Tuesday Tutorial on hold due to Nursing Duties

Honey is sick.  And Honey is not a good patient.  He tries to be but all his attempts to do for himself when he's all feverish and shaky just make more work for his caregivers.  I'm going to postpone this weeks Tuesday Tutorial until tomorrow or Thursday so I can go cuddle with my sick honey and try to warm him up.

Cooking at Midnight

Three Squash Soup.  An accidental stress reliever.

Lately I've felt overwhelmed by the many small but persistent annoyances in my life.  It's funny I have plenty of "big" annoyances/problems but I develop plans to tackle those issues and don't feel so overwhelmed by them because I know they are there and I have a plan to help me cope with them.  It's the little ones that get me.  Laundry needs to be folded (10 min). The dishes need to be done (20 min).  The Basil needs to be trimmed back and made into pesto (40 min). Pictures need to be saved to a back up disk (20 min).  The Little Monster needs a Dr's appt arranged (10 min).  I need to call me Mother In Law (10 - 300 min).  None of these annoyances would take too terribly long to solve (except maybe the mother in law one) but when they are all shouting at your senses at once it can be overwhelming.  I don't see a 10 min project but rather I see a collection of projects that will take days or even weeks to accomplish (and let's not even get started on things like the dishes that seem to magically reappear as soon as you've turned your back on a supposedly clean and empty sink).  Sometimes the hopelessness of catching up can freeze me in my tracks which actually just gets me further and further behind.

Today was such a day.  We have acquaintances coming over Friday.  Acquaintances, not 'friends.'  If friends were coming over, I wouldn't worry about the pile of old mail on the top of our computer desk that might fall and smother me as I type one day.  I wouldn't worry about the collection of plant pots sitting in the corner of the dining room waiting for me to have the time to transplant my Rosemary and Thai Basil.  I wouldn't worry about the sewing project "in process" on the table in the corner.  But these are acquaintances so I stress, and worry, and freeze.  They are nice people and probably wouldn't care.  But until I know for sure, I'll stress and clean and stress and organize and stress....And glare at my husband because in the end it's all his fault. (Silly husband wants a social life or some such nonsense.)

After spending more time spinning my wheels than accomplishing what I set out to do, I decided I needed a win.  Something I could look back on today and point to as one project I accomplished in its entirety.   For some reason I decided that project would be finally using up the stack of winter squash that have been sitting on my counter for the last month.  So armed with several small pumpkins, two delicata squash, and one butternut squash I started searching for a recipe.  Surprisingly, I found one.  The recipe here can be used for any winter squash and uses additional ingredients that are common staples in most kitchens.  (the only major change was using Curry powder instead of coriander, cumin, and cayenne.  Although my current batch veggie stock has a decidedly cumin and coriander flavoring so they were still in the soup.)   My determination to finish a project is how I found myself roasting squash at 11pm, sauteing onions and apples at midnight, blending it all together at 1am and currently writing a blog post while I wait for the soup to cool down enough to put in the fridge.   Yes, I'm up at 1:50am but I'm also happy I accomplished something even if it was a silly little goal that only freed up two feet of counter space.

P.S. The soup is delicious.

A Terrible Picture...That Makes Me Happy

This is a terrible picture of me.  I am desperately trying not to snort in laughter at something my friend is saying and holding back a snort does not lead to good self portraits.  At the same time, this is an awesome picture.  I have this amazing friend who is a joy to spend time with whether it's watching a movie at the house, or going out for a "girls day."  And as if that was not enough, she also covers her head much of the time.  It's so awesome to have someone to trade scarves with or play with each others wraps like teenage girls braiding each others hair at a slumber party.  We snapped this picture as we were heading out to the fabric store to get some material for a new sinar tichel.  Yeah I'm very very lucky and that is why this is a good picture even if I am about to snort.

Wicked Girls Saving Ourselves

So it's after midnight and I should be snatching a few hours sleep before my wonderful little monster decides it's morning at a far earlier hour than is reasonable.  And yet I'm sitting at my computer listening to SJ Tucker and Seanan McGuire's music on YouTube.  I love both these artists and I love them even better when they come together and make something wonderful and powerful like this recording of "Wicked Girls" with Seanan's song being performed by "Vixy" Dockrey and SJ Tucker.

Wicked Girls

Wendy played fair, and she played by the rules that they gave her;
They say she grew up and grew old -- Peter Pan couldn't save her.
They say she went home, and she never looked back,
Got her feet on the ground, got her life on its track.
She's the patron saint priestess of all the lost girls who got found.
And she once had her head in the clouds, but she died on the ground.

Dorothy just wanted something that she could believe in,
A gray dustbowl girl in a life she was better off leavin'.
She made her escape, went from gray into green,
And she could have got clear, and she could have got clean,
But she chose to be good and go back to the gray Kansas sky
Where color's a fable and freedom's a fairy tale lie.

        Dorothy, Alice and Wendy and Jane,
        Susan and Lucy, we're calling your names,
        All the Lost Girls who came out of the rain
        And chose to go back on the shelf.
        Tinker Bell says, and I find I agree
        You have to break rules if you want to break free.
        So do as you like -- we're determined to be
        Wicked girls saving ourselves.

Alice got lost, and I guess that we really can't blame her;
They say she got tangled and tied in the lies that became her.
They say she went mad, and she never complained,
For there's peace of a kind in a life unconstrained.
She gives Cheshire kisses, she's easy with white rabbit smiles,
And she'll never be free, but she's won herself safe for a while.

Susan and Lucy were queens, and they ruled well and proudly.
They honored their land and their lord, rang the bells long and loudly.
They never once asked to return to their lives
To be children and chattel and mothers and wives,
But the land cast them out in a lesson that only one learned;
And one queen said 'I am not a toy', and she never returned.

        Dorothy, Alice and Wendy and Jane,
        Susan and Lucy, we're calling your names,
        All the Lost Girls who came out of the rain
        And chose to go back on the shelf.
        Tinker Bell says, and I find I agree
        You have to break rules if you want to break free.
        So do as you like -- we're determined to be
        Wicked girls saving ourselves.

                Mandy's a pirate, and Mia weaves silk shrouds for faeries,
                And Deborah will pour you red wine pressed from sweet poisoned berries.
                Kate poses riddles and Mary plays tricks,
                While Kaia builds towers from brambles and sticks,
                And the rules that we live by are simple and clear:
                Be wicked and lovely and don't live in fear --

        Dorothy, Alice and Wendy and Jane,
        Susan and Lucy, we're calling your names,
        All the Lost Girls who came out of the rain
        And chose to go back on the shelf.
        Tinker Bell says, and I find I agree
        You have to break rules if you want to break free.
        So do as you like -- we're determined to be
        Wicked girls saving ourselves.

For we will be wicked and we will be fair
And they'll call us such names, and we really won't care,
So go, tell your Wendys, your Susans, your Janes,
There's a place they can go if they're tired of chains,
And our roads may be golden, or broken, or lost,
But we'll walk on them willingly, knowing the cost --
We won't take our place on the shelves.
It's better to fly and it's better to die
Say the wicked girls saving ourselves.

Tuesday Tutorial - Velvet No Slip Headband

This week's tutorial is my first attempt to make one of those awesome velvet bands everyone swears by for keeping their tichels in place.  This velvet band is very grip-y and will help hold your heavier tichel wraps in place and give you some extra traction to keep those beautiful but slick scarves from sliding right off.

You Will Need -
*Stretchy Velvet in a color to match your hair, black, or cream (don't buy your velvet until you've read the entirety of the directions as the way the nap of the velvet falls is very important)
*Some thread to match the velvet
*Sew on Velcro to match the velvet
*Something to make a pattern with (pattern weight interfacing or even newspaper)

1 - First you need to measure around your hairline or where you normally wear your headcovering.  Because you will be using stretchy velvet you will actually subtract one inch from this measurement for the length of your headband (I didn't do this and my headband was too long and I had to cut some off the ends but if you are worried you can always make it too long and cut some off after you try it on in step 6).  Once you have your length, draw a straight line of that length on your pattern paper (make sure to leave a few inches above and below that line).  Mark the middle of your line.  At the middle, draw a line perpendicular to your first line that extends above and below that line two inches.  Draw a line at either end of the original straight line.  It should extend 1.5 inches on either side.  Connect your upright lines.  Your finished product should look very similar to the drawn out pattern above with the only major difference being the length of the original straight line in the center.

This is the old dress that is going to be cut up to become my new tichel grip band (and a couple other projects)

2- Feel your fabric to determine how the nap of the velvet lays.  You need the velvet to lay along the width of your band (the 4 inch wide part of your pattern), not the length (the part of your pattern that is the circumference of your head).  This concept is probably better shown than explained so you might want to refer to the Wrapunzel Video Tutorial on Velvet Bands to see what I mean.  

3 - Once you've determined the lay of your velvet, place your pattern on the velvet so the grain is along the width.  Pin the pattern and cut it out.

4 - Fold the headband in half and pin the unfinished edges together. 

5 - Using an overlock stitch (or a tightly packed zigzag stitch if your machine does not have an overlock stitch), sew the edges of your folded headband together.

6 - Try your headband on and make sure it fits and doesn't overlap at the back more than two or three inches.  If your headband overlaps too much, you can cut a little off each end and re-overlock those edges. (I made my band too long the first time and had to do this)

 7 - Place a pin at the very middle of your band.  Place two more pins evenly spaced on either side of your band (see the diagram above).  Using a straight stitch, sew a zigzag pattern from one pin to the next (your finished product should look something like the red line on the diagram above).  This will help keep your headband from stretching too far or rolling while you're wearing it.

8 - Pin on your sew-on velcro.  I usually pin the "hook" side on first so I can make sure it will be facing away from my scalp.  Then I pin the "soft" side to the part of the velvet band that faces the "hooks."  You'll want to test your pinning to make sure your velcro is in the right place.  You can wrap the headband around your own head or any other cylindrical object to test the velcro placement before you sew.  Once you've tested the velcro placement, carefully sew the velcro onto the headband with a straight stitch around the edges of the velcro.

9 - Your velvet tichel headband is finished!!! wrap it around the nearest person, object or foam head to celebrate!!!  Then you should try it on and start playing around with your heaviest and/or slickest scarves because now you can.  (Remember the velvet should be facing in such a manner that when you rub your fingers back from your hairline is almost feels like they are being grabbed by the velvet)

It's actually quite comfy

This ZigZag Wrap is one of the heaviest wraps I use.  The Velvet Headband held it in place with no problem.

Boo at the Zoo

Just an update on the muslin sinar tichel I made to top my Scottish costume with a somewhat period accurate looking headcovering...It was great.  We were running late and I was able to wrap my hair in 30 seconds.  It looked right at home with the rest of my outfit and since it was made out of cotton, I didn't feel overheated when the weather got confused and made like it was midsummer in October.  In conclusion - I need to make a couple more of these and try to tye-dye them for every day wear since the muslin is comfortable but a little plain for anything other than a historical costume or around the house.

In only slightly related news, while at the zoo, our Little Monster's favorite animal was the piranha.  In an area with several interactive and attention grabbing animal exhibits and a jungle themed playground she kept running back to the small piranha display tank in the corner.  This confused the husband creature to some extent but made perfect sense to me.  They are shiny, carnivorous, and potentially deadly in a pack.  Sounds pretty awesome to me too.

A Historically Passable Headcovering

Simple yet surprisingly pretty muslin sinar tichel to go with my costume

My family has matching Scottish (for fun, not historically accurate) costumes.  They are fun to wear and we make quite an impression when we all match.  One problem...I made these costumes before I decided to cover full time.  One solution...Since I did the tutorial on Sinar Tichels earlier this week, I decided to make a quick one in plain muslin.  It allowed me to see what a sinar tichel would look like made out of the simplest fabric available and it got me a quick head covering for my costume.  I'm actually pretty pleased with the results and it is so comfortable I haven't taken it off since trying it one a couple hours ago.

I think it looks a little like the 14th Century headdress in this picture without the detail work.  I purposefully avoided adding adornment to the covering for two reasons. One (and the most important) - It would be stupid to add too much detail to muslin when the fabric is so cheap and thin.  Two - I have garb for several different eras (Ren Faire style Scottish, accurate 14th Century, Norse, ect) so the fewer time and culture bound details I put in the more chances I will have to use this covering.

Tomorrow I might try to twist the bands to make a crown like this.

A Beautiful, Frustrating Scarf

I have this beautiful scarf.  I think it looks like Monet's Water Lilies and I can't wait to wear it.  If only I could figure out how to wrap it.  I've tried wrapping it in so very many different combinations and none of them show off the scarf to it's best.  I know I will find the perfect combinations of wrap and supporting scarves one day to let the beauty of this scarf shine.  I want a wrap that says "ode to famous artist on my head" not "oh look I found a pretty floral accent scarf."  Oh well...I'll keep trying.

A Very Unsettled Sort of Day...

Today (or yesterday since I've stayed up so late I am now working on a new day) was a very interesting day.  I will admit to watching too much alarmist news and allowing the news of our current crisis/health scare to affect my mood far too much (I'm not going to specify which crisis/health scare.  You can just imagine it's whatever one is one the hot seat while you're reading this blog.)  Add to that a teething toddler and prep work for our Wed night Pagan Study Group and you have a very busy and emotionally draining day.

When I'm going though an emotional roller coaster, my wraps tend to make the journey right there with me.  Today I grabbed a simple dark blue scarf with some trim on the ends and a choker necklace that I like to tie on my wraps to add some metallic detail.  I started out with the scarf tied as a head band covering the top of my head but leaving the back of my hair out.  An hour later I was feeling unsettled and re-wrapped my head into a more traditional tichel style with all my hair pulled into a bun in the back and covered.  In the afternoon, I wanted to meditate (my little monster was napping) and switched to a quick turban style that helps me focus (this is the only wrap style that did not include the necklace).  Then it was back to my playful headband style for a few hours.  And finally I finished out the day with an elegant side knot that made me feel pretty as I puttered around the house.

Wow! I feel tired just thinking about wearing all those wraps in one day.  I can't imagine how the poor scarf feels.

The only incarnation of today's wraps I remembered to get a picture of.

Tutorial Tuesday - Sinar Tichel

This weeks Tutorial is a very basic Sinar Tichel.  A Sinar Tichel is also called an Apron Tichel because of it's apron like shape.  It is basically a center square with two bands on either side that wrap around the head.  Depending on how you put together your Sinar Tichel you can create a beautiful layered but still relatively thin and cool head wrap.

                   

1 - This first step to making a Sinar Tichel that truly fits you is taking some measurements (I'm going to give my measurements as examples but be aware I have a big head so you might not want to use my measurements for your Sinar).  Measure around your hair line to the back of your head - basically where the edge of your tichel usually rests.   Subtract at least two inches to allow room for tying the side bands. (24 inches - 2 = 22 inches for me)  This will be measurement A.  Now measure from your hairline or wherever the front of your tichel usually sits over the top of your head and back to the base of your skull or wherever the bottom of your tichel usually rests.  You should be wearing the largest base material (bun, volumizer, shaper, ect) you plan on using under your Sinar Tichel when you take this measurement to avoid making it too short.  Then add 2 or 3 inches.  You can always take some off later but if you make it too short you're in trouble. (17 inches + 3 = 20 inches for me) This is measurement B.  For the band length, use your initial hairline measurement and add a few inches to allow for ties and tucking. (I added 6 inches to my initial 24 inch around the head measurement to get 30 inch bands).  This is measurement C.  The band width will vary from project to project and often fabric to fabric if you are using two different fabrics for your bands so use your judgement on appropriate band width.

2 - Now that you know your measurements you can start looking through your fabric stash to find something you like.  I usually make a big pile of all the fabrics and trims I feel might work and then layer them until I find a set that works well together.  If you're going to the fabric store you can do the same thing you'll just have infinitely more possibilities. Once you know which fabrics you want to use, determine which fabric will be the main body of the tichel and which ones will be the side bands.  Decide how wide you want your side bands to be.  I usually make bands out of thick material narrower and thin material wider because they don't add much volume to the overall tichel. 

 For my tichel I decided on a mottled crushed velvet for the body, a solid velvet for one side band and a mottled sheer fabric with gold dots for the other side band.  I made my velvet side band 5 inches and my sheer side band twice that.  I really wanted some trim on this Sinar but I didn't have any in a color that would work so I scavenged an old gold tone cloth belt that I used to add another element to the tichel. 

3 - Once you've decided on the various elements, cut out the pieces of your tichel.  If you have a quilter's ruler, it comes in very handy at this point.  In the photo you can see I laid out the tichel fabrics once they were cut out to get an idea of my finished product.

4 - Roll, pin and sew all your edges that need to look nice and finished.  Sheer fabric is difficult to sew on a household sewing machine.  If you don't like the stitch you end up with on your sewing machine, you can look up some of the hand stitching techniques for making wedding veils and the like.  If you have trim to add to some of the pieces this would be time to do it.

5 - Finish all the edges that wont be seen with an overlock stitch (I call it the poor man's serger).  The overlock stitch is fairly common on all newer sewing machines but if you have an older machine, you can achieve similar results by running a very compact zigzag stitch close to the edge of your fabric.

6 - If your bands are different widths, use a basting stitch to gather your wider side down to the width of your smaller side.  Gathering fabric like this would be a tutorial all by itself so if you are not familiar with the technique I recommend the directions here.

7 - Pin your bands to the body of your tichel.  Make sure the pretty sides of the fabric are facing each other so when you fold it out the side of the fabric you want to show is facing out.  I decided not to sew my old belt/trim down to one of the fabrics since it is already finished on both sides and having it loose gives me even more options.  It is being attached to the body at the same point at the solid velvet band but otherwise allowed to float free.  So it's almost like I have 3 bands instead of the normal two.

8 - Once you have laid out the tichel and determined everything is in place and facing the correct direction, sew the bands onto the body of the tichel.

9 - Get wrapping!!  Your Sinar Tichel is done!

The color looks drastically different in the pictures where I am wearing it because I had to use a different camera to take them.



Just in case this is not the style of Sinar Tichel you were looking to make, here are all the other Sinar Tichel Tutorials I've found so far -

The Daily Tichel
Be Happy for this Moment. This Moment is Your Life.
Proud Mommy of 4
Calico Sisters

Lazy Day Wrap

This is one of the wraps I do on lazy, stay-at-home days.  One scarf folded so the middle color shows on my forehead, one tail is wrapped to show the contrasting border, and the other tail is twisted to show both the border and middle colors.

Comfortable In My Own Skin

    

The longer I stay on my headcovering journey the more comfortable I find myself with my own appearance and decisions regarding that appearance.  I wear something that covers most or all of my hair almost all the time (even at home and while I am alone).  It helps me to feel calm and collected and in control.  However, sometimes I feel like wearing a wrap as a bandanna or wide headband that only covers the top of my head. That's OK too.  It still helps me feel covered and in control but adds a little playful element with the back of my hair showing.  Tonight, however, was different.  A friend was watching our Small Monster and allowing Honey and I one of our rare and coveted date nights.  I was actually pretty excited to have an excuse to wear something a little more formal in my headcovering.  I tried several different combinations of styles and coverings and while they all looked wonderful, none of them felt right.  My head wanted to be uncovered.  My hair wanted to be free.  I felt silly contemplating a headcovering free night on the town when I had just started a blog dedicated to the empowering and freeing feeling of covering simply because I felt like covering.  But....isn't that the point?  I am free to headcover if I want.  I am free to wear my hair loose if I want.  I am free to decide what is right for me.  So I will cover when I want and uncover when I want and it's all going to be OK.

I cover my hair. Deal with it.

Where to start....I cover my hair.  It's one of my quirks and surprisingly has nothing to do with my religion.  Plenty of women cover their hair for religious reasons and that's great.  When you choose to cover your hair because of deeply held religious convictions, you are making a bold and powerful statement regarding something that you strongly believe in.  Whether you are Sikh, Muslim, Amish, Mennonite, Pagan, Jewish, or anything else and feel called to cover as part of your religious practice you are awesome and if you want to cover your hair, I applaud you and will support you 100%.   I, however, have no religious conviction to cover my head.  My decision to cover my hair came about through trial and error experience.  I have a lot of trouble with anxiety. Sometimes I become so overwhelmed doing simple things like dealing with unfamiliar people that I sit in limbo for days because I can't make that one phone call to a stranger. A few months ago, my family was dealing with several stressful situations and my anxiety issues were hitting harder than ever. And yet some days it wasn't such a big deal.  Some days I rocked those phone calls.  I kicked butt and took names.  I was the powerful woman asserting my authority I'd always been in my head and yet had been slowing losing in my day to day life.  Eventually I noticed that on my 'good' days at some point I had tied a bandanna over my hair or put on a wide headband that covered most of the top of my head.  I still don't know why covering my hair makes such a big difference in my ability to function and assert myself.  I have some theories that I'll probably share in future blog posts but in the end I don't care why it works.  I just care that it does work.  So I will continue to cover my hair in some fashion or another and anyone who has a problem with it can deal with my proud, assertive, head-wrapped self as I tell them exactly where they can shove their options on my clothing choices.

See my awesome wrap. Appreciate my awesome wrap. Or else...

I Am Me

I am me.  Not the most profound thing I've ever said (written) but it pretty much sums up my mood for the last couple years.  I am tired being judged by the standards set down by others.  I am tired of condescending conversations with people who think they need to fix me so I can blend into their bland little worldview better.  I am tired of toning down my personality so my extended family doesn't feel awkward.  Everyone else can go take a flying leap.  I am a loud, outspoken, unapologetic, foul mouthed, head-covering, slightly neurotic, unapologeticlly thrifty, homesteader wannabe, Pagan and I'm proud of it.  I am me and sometimes being me is pretty damned awesome.