Well, I goofed again. I guess I’ll spill the beans and let you know. You may have gotten an extra post today regarding a question from Linda. I am actually going out of town tomorrow and that post was written and “supposedly” scheduled for next week. I accidentally hit the “publish ” button for it to appear as today’s post. I saw my mistake and quickly corrected it to a day next week but it was too late. It already showed up. You won’t be able to leave any comments on that one but you can next week when it appears… Sorry about that…
A few posts back I let you in on the making of a Sari Under Blouse for a dear friend of mine. (HERE) and (HERE) and (HERE) It was quite a challenge for me as I only had a piece of green fabric big enough to cut 2 fronts and one back and then there was a tiny bit along the top edge where the metallic trim was for the sleeves. it came from India, so there was NO room for any mistakes. We had several fittings with a muslin sloper first to get the fit right before I cut into her fabric. Once I got going on it, it actually went fairly fast, and thankfully, it fit well, so I didn’t have to fly to India to pick up another piece to finish it! :o) :o)
The church that I attend is a Student Church and an outreach to the University in my town. We try to be a “Home Away From Home for the Internationals” as best we can. There are several different groups of students, Indians, Chinese, African American, Latinos, Japanese, Brazilians, etc. Everyone is encouraged to find a group and get to know a different culture. Once a semester we have an “International Sunday” and everyone dresses up in their native costumes and each group leads a worship song in their language, encouraging us all to sing along with them. It’s very fun and we’ve made so many friends from so many lands over the many years we have attended here.
I’m sure many of you were thinking I was making the green under blouse for this sweet little dark skinned, black headed, young lady from India…well, not exactly. I was making it for a sweet little blonde American, young lady from Southern Illinois. Yes, Amma is about as American as they come, and just as sweet as her smile shows!
Here is a small group of the girls in their Sari’s a few Sunday’s ago… aren’t they all beautiful?
PLEASE click on the pictures so they will get really big and you can see the details on these Sari’s… it’s incredible!
I had them turn around, because the backs can be as beautiful as the fronts. The pictures don’t do them justice AT ALL! I’ll have to take some close up shots next time.
Here is an outside shot where a few of the guys wanted in the picture too!!
Thanks for taking a peek at my world on International Sunday!
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
Beautiful, Jeanne! The close-ups are gorgeous! How interesting that must be to learn about different cultures from the people themselves, instead of just reading about it! And to form and develop friendships along the way is as good as it gets! So the two young women with blonde hair are from here, and the rest from India?
Are all the material that the saris were made of actually from India, or your local JoAnn’s? I wonder if you ever thought of making any international doll clothes from different lands, would you be able to find material here? Oh dear, this post is full of questions, not what I wanted to do to you!!!
Oh, that game yesterday,— boo! Just in time for Halloween!!!
HI Linda,
Yes, it’s wonderful to make friendships with young students from all over the world. We have standing invitations to visit and have a place to stay from Tokyo to Columbia and Brazil to Germany.
Yes, the two blondies are from here, both from Illinois and the rest are all from India. All the outfits are from India, except the top worn by the blonde in blue… I didn’t have time to make her top for her sari so she just bought a blue top. I wish I had taken close up pictures of some of them. They are just incredible to see up close. It’s not diamonds, but they sure sparkle like the are.
I could do some International costumes for the American Girl dolls and I actually have a few patterns for some of them.
Yes, we won’t even talk about the game…. :o((((( (That’s my REALLY sad face!)
Thanks Linda,
Blessings, Jeanne
It looks like you can find sari fabric on Amazon, Ebay, and Etsy, just for a start. There are stores in Chicago. I imagine the trick would be to find something proportioned appropriately.
I did an Ebay search for “doll sari”, and there are several sari outfits for dolls, including American Girls. I’ve been searching Ebay for AG things on and off for a long time and had never seen these — it might be hard to be noticed and get buyers to see the outfit unless you thought of a very good heading. The other search problem is that Kirsten’s doll’s name is Sari, so you get lots of false hits.
Still, it seems as if you should get some beautiful doll outfits from this wonderful experience. The green blouse was beautiful and whatever happens as a result, it will always be a lovely memory.
Thanks Marilyn,
I have a couple of costume patterns for the AG dolls but have never made them up. Maybe I will someday. I’ve seen some Indian fabric at a few stores, and even have some in my stash that was given to me. I’m sure one of the girls even has some that I could use if I wanted to.
Of all the costumes any of the students ever wears, I think the ones from India are the most stunning!
Blessings, Jeanne
What a surprise seeing your sari on a blonde girl! I WAS imagining an Indian woman wearing it. All of the girls look so pretty in their Indian dress. Your church looks like a welcoming and interesting place.
Yes, I got your extra post yesterday. Even though I knew it was a mistake, I peeked at it, but I already forgot what it was about. LOL
Hope you’re having a fun week with your family, Jeanne!
HI Cindy,
I think everyone was sort of thinking the same thing. I never thought about it until Marilyn mentioned something about this young Indian girl going home with an American made Under blouse for her Sari. That’s when I realized everyone thought Amma was Indian.
It’s a wonderful place to meet friends from all over the world. Since they are students, we have a huge turnover about ever 2 years or so…that’s hard!
I haven’t started packing yet, but I’m getting there.. I have everything on the bed at least!
Thanks Cindy,
Blessings, Jeanne
What beautiful sari’s! The girls look wonderful in them. Love the peachy one. Amma looks very nice in her sari. I like the gold trim on her green blouse.
It is a wonderful thing to share and open one’s heart and home with others from foreign countries. We are really all the same except for customs and environments. Learning about someone else’s culture is so interesting. My husband’s relatives from Quebec think it’s strange that we have garages!! My husband couldn’t live without one!
Have a great day, Jeanne.
In riding around Quebec on a bus, I could not understand why the houses had no garages. Often, we would see a long plastic canapy in the front of the house. A car shelter we decided. How they managed in the winter did not look fun with a car.
Hi Jan,
It is funny how houses without garages is the norm…it seems strange to me, but I’m sure stuff we do seems strange to them.
Thanks,
Blessings, Jeanne
HI Paula,
It truly is wonderful to have friends in so many places around the globe! We really do enjoy ourselves there.
That’s really funny about the garage thing… who would have thought?
Thanks so much Paula,
Blessings, Jeanne
They are all beautiful! The colors are wonderful too
You and your Hubby are the perfect couple to be wonderful examples for these young folks.
Thanks so much Kathie,
I think the Indians have the prettiest costumes but the African American’s might be the brightest! It’s always fun to see what they have on.
Thanks for the compliments. WE are truly blessed to live where we live and worship where we do!
Blessings, Jeanne
Just gorgeous, Jeanne, absolutely gorgeous…the girls AND their sari’s. I am guessing it’s thru that program that you met Sara and her parents? Won’t heaven be fun??? With all of us from different lands speaking to and understanding each other?! What amazing blessings all of you are to each other. Back in the early 90’s, a young man from Nepal showed up in Miles City, Montana. He came to attend the community college there. How, from half way around the world, he found and chose my little home town out of all the towns in the U.S.A., I’ll never know…especially without internet….but he did and somehow he and my mother met and developed a relationship. (I was already living in Texas at the time) He didn’t speak English….but he studied day and night, literally, and learned and graduated in record time and went on to a fully accredited college in Nebraska and then finally MIT in Boston. He’s just brilliant and because mom loved him so much, she adopted him to help him earn his citizenship. No, it wasn’t just handed to him. It was expensive and it took a LOT of study and testing, but he has achieved it and I now have a “brother” that’s from Nepal. Their culture is fascinating, so I know how fun and enriching the program at your church must be for you. Loved the photos!!!
Many blessings!!!
HI Bobi,
I met Sara and her parents when we picked them up from the hotel the day they got into town. They didn’t have a clue were the University was or where anything else was. We took them to their apartment where their 9 suitcases were the only things they came here with. Then we set out to find them furniture and by the end of the week, they had most things they needed. Again, what fun!
We too, have friends from Nepal… Thelma and Bensley! They left years ago, but were here when my kids were babies so they loved on them a lot! She wanted me to come to the hospital when she had her baby! And guess what she wanted when they left here? Of all things, My sugar cookie recipe. She said she’d never had sugar cookies that melted in your mouth like mine did!
It can be a real treasure trove of friendships living here. I don’t have an “adopted” brothers and sisters, but I do have friends all over the world. Life is fun!
Thanks so much Bobi,
Blessings, Jeanne
Thanks for sharing the pictures. The saris are beautiful as are the ladies wearing them. I especially liked the coral colored one with all the sparkly gold trim. It’s really wonderful that your church provides a spiritual home for them.
HI Carolyn,
Thanks for your comments on the girls and their Sari’s. It was fun to add “making a Sari Under blouse” to my list of things I’ve done!
Yes, that Sari is just too beautiful for words in person!! I’ll have to get some close up pics of it for you all to see…
Thanks Carolyn,
Blessings, Jeanne
I don’t know….I think I like the black and bright pink one the best–one of my favorite color combos. Anyway, they are all beautiful, but I do have to say, the piping on the back of the blouse you made is absolutely perfect, Jeanne!
Charlotte