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Thanks, Tatiana, that's quite informative. I've looked through the manual, and it only calls it a "hinge screw" with no part number. It's not listed/shown on the parts of the machine page, unfortunately.
Basically, the machine fits into a cabinet, and there are two pins that go up into it to hold it in place. The screws need to not be pointed, because they go in at right angles to put pressure against the pins so that the machine doesn't come off when it is rotated down into the lower part of the cabinet.
I think I'm just going to have to take it in to ACE and see if anything fits. It's just so dang heavy.
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When I need spare parts like that for my (very old) machine, I usually just call up my local sewing machine repair guy. Since he buys old busted machines for scrap, he usually has what I need, and if it's a screw, he usually doesn't even charge me.
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Thanks, jeniwren, for the info - most helpful.
We haven't gone out yet to look for books or to get fabric - Fahim's been working crazy hours, combined with niece being sick and sister jet-lagged, it just wasn't a good idea. Things are settling down to normal now.
We're going to see if we can find any books on making patterns here. I'm crossing my fingers.
I met Fahim's brother last Sunday. He drove Fahim home after the male members of both families got together to discuss the marriage. He seemed really shy, but nice, polite, well-mannered. I can imagine that he was probably nervous meeting me, or perhaps it was nerves leftover from meeting his prospective in-laws.
The marriage is arranged, and as such, it's not absolutely written in stone yet that it's going to happen. The various families have to meet the relatives on both sides of the family to make sure they're all acceptable, and as such, I'm not to be introduced into the mess until the wedding itself. I'm the blot on the family honor. Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Good luck with the pattern-making adventure, quid! I've only attempted drafting a pattern once as part of a costume design class, but I wasn't aiming for the results to fit me specifically - it was more for a nebulous nonexistence actress. I didn't fail the assignment, so I guess the result must have been close, but I have no idea if it would have actually worked. I'm pretty good at following sewing instructions, but making up my own is still a bit beyond me.
But FWIW, the pattern drafting method that was suggested by our (brilliant, award-nominated) designer was to use a pre-existing pattern as a reference so you'll know what general shapes you're aiming for, then drape muslin on a mannequin/modelform/body sloper (haven't heard that term before, but sounds most interesting! I think I need that book too ) and pin/mark/trim it up to approximate the shapes you need, then transfer the muslin shapes to paper, adding in seam allowances and using a French curve to correct the inconsistencies.
And ketchupqueen. I think you should make a wedding garment that somehow illustrates this - subtly, of course. That'd make an awesome design project. Posts: 952 | Registered: Jun 2005
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First stop was at Vijitha Yapa's, the biggest bookstore in the country, and nothing. In English, that is. There were some fairly thin books (3rd and 5th volumes, each about 30 pages) on dressmaking in Sinhalese. I couldn't read them to understand the content, but the diagrams were enough to tell me what they were about. But English? Nope. Nothing.
Then we headed down Duplication Road, a fairly major road as far as businesses and shops are concerned, because Fahim saw some fabric shops as we drove by last week. Well, we found those fabric shops alright. One was for curtains and furniture. The other was closed (we could only go after Fahim was done work.)
We then headed into a local fabric store - local to where we were, not where we live, that is. I could swear I've been in that shop before, never mind that I've never been in Welawatte before. It was the usual - a store about twenty feet long, about eight feet wide, with a long counter separating the customer area from the sales area. The walls were covered - floor to ceiling - with glassed over shelves. To the right as we walked in were a bunch of shelves filled with bright orange bundles. Robes for Buddhist monks, I suspect.
They had loads of pre-cut sarong material - some batik, some plaid - and they had bolts of fabric. The employee (owner?) after finding out we were looking for dress material, pointed to the end of the store where round bolts of polyester fabric stood. Polyester! In this heat! Are they mad?
And yet, many women here wear polyester. It doesn't wrinkle, it looks nice for a long time, and the locals don't have a problem with heat.
They had flat bolts of cotton fabric which they insisted wasn't suitable for dresses. Well, so what? I'll do whatever I want. But no, there wasn't anything there I was fond of.
We left after my niece bought some batik sarong material for her to sew into capris. Cool.
That was it. Shopping trip over.
Except. Someone I talked to earlier told me about another fabric store - Salusala - that had hand-painted and hand-woven fabrics, very upscale. Too expensive for me, I thought. I mentioned it to Fahim, who talked to the driver in Sinhalese, and the driver thought there was a Salusala in the neighborhood, but after driving by where it was, discovered it had been closed down. So yeah, shopping trip over.
But, the driver said, he had a fabric shop in our area, and he knew of a Salusala there as well. Turns out Salusala is a chain. Too late for the day, but tomorrow?
We were picked up, and we went. Fahim was dragged along because we thought we'd need translators. Turns out we didn't. Fahim picked his nose instead and kept my nephew occupied as my sister, my niece, and I looked at bolt after bolt of fabric.
They had some very nice Chinese cottons - soft and with a nice drape ($1.45 a yard). They had a few grades of silk, some that hung so beautifully ($1.75 to $2.35 a yard), and beautiful linens. They had t-shirt material. They had fabric stuffed in that place. So*, not as big a selection as a major fabric store in Canada, but far more than I thought I'd ever find here.
But no, no patterns, no dressmaking books. They think that such are not available in the country. At all. Anywhere.
My niece bought two pieces of fabric for more capris. I bought one piece of fabric - Chinese cotton - a green floral. I still have no pattern, nor do I have a pattern. But now, I know where I'll be going to buy all my fabric.
Oddly enough, at a fabric store, all ya buy is fabric. We had to go elsewhere to buy the thread and other notions.
But still, no patterns. *sigh* I may have to end up going with the downloadable course. Or, er, well, maybe not. My sister is probably heading over to the Maldives sooner than she thought - her husband will probably have an apartment for them to live in in a week, so she'll head over there then. And then I'm on my own, and if I'm on my own, then I can take my time, relatively speaking.
And I'm still open for suggestions. Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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quote:They had some very nice Chinese cottons - soft and with a nice drape ($1.45 a yard). They had a few grades of silk, some that hung so beautifully ($1.75 to $2.35 a yard), and beautiful linens. They had t-shirt material. They had fabric stuffed in that place. So*, not as big a selection as a major fabric store in Canada, but far more than I thought I'd ever find here.
*dies*
Oh, my gosh, I knew cost-of-living was cheaper there, but those prices are AMAZING! You know that, right?
Okay. So*, the book. You know it's also an option for one of us to get the book for you and send it to you, if it will have time to get there. Otherwise, I have some ideas; what kind of dress are you thinking? I have (free) sites on how to make your own pattern for Renaissance costumes that can be adapted to almost any tunic (including dress or shirt length) and long skirt, using only your measurements and are simple enough for a beginner to use. And you're not a beginner, even, right? It might at least give you some ideas...
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(I'm up because of insomnia. Just saying that right off the bat.)
Hmm. Yes, I knew those prices were great. Seriously, I'm not dumb. The really nice silk I saw and fell in love with was probably at $2.35 a yard - drapes beautifully. And it's that that I'll probably end up getting, or something like it. There were enough fabrics there that I liked that I wasn't worried about them not having something I liked the next time I was there.
What I don't know yet - and I don't know if they'll know - and forgot to ask was if the silk is machine washable or hand washable. I haven't had enough silks before to know enough about how they behave when washing except that most silks in Canada were labelled as dry-clean only, and I'm allergic to dry clean.
Yeah, I've been going on and on and on about that store in my head. Not out loud - don't want to drive everyone around here crazier than I already do.
The book. Yeah, I've thought about it - that is, having someone send it to me. Since my sister will be leaving so much sooner for the Maldives than we planned, I'm no longer in a rush to get the first dress sewn. It's so unlikely that we'll find and/or make a pattern before then as to be laughable. I have time - a couple of months. On the other hand, I don't really want to leave it to anything even resembling the last minute. I need new dresses for church and at home anyway, so I may as well get going on them.
I'm mainly looking for simple patterns. Princess lines would be fine. I don't like complicated, I hate frills and flounces and picky nitty detail that doesn't suit my personality or temperament at all. Plus good fabric doesn't need picky detail, and this is good fabric. So yes, if you have ideas and/or sites, please share!
Yep, I also have no problem adapting a blouse pattern into a dress. That's easy. The hard part are the breasts and armpits. Everything else . . .
Yeah, I'm in love with that store. Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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That's the site I told you about. Check out the tunic page and the skirt page (that's a basic pattern that could be done a lot less full and turn out nice, too.) You probably won't make anything on the site, but she has lots of practical advice on adapting patterns, how to get a good fit, etc.
(If you would like to see an example or two of things I have adapted from patterns on that site, I have a portfolio I could dig through.)
Lots of how-to links. Again, mostly oriented toward Ren faire stuff and SCA stuff, but some of it might be helpful to you.
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Oh, and what color is the silk? Is there a pattern? What kind? How tight is the weave? Even if they tell you it's washable, I'd probably hand-wash a scrap before doing anything with it so as to know what's really going to happen with it. (Of course, you always wash your fabric first, anyway, but your normal hand-washing routine may need adaptation, like a shorter soak or no soak at all.)
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Thanks, kq. I'll check them out in the morning when I'm not (finally! Thank heavens!) half asleep. If you think of anything else, feel free to suggest. Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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That particular silk fabric was a turquoise and royal blue boxy pattern - abstract. I don't know what kind, but it had a fairly tight weave. Yes, I always wash fabric before I sew. Here, it's even more important. My sheets shrunk close to 12 inches the first time I washed them - and that was a cold water wash (the only kind we have here). *sigh* Evidently, preshrinking is not the norm here.
Good suggestion for washing a scrap of the silk first. I don't have a lot of experience with silk, so I will freely admit to ignorance.
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*grumble* Yeah, the details are not something I'm discussing here. Maybe by email. Suffice it to say I'm 5'6", busty as all get-out, and overweight. But at least with the boobs, dresses tend to hang fairly well on me. It's the one consolation.
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Blue and turquoise is not usually the runniest color scheme, although you may have some problems with the darker blue depending on what dye they used. If your scrap runs, I would suggest taking another scrap and washing it very gently in a vinegar solution to see if that will help set the dyes; sometimes it does. (I'm assuming you're not going to have access to the good dye-setting chemicals we have here.)
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*giggle* Yeah, I am glad that when you have a baby, the pooch in the tummy is accompanied by a swelling in the bustal area (not that I needed more, but to keep things proportionate...) It helps things drape down to cover the belly flab a bit.
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Ah, yes, of course. Vinegar. Used that to set tie-dyes. Thanks for the reminder. Hmm. I hadn't thought about the colors running. I thought that was predominantly a rayon problem (and the store has some very very nice rayons as well.)
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quote:Originally posted by ketchupqueen: *giggle* Yeah, I am glad that when you have a baby, the pooch in the tummy is accompanied by a swelling in the bustal area (not that I needed more, but to keep things proportionate...) It helps things drape down to cover the belly flab a bit.
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You never know what you're going to get with hand-dyed fabrics and such. Even commercially dyed things run fairly often. Cotton, linen, silk, they all run and fade if you don't treat them right.
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If you want to e-mail me sometime, we can totally talk specifics on pattern shapes and such. Trust me, I have ze experience in zis area.
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I have to clarify - the Salusala store we were in used to, years and years ago, have hand-woven and hand-painted fabrics. It was a government initiative to boost the economy. Now, though, it's no longer like that - it now has machine fabrics from the many factories around the country.
All the fabrics we saw were machine done. The silks, for example, had such a tight weave that it would be impossible to separate one strand of thread from another.
Back to silks. Is it possible to hand wash all silks, including ones that indicate dry clean only? I'm allergic to the dry cleaning chemicals - wicked fumes!
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No, it is not possible to hand-wash all silks. Mainly because, as I said, some silks will lose their color completely. Also because some will fall apart if you try to wash them.
But some can be hand-washed if judiciously done. You'll just have to test and see. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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kq, thanks for the clarification. As I said before, my knowledge of silks is not great, so I appreciate any information I can get.
The women at this store seemed more knowledgeable than many staff I've encountered in many locations. They may actually know whether these silks are dry clean only or can be handwashed. I'll ask the next time I'm there, which will likely be next week. I have a black t-shirt to replace, and they have t-shirt material. Well, and other sewing projects have I.
Is there any way to tell by looking at the silk whether it's handwashable or dry clean only? Or anything like that?
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Generally, a tight-weave, heavier, sturdy silk with evenly machine-loomed fibers is more likely than more "rustic" silks to not fall apart. Look also for one that bends fairly easily; something that's too stiff may not take well to washing, shape-wise. Try to avoid very dark colors just because of the fading issue; also anything with red or orange in it, and just avoid white all together-- all the other colors in the pattern will run right into it if they're not fast, and it's hard to tell if they are or not. You should definitely talk to the salespeople about the silks. Tell them that you're looking for something that will wash, wear, and drape well, hold its shape and color, and see what they recommend.
Are bolts not labeled with care instructions there?
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quote:Originally posted by ketchupqueen: Are bolts not labeled with care instructions there?
*howls with laughter*
Um, no. They're not even labelled as to the fibre content. Luckily, though, I have an excellent feel for fabric, as does my sister, my mother, and every other female adult I'm related to by sheer volume of experience.
I've been doing a fair bit of research on silk since my last post, and it appears that silks are washable provided you prewash. It's because silk shrinks 10% or more that it becomes dry clean only - garment manufacturers don't want to go to the bother and/or lose that much fabric in shrinkage which would naturally result in decreased profits. That, and if the silk is lined, when you wash it, the lining and the outer part of the garment will no longer fit each other.
The silks I saw in that store all had very tight, even, and consistent weaves, so I'm starting to become a lot less worried.
I've also been reading about using vinegar or salt to set the color. I've done this in the past with cottons, so if it'll help with silk, why not? Plus I also read that with silk, the first rinse should have vinegar in it to dissolve any remaining soap or detergent and to ensure the sheen is restored/maintained.
Edit to add: Thanks for the additional comments. You're a gem! Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Glad you got a laugh-- that was of course my intention. In a place where the Borax is in the sporting goods store, you don't expect much of the fabric manufacturers...
Glad you're finding this info out. I'd still recommend avoiding the things I mentioned in a silk, because I have had pieces fall apart.
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So*, the wedding is now taking place in February, most likely. Yay! More time!
I have one pattern arriving in the Maldives today or tomorrow, and after my sister gets there, she'll mail it to me, and it can be used with silk or cotton or rayon and still look fine. So that immediate problem is solved.
I still want to learn how to make my own patterns. It would be much more useful in the long run. But at least the emergency is over.
And I'm also trying to convince Fahim to wear a Salwaar Kameez or Kurta to the wedding - he'd look soooo good in one.
And kq, of course I'm listening to your warnings and will wash small samples before sewing to see how they behave.
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quid - Please tell me about setting color with cottons. I have some jeans that bleed slightly (since I live in Phoenix, in the summer I get hot and sweat and then I get blue marks on my undies ). I've been trying to figure out how to set the color so they'll quit doing that.
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quid, even with having a good feel for fabrics, you can confirm content by burning a small peice. If it goes to ash, it's a natural fiber. Fine ash is silk, courser ash would probably be cotton (you're not likely to mistake one for the other anyway...). If you get a sticky resin or ball of plastic from burning the fabric, it's obviously a synthetic material.
I know that's all fairly obvious, but I probably wouldn't even think to burn a bit to find out for sure what it was. Except that I know that it works and is kind of fun if you like burning things. Posts: 5948 | Registered: Jun 2001
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ludosti - sorry, I missed your post way back when. The easiest way I know of to set color with fabrics is to soak the article of clothing in water that has vinegar in it. Say, a cup of vinegar to a gallon, or something like that. Also, I believe cold water helps and hot water should be avoided (same thing with colored hair - hot water makes the color fade quicker).
jeniwren - excellent tip! Thanks! Of course I knew that about burning versus melting, but no, I would never have thought of actually *doing* that.
What about when it's a mix? Say, cotton and poly? Can you tell when it's 65% cotton/35% poly versus 65% poly/35% cotton?
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Update: I've met Fahim's parents, and it's all good. His mother would like me to wear a shalwaar kameez to the wedding, and likely all other family events most likely, simply because there would be fewer questions about me and I wouldn't stick out *as much*. Festival, which is the day after Ramadan ends, is coming up (Fahim's not as cranky this year as he usually gets. My theory? The hydration powder I feed him every day is helping. He won't admit that, though. ) in a week and a half. On that day, since we'll be spending it with his family, we'll be bringing along new clothes for his brother and his parents, and they'll be giving us (I don't know how I got roped into this - I'm not Muslim, so the tradition doesn't apply to me! ) new clothes as well.
To further her ends towards getting me in a shalwaar, it's pretty likely that Fahim's mom will get me one. To beat her, I bought a shalwar kit.
The shalwaar kameez kit contains the fabric, with embroidery done to it (I'll have to take a pic, won't I?) for the tunic, another piece of fabric for the pants, and the shawl/thing you drape over your shoulder. (Why, oh why, does my brain block access to internal vocabulary?) Ready mades are readily available, but alas, in the land of the small and petite, where I am neither, that was a complete no go. Hence making my own. The kit was $17. Buy the fabric myself, just plain fabric with no embroidery, for the whole thing amounted to about $3. We'll only buy the kit again if I really really really really really love the tunic bit of things. The pants fabric is just ordinary cotton broadcloth. For the cotton kit, that is. You can get these either in cotton, polyester, or silk.
Anyway. So* I now have the makings of two shalwaar kameez and have to figure things out.
I have the block pattern making book that I found at Sarasavi bookstore - and I was ecstatic at finding it. However, now that I'm going through it and trying to do things, I'm a little sad.
While I have no doubt that I'll be able to create a pattern that fits me like a glove, I don't want a pattern that fits me like a glove. I like loose and breathable.
Which leads me to the next question.
How much allowance do I add for it to be comfortable?
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It depends. You need to make a muslin! Add 1 1/2-2 inches all around to start (but use big seams-- 1 inch allowance, at least-- so you can add more where needed.) Baste it together (in muslin or other cheap fabric) and put it on. Pin it, ripping seams out and re-pinning if necessary, until comfortable. When it's how you want it, use your muslin as a guide to make your final pattern.
You only really have to do this once to know where you need room for your particular body shape.
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I'm using my cheaper chinese cotton at $1.35 a meter/45 inches wide for practice. Broadcloth is the cheapest at $0.45 a meter/36 inches wide. The chinese cotton is cheap enough that it really doesn't matter if I screw it up.
Only 2 inches? Really? But yes, I really, really like your idea of adding much larger seam allowance for cheating purposes. And yes, I would baste before making final seams.
Um, other than Fahim's mom (and Fahim has suggested this), there's no one else available RIGHT NOW!!!! to help me. Cuz, you know, when I want to do it, I want to do it. Not wait for help. You know.
Yeah, wouldn't it be fun if you could come over to help with this? We'd have a blast! Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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The idea is to make it fairly tight and form fitting, then add fabric where it is needed. (You add two inches to every part, on each side, was I clear on that? So that's a total of 4 inches all around on one piece; 8 total. Still conforming to your body, but loose enough to get on and off.) If you need even more room than you have, make slashes in the fabric to open it up, and add to the seams corresponding to where the slashes are.
Don't use your practice cloth for this. Use the cheapo stuff. This is basically a pattern.
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And we would so totally stay up late doing it all in one night, then eating lots of yummy spicy snacks if I were there! I'd even do some custom embroidery for you if you wanted when you were ready to do a fancy one.
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Oh! 2 inches per side! That makes way more sense! Thanks!
Custom embroidery? Seriously? You're good at that stuff? Wow.
I'm thinking about the shalwaar that I'll have to wear for the wedding, and it'll be silk - cotton just would not do! - and I'm willing to bet that pretty much every single other women will have very ornate trimmings and jewellery and such. You've seen the pictures. It's very much over the top as far as my taste is concerned. But. Will they think I'm a total nit if mine is completely unadorned and plain? Do I care? *shrugs* As it gets closer, I'm sure Fahim's mom would love to get involved and educate me. Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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*grumbles* Oh, fine! Broadcloth it is! *grumbles some more* It's just that I don't have much. And it's supposed to be for the pants. But I can get more. *grumbles*
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quote:Custom embroidery? Seriously? You're good at that stuff? Wow.
Only if I'm allowed to design it myself and do it either freehand or over a simple pencil outline. Chain stitching is not hard, and makes pretty borders. And I even do fancier techniques; I took a class at Costume College on the technique they used to use to make gorgeous tapestries and stuff.
There are some simple decorative techniques that can be really pretty when used effectively. Consider ribbon embroidery. It's fairly simple, takes very little time, and is most impressive. Or there are all kinds of really fancy ribbon trims which, while expensive, can be very effective just placed at hemlines. Consider thinner ones for the neck and sleeves with coordinating, very fat ones for bottom hems to add "weight" to an outfit. Add appliquéd colored lace or fancy netting near the neck for a more dramatic effect.
And best of all, these kinds of decorating techniques don't feel "fussy" when you wear them.
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kq, I checked out the link on the ribbon embroidery. That's something I sure hadn't considered, but I can see what you're talking about. That is something I could get into, depending on the outfit and the fabric, of course. And naturally, it leads to more questions. Like needle size?
Embroidery floss - I've always been under the impression that it wears rather quickly, so I have a hard time imagining using that to trim clothing due to the whole wash frequently bit as opposed to wall hangings. Yes or no?
Ribbon trims are fairly readily available here and fairly common, so that's not a problem. The problem is that most that I've seen here on clothing tends to the ornate and I'm much rather more subdued. It's something I can still check into. Same for lace and all the rest of that trim stuff.
On another note. My sewing machine can do some fancy stitches. Some. Not many. And it can do freehand embroidery. I doubt I'll use that particular feature, but if I did, would I use embroidery floss? Or fancier thread? What?
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Embroidery floss can wear quickly or last forever-- it depends what quality embroidery floss you use! Also, how you set the colors.
With a sewing machine, you just use colored thread. Choose one that is sturdy and shows well against your fabric. You can get metallic and sparkly and special threads, but they behave differently, so you want to be careful with them. Depending on the fabric and what you do, you may or may not need to back machine embroidery.
From another silk ribbon embroidery site:
quote:There are several needle types and sizes employed in embroidery.
Silk Ribbon is most often worked with Chenille and tapestry needles, because the large eye and sharp point are well suited to producing large holes through which the ribbon must pass.
Bullions are best done with millinery or beading needles, since the small eye and long shank are well suited to the many wraps. Many Australian publications refer to these as "straws", but I have never seen them packaged under that name. I even have a monstrous four inch one designed for doll work which I use on tassels.
Wool embroidery can be done with virtually any needle, but tapestry needles are best designed for this function. Always try to use the right size needle for the wool you are working with. If the hole is too small, the wool can be frayed and pill during the stitching process.
All of these needle types are available in a wide range of sizes and often you will use many different needles in a single project. Always choose a needle with an eye size appropriate to the material passing through it. The thicker the material, the larger the eye must be.
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I just found those through googling, I don't really have any favorites. I learned how through books and have since taken some seminars. Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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I saw an old Singer sewing machine at the antique mall this weekend and wanted it badly. It's black but electric. We're going to call the guy soon to find out if it works, and all that, it would be worth it if it could do a straight stitch, since that's mostly what I do, though my mom thinks it would be nice just to have sitting around. We have about a 3 year old Necchi that we use for complex stuff.
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Oooh, is it a Featherweight? My almost-step-mother has an antique Featherweight, and it's WONDERFUL, especially for Costume College and the fashion class she teaches to teenagers through the parks department.
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I think so, I didn't look quite well enough, we're going to go back. But it was $100, and looked like there was nothing phyiscally wrong, I know I probably have my hopes up too soon, but it's possible.
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If it's a Featherweight and it's $100, BUY IT. Even if there are a few minor problems, buy it-- that's less than 1/4 of the cost they sometimes go for, so even if you have a $80-100 repair bill, it's a good deal! And it's worth it!
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Ok, that's what I was thinking. What other sorts of models did they have? It's black, had an electric cord so it wasn't an old treadle one, and a wood case.
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![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
I'm the blot on the family honor. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Laugh]](graemlins/laugh.gif)
ketchupqueen. I think you should make a wedding garment that somehow illustrates this - subtly, of course. That'd make an awesome design project. ![[Dont Know]](graemlins/dontknow.gif)
![[ROFL]](graemlins/rofl.gif)
![[Kiss]](graemlins/kiss.gif)
![[Mad]](mad.gif)
). I've been trying to figure out how to set the color so they'll quit doing that.
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
To beat her, I bought a shalwar kit. ![[Grumble]](graemlins/grumble.gif)
)
