Saturday, April 23, 2011

Blast From the Past: Neapolitan Eid



The  Eid Neapolitan Dress.
This ice-cream inspired delight won my family and friends over. 
And people loved it. 
And I was very tired after this project. 
One Eid ago...


The Eid Neapolitan Feliz Dress today.
Since Zaynab's this dress, it has seen alot of wear yet no tear. I hope to keep it that way. On her first Eid debut, she played with some other children near an escaltor (they were not running) and rubbed mechnical grease into the pinafore of the dress. After the Eid Prayer, we made a bee line for the local Big Lots and brought Fast Orange Hand Cleaner. This stuff is designed to clean grease and motor oil and it cost only one dollar. 



Permatex 25113 Fast Pumice Lotion Hand Cleaner, Orange
Get's the job done with a lovely citrus fragance.

I was very skeptical about using it however I needed to get the grease out. 
After vigorious hand-washing, the ALL the grease was gone from her dress. 
I'm not kidding, ALL the grease, not a single smear or stain was left. 
Zaynab was able to wear her new dress to an Eid Party and Fast Orange became a favorite in my household.

More pictures of the dress:

Pretty bow. 

Cascading ruffles.

My favorite: knife pleats trimming the pinafore

Embroidery on the hem of the pinafore.


Now I want to create a dress similar to the Neapolitan Dress however I want sleeves. I could just do separate dress and pinafore yet I was thinking the attached pinafore is what makes the combination great. 
Like peanut butter & jelly or something. 
Also I like a good sewing challenge. 
Today I'm aiming to draft the pattern and pick out the fabric. 



Insha'allah I'll keep you posted on this project. 

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Mini Jubah Update

Remeber this number: Rewind: Mini Jubah

Well, here is the finished garment.


I was very proud of my mini jubah until I tried it on. Now I'm angry. The fit is VERY poor especially in the bodice. I'm swimming in it. Plus the back is long and graceful but when I move it bunches up on top of my butt. 

I wanted bishop sleeve like this:
See the beautiful puffiness. 
However due to my lack of pattern making skills, I messed up. The sleeve sags over my wrist instead of graceful puffing out at the cuffs. Yet I did a stunning job on the cuffs and the plackets. 



On the good note, I now have a decent idea of what I want my mini jubah to look like. I have another jubah mini on the way. As for this garment, insha'allah, it will be up-cycled into a dress. I'm totally saving the front for the ruffles. Keep posted. 





Are Burqa-Inspired Fashions Glorifying Female Oppression or Encouraging Women to Dress More Conservatively? - FoxNews.com

Are Burqa-Inspired Fashions Glorifying Female Oppression or Encouraging Women to Dress More Conservatively? - FoxNews.com

I say: Neither.

Simply because designers often like to exploit or exaggerate the garment to get some shock value and to get the "fresh look".
Plus they dislike the reality of the garment's use.
In this case: Islamic clothes are suppose to cover/protect the wearer's awrah, not put the awrah on display.
The hijab, the nijab and the burqa are not "sexy" garments.
They are not meant to be worn with the bare minimal of clothes.
They not meant to be worn to make the wearer "sexy".
Sorry to be a killjoy here however designers focus on putting the awrah on display.
That's why models often look like pieces of art in order to display a purse or a blouse while showing legs or whatever is bare. Muslim fashion designers often fall into the same rut yet it's worse because they KNOW that the wearer's awrah is on display but they promote it anyway.



Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Reply to My Reply Test...Yeah.

Hang in there!

This is a test.
Blogger has no reply to the readers' comments.
Yeah, I just crawled out from under my rock on this one and I'm trying to fix it. I want to reply to my readers so I have been reading up on "reply" remedies. I have found one and would like to know if it works.
I have a huge favor to ask: when I reply to your comment, please reply back.
This is only a test.

P.S: Insha'allah you have came across some help on this topic, tell me know. 

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