I tried submitting a very long comment with sewing tips to your June 15 “Fitting” post, but somehow it didn’t submit.

I am an excellent seamstress and an expert but very slow knitter, but my strength is really in sewing and tailoring men’s suits and women’s gowns.

The down and dirty is that once you get back to the states, you should get your hands on a copy of the Vogue Sewing Book. It is by far the best tutorial about sewing that is available in print or online:

http://www.amazon.com/Sewing-Revised-Updated-Knitting-Magazine/dp/1933027002/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248730556&sr=1-1

I also provided you with many patterns made by McCall’s that are superb substitutes for Salwar-kameez and can easily be modified for discerning fashionistas.

By all means, stay away from Simplicity patterns, whose name is deceptive. They have the WORST instructions, leaving most novices in tears rather than with usable/wearable finished items.

McCall’s, on the other hand, are THE BEST to learn from. The pieces always fit together well and easily without too many intricately pieced pieces like in the Vogue or sometimes Butterick patterns:

http://www.mccall.com/

Once you use McCall’s and become as adept with sewing basics as you are with knitting, you can then move into Butterick, which doesn’t always tend to fit true to size, and Vogue, and even into German and Japanese patterns.

I’m not sure what the US market has available for Indian-wear, but again, using McCall’s and looking for caftans/tunics, sleepwear, casual/sportswear, and uniforms (you’d be surprised how many medical “scrubs” tops make great kameez). You should even check maternity for some lovely, looser tops and dresses that can easily be used as kameez.

You should also invest in a good pair of shears like Gingher that you don’t use for anything else:

http://www.gingher.com/

And DO stick with the pinning, using LOTS of them!! Try to find glass head straight pins that are fairly longish and sharp, often found in the quilting departments where one has to rely on many small pieces of fabric to create a finished object. The large glass heads make the pins easier to deal with, especially when employed in a perpendicular position to the seam, and the longer length makes it less likely that the pins will get lost in the fabric and will make securing pieces together and pinning patterns much easier.

When you start out with a sewing machine, a basic $100 Singer, Brother, or Sears Kenmore (same insides as a Singer) is good enough.

But once you get going and decide to take sewing up as a true craft, a Pfaff is the best way to go. They are the only sewing machine that still has metal internal parts rather than the plastic internal parts like the equally nice Bernina line. Plastic parts wear out, especially when you need to oil them, as all sewing machines need. If you can avoid getting a computerized model, you would be better off, but I don’t know if they make non-computerized models anymore in the top line sewing machines. I THINK the Pfaff “Hobby” line is a non-computer chip machine, but I haven’t seen them in person. I started out on a Sears Kenmore in junior high, upgraded to a top of the line Singer when first married, then bought my Pfaff in the early 80s, paid $1,500 for it, but it is from the pre-computer era, so I will never trade this one in. A good machine will last YOUR lifetime, but it is also a fairly significant financial investment.

Good luck, have fun, and welcome to the new exciting world of sewing!!