Day 8: First full day of sewing

We left at 8:00 this morning to be on time to open the sewing space and be ready for our first full day of making MoonCatcher Kits in India. Our five tailors showed up right on time and we set to work learning how to cut all the parts for our kits. Everyone took a turn and we carefully worked out how to make sure every part was cut just right.

After about 2 hours of this we started the three sewers on making carriers. Each one made three and mostly they were perfect. They then made five waterproof bags and five drawstring bags. They ripped parts out  and corrected any mistakes they made. After this they set to work on making more of everything. We are missing some parts still, like Tyvek, shoelaces and a zig zag machine but everything has been ordered so hopefully it will all show up this week. We have even ordered MoonCatcher labels to go on the front of the drawstring bags. We’ll bring some of those home for the bags we make as well as those made in Africa.

Our shelving hasn’t come yet but we still managed to get ourselves organized. We have fabric stored under the tables and bins of kit parts carefully separated and stowed there as well. It all feels much more like a sewing studio that works efficiently and it’s really pleasant to be in there.

We’ve hired a young woman for a few days to help us communicate with our tailors.  This has been a big help as we work to get the tailors up to speed and makes everything move along much more smoothly.

Maureen and I are beginning to get the hang of getting around here. We got ourselves to the sewing room and back without getting lost – a major accomplishment!  With Maureen’s google maps and a lot of pointing right, left or straight we are able to communicate with the taxi drivers. We also figured out that we need to hire the same driver every day for the whole day. This way we are sure of at least getting to the sewing room and home.

We ended the day showing the women pictures of themselves and ones of us giving school girls our kits. We wanted them to see what will be happening with their work. We had told them about it and done a demonstration of our lesson,  but this really brought it to life and they enjoyed seeing the photos. We’ll print out pictures of each one of them for the work space too so that they will feel some ownership. We also decided that we will provide a tea break for them every day. This is pretty standard in India and as Maureen says it’s a lovely thing to do.

It was a productive day and we’ve earned an early bedtime!