. See the large rectangular piece of fabric with the hole cut in the middle?

I decided to make some bias to go around the neck. I use this little doodad which works great!

Here's one of the gussets sewn to the side pieces. Then I will sew up the side seam.

And here I've neatened up the slit up the side seam. Sorry for the pic.

Next, I'll make the salwar pants and a dupatta (scarf).
Here's some links to make the traditional, loose salwar pants. I prefer these in India because they are cooler!

http://www.feoragdubh.eastkingdom.org/Patterns/salwar.gif

http://www.burdastyle.com/howtos/show/1664

If you like the much more fitted (from the knee down) churidar style pant, here's a tutorial for them: http://www.burdastyle.com/howtos/show/1730

Oh, my!

I just looked today to see about my classes this fall at grad school. Whoa, Nellie! It's a bit scary! I feel awfully old to be doing this. But God opened that door, and the folks there think I can manage. Trust, Jane, trust!
"For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and love, and of a sound mind." 2 Timothy 1:7

Sewin' Along....

Sixteen !!! Darts!!!

Now to attach the bottom "skirt" and sleeves.

And here's my helpers---

Sewing your Kameez

Please remember these drawings aren't to scale!

First, make the neck facing. Cut out fusible interfacing using your neck facing piece, and then fuse the interfacing to the neck facing following the directions given by the manufacturer.

Finish the outside edge. I like to mark the center line and the seam lines down the center front with my disappearing marker so that I get a properly spaced V-shaped opening down the center front.

Pin the facing to the neck hole, right sides together. Sew as indicated by the red line below. Make two small stitches across the bottom of the "V" so that you can press the facing down nice and smooth there.

Trim and grade your seam. Cut (with sharp, small scissors) right to the seam at the bottom of the "V". Fasten the facing at the shoulders with a couple of hand stitches. Turn your kameez right side out and press the facing down smoothly. Then topstitch aroung the neckline as indicated by the red line below:

Well, the neck if now finished. It is time to attach the gussets. Gussets can be finicky, just take it slow and use lots of pins! It's really not that hard.

Right sides together, sew the gusset to one side piece. (Hint--lay out the four side pieces and make sure you've got a front and back side piece for the left, and a front and back side for the right.) Sew just to the dot, ie the seam line. Sew directionally as the red arrow indicates. Press.

Then, right sides together, sew the gusset to the other side piece--just to the dot or seam line.

Press.

Now, sew the two side pieces together from the dot on down to the bottom. It should look like this:

Now, most kameez have a slit part way up the side. See the right hand purple drawing. Sew down to where you want the opening to start, and then finish off the remainder of the opening.

Repeat for the other side.

Now, sleeves! Right sides together, attach sleeve to side piece just to the dot. Repeat for the other side.

Now you can finish sewingthe sleeve closed--sew the sleeve seam from the green dot down to the hem of the sleeve.

The rest is easy-peasey.

Right sides together, attach the side piece to the big main piece as shown below by the red lines. Stitch directionally from top to bottom (front then back) as shown below.

Turn right side out, pin up hem of sleeves and at the bottom. The length should be at knees or a little above the knees.

It's done!

A funny by my DH

We were talking about President Obama's speech, and I mentioned that Mr. Obama said something about that he used to live in a Muslim country.
My DH's retort?
"Well, I used to live in a capitalistic country!"

Now to cut out your Kameez...

Needed:
About 2 1/2 yards of fabric
Matching thread
Fusible interfacing
Your pattern
Paper, pencil and ruler
Before you start cutting, please read through all the instructions and understand how you will lay out your pattern pieces on your material.

PS And please realize that these drawings aren't to scale!

Your first pattern piece will be the rectangular A-C-L-B portion of your pattern. You may cut out just one large piece (front & back together) or you may cut out two pieces (a separate front and back). I usually cut out both a front and back--just be sure to add the seam allowances at the shoulder if you choose to do this.

I will show how to cut out one large front-and-back-all-together (a bit easier):

Fold your fabric in half lengthwise, then in half again horizontally, so that your fabric is folded in fourths. Place the rectangular A-C-L-B pattern piece so that the shoulder (A-C) is at the horizontal fold and the midline (A-B) is on the longitudinal fold:

Cut out the large rectangle, adding 1/2 inch for seam allowances and 1 inch for hem allowance, as indicated by the red lines (do not cut out the neck openings yet).

Now, unfold the horizontal fold. You will have a llloooonnnngggg rectangle of cloth. Keep the fabric folded longitudinally to cut the neckline opening.

Use your pattern to trace the front neckline (D-E) and back neckline (D-F). Cut 1/2 inch inside your marking line (for the seam allowance) as indicated by the red line.

Now cut out two sleeves on the fold. Adding 1/2 inch for seam allowances (along H-M and C-M) and one inch hem allowance along G-H, cut out as indicated by the red lines:

Cut out four side pieces, again adding 1/2 inch for seam allowances (J-M, J-K, and M-L) and one inch for hem allowance (K-L):


Don't forget to cut out two gussets (from your 4 inch square pattern).

Now you need to make a neck facing:

Trace your neckline on another piece of paper (the black line). At the front center, draw a line 7 inches straight down the midline. Use a ruler to draw a larger oval 2 1/2 inches outside the neckline you've drawn (this is the green line). Then finish drawing the neck facing as shown, making sure you have an inch of facing beyond point X.

Cut one of fusible interfacing and one of fabric. You don't need to add seam allowances.

Draw your Kameez Pattern

Materials Needed:
Pencil, Ruler, Paper (I use a roll of paper, taping it together where necessary), and your measurements you took according to the previous post

A--B Length
A--C Shoulder Width
A--D One-fourth of neck circumference
D--E Neck Front
A--F This should equal one inch
A--X This should equal 7-8 inches
C--G Sleeve Length
G--H Wrist Circumference
J--M This should measure 2-3 inches
K--L This should measure 6-8 inches
C--M This should measure 8 inches
Also, make a pattern for a 4X4 inch square


As an example, my measurements and pattern would
look like this:


Next time!
Cutting out your kameez. Now we're getting somewhere!

Measuring for Salwar Kameez

Measurements:

1. Length--From your shoulder to your knee (A to B)

2. Shoulder Width--Across the back of your neck, from shoulder seam to shoulder seam

3. Neck Circumference--Around your neck (at base of neck)

4. Neck Front--From base of neck to center front (E)

5. Sleeve Length--From where you measured the neck circumference across top of shoulder past shoulder seam and on down to wrist (or wherever you wish your sleeve to end)

6. Sleeve Width--Very loosely measure the circumference of where your sleeve is ending

(Please forgive my lousy drawings!)

Next: Draw your pattern