Denim Marie Antoinette Dress

Here is a dress from the past. I made this for Zaynab when she was 1 1/2 for Eid Adhah. She wore it only three times before hitting a growth spell. The material is leftover striped denim from a project I did for my hubby. I'm sorry about the darkness of the pictures. The white under-dress is cotton.

This is the front. The overdress has a detachable stomacher. 

The sleeves have a mock insert of ruffles. I drafted a complete pattern for the sleeves (thank goodness I know more about drafting sleeves now) 

Eid Sewing Tips for Muslimahs

It's that time again...
Ramadan. 

And insha'allah my hunches are correct there going to be sisters out there wanting to sew themselves a new outfit for the Eid. 

I have some tips for you guys.

1. Buy a serger: It's more money, it takes up room, it's going to make your hubby have a baby but it's PRICELESS when you are finishing seams. My hubby was all whiny about my new serger until I showed him the BEAUTIFULLY-FINISHED inside in my client's dress. He was much pacified.
   And sergers now have mad functions and there are projects out there that you can use the serger for the whole project. Here's a good one: The Brother 1034D
   
   
   
   
2. Don't be afraid to buy fabric. Get more cloth than what the pattern call for, screw the whole "get only what you need" crap. Simply buy a yard or two more. Nothing irritates sewists more than a client wanting a flowing abaya with self-fabric trim and they brought one yard of fabric. Depending on your project, fabric is still inexpensive plus fabric stores do have sales on fabric and other goods. I used to think 5 yards would be enough to cover my buxom butt until I realized I wanted a matching tunic with that skirt or I wanted ruffles or my clothes didn't feel too great.
   
   
   
3. Don't be afraid of sewing a 5/8 seam allowance: this ties into number 2. When you buy enough fabric, you don't have to sew scanty seam allowances and your projects survive washing & wear better. Nothing says defeat to a sewist like pulling a frayed mass on threads from the fresh laundry. It was that blouse you spent hours altering the pattern, using couture sewing methods and buying nice fabric: all ruined by scant seam allowance.
   
   
   
4. Call up your friends that sew for advice on projects. These ladies are busy yet they would feel most wonderful to see you floating about in a creation they helped you with.
   
   
5. Use a pattern: Priced from .25 (thrift store) to $20, patterns are the cheapest of all your sewing stuff. The most I have paid for a pattern was $25 and its a historical pattern that has paid for itself over and over again. It's really a steal with you can get a sale at your local fabric store on patterns. Even if you have to trace an existing garment onto wrapping pattern, DO IT. Don't try to be hand-drafting a pattern on fabric then cut like these super-bad foreign tailors/seamstresses. They have experience and sometimes they still jack-up armholes. You don't want to jack-up your armholes so use a pattern, expert pattern-makers have spent YEARS studying armholes because jacked-up armholes are BAAAAD!
   
   
6. Plan ahead: You have a year before the next Ramadan. Plan as well as you can because stuff happens. Don't wait until the last minute to start a project, like you got a day before the Eid and you want this: