First Day in India: You won't believe this sewing space!

We got in late last night, fumbled our way through customs, luggage and hiring a taxi to arrived at Ruchika’s doorstep happy to be in one place, take a shower and sleep lying down.

I woke this morning to a million bird songs and wondered how they could make so much noise when I could only see two or three. The trees must be filled with them. I’m in India!

 After breakfast, we set out to see the new MoonCatcher sewing space. We took an UBER through crowded Delhi streets, weaving through treacherous traffic and 40 minutes later found ourselves on a small busy city lane filled with life. Maureen pointed out the beautifully dressed woman wearing a sari while mixing cement. Pretty impressive.

Our new sewing guild is wonderful with its stenciled walls, huge windows and a balcony. There is plenty of space and light. It even has a bathroom!

Our new home in Delhi.

Our new home in Delhi.

We moved some furniture, hung MoonCatcher banners and talked about where the cabinet and shelving should go. We sat and discussed training and work schedules and asked a million questions. I’m feeling pretty excited about this new venture. Ruchika deserves a medal for all the prep work she has done to make this transition so smooth.

Ruchika and Ellie hang the MoonCatcher banner in our Delhi sewing center.

Ruchika and Ellie hang the MoonCatcher banner in our Delhi sewing center.

Later in the afternoon we visited Ruchika’s brother-in-law and sister’s clothing factory. It was such fun for me to see this, having grown up in my Dad’s dress factory. It was about the same size too. We looked at everything and asked tons of questions.

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Our jaws dropped when we watched a beautiful, sari clad women hand sewing tiny beads to garments. The patience and attention to detail was sobering.

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The factory generously gave us some fabrics, threads, tape measures and fleece. With these things we can start training some tailors tomorrow to make MoonCatcher kits.

At the end of the day, in an effort to keep us up past 8:00 pm, Ruchika took us shopping. We loved the shelves and racks of brilliantly colored garments and the gauzy feel of scarves and saris. It helped us keep our eyes open but by 9:25 we were more than ready for bed.

Ellie von Wellsheim