Sewing Rant

"She wants me to pull more fabric out of where?"
Picture from "Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky"

I have a something to get off my chest about people expecting sewists to work miracles, whether it be magically producing enough cloth to cover a project when its not provided to the sewist being able to make a size 4 fit a size 26 figure.

Be sensible when dealing with us because your pride is not going to repair your pants nor let out your abaya.

That's my job and I expect to get what I asked for/agreed upon. I don't like "sweatshop" wages just because your husband is out of work or your light bill just got paid or you just paid for a previous project. Simply treat my request as a quote, be decent and bring the garment(s) back when you have the money. I don't need the personal fitnah (trouble).

I'm sorry, even clothes need some maintenance. It's a lifetime issue that spans across cultures, religions etc. Your clothes are going to need mending and altering. Unless you can do it, don't be a snob or unreasonably frugal towards people who sew for a living. Even if they are beginners or hobbyists or part-time, it's not fair to them. We don't wave fairy wand over your clothes and instantly they fixed like that.

Plus don't compare they do to what the seamstresses and tailors do in your home country or back in your time.

Just my thoughts.

Dick & Jane Curtains: COMPLETED

Remember the seemingly simple D&J curtain project:
Dick & Jane in the works

Well, it's FINALLY finished.
Yes!!
I know what you are thinking, it's curtains.
Simple little curtains with cute little D&J pictures, right?

See Gail being too over-planned and proud.
See Gail get her feelings hurt.
After being sick with sinus problems for a week and half, caring for a whining three year old who is mysteriously inquisitive about EVERYTHING all a sudden, being highly disappointed in a long awaited show: "All-American Muslims" and then my discontinued serger deciding "chew" up my work...

...a small project became a struggle.

Nevertheless, I pushed on, learned how to rolled hem and got finished with the last and most decorative set of panels. Complete with ruffles. And six yards of rolled hemmed ruffles too. Top and bottom.

**Jane smiles demonically at me as she rides her tricycle**
Naah, I just need a "me" project.
Lol. 

Would I do curtains again?
Yes.

What is out of my sewing ability?
No.

Do I see a Babylock or Singer Serger in the future?
God-willing, yes.

My next project, insha'allah, will be something for me like a nice tunic-skirt set or dress.

Until then, live and let sew. 

D&J Curtain Project

Next sewing project is Dick & Jane Curtains.

Old school back again. Sew the next curtain. Now let's begin.
Say: Dick & Janeeeeeee!!!

That's right.
Dick & Jane curtains.
I grew up on Dick & Jane, my mom read it to me and they are great reader books. Teacher Cindy at my daughter's school commissioned me to sew her some new curtains for her classroom. She is a Dick & Jane fan and she loves to use Dick & Jane books in her class. I'm looking forward to seeing how the curtains will look in the classroom, insha'allah.

See Gail match up cloth.

See Gail sew.

See Zaynab read curtains.

"Go and tell Daddy, Zaynab," says Mommy.

It took me about 45 minutes to match up the prints. I want to conserve as much fabric as possible while showing off the lovely prints on the fabric. I got five windows to do, two plain pair of panels, two pairs with a little design, and one showcase piece, insha'allah.

Sally: "I can have a Decaf Viente Latte with Toffenut Flavor, please?"

Well back to work.

Zaynab's Eid Adha Wintermint Princess Frock

Assalaam waliekum & hello.

Eid Adha is coming up soon...very soon. For those who are new to Islam, Eid Adha is the Festival of the Pilgrimage to Hajj. It marks the final day of the Hajj, which is the religious ritual of Hajar's (rah) search to find water for her son, Ishmael. That's my two cents in a nutshell so insha'allah I'm wrong about anything just said please feel free to tactful correct me.

For me, the Eids mark a time for generosity upon my family and an impulse to decorate my daughter in ruffles. I'm usually over-planning and stitching away at some frock for my daughter. For this Eid, Zaynab shall have her last little ruffled frock. Insha'allah.

*Gail wipes away some tears*

So let me introduce the Zaynab's Eid Adha Wintermint Princess Frock...the underskirt anyways.

A profile. Zaynab was playing balletina. 

The back. Daddy was holding her hands as she spin around.

I took the idea of this frock from McCall's M6389. 




And the Feliz Dress.



More to come.

Assalaam waliekum...I have BOOBS!!!!

I have been noticing a trend in Muslim fashions where designers basically forget/deny/don't attempt to realize that ...this is a new one to them
Muslim women have BOOBIES.
There I said it.
Yes, we have titties, knockers, breastseses, gorillas (my personal favorite) and I'm sorry yet the pastie hijabs are not going to work.
The pastie hijab work great on these women:

By the way, I love the scarf . Masha'allah. 

Seriously, why do Islamic fashion have to support the Westernized concept of fashion? 

What's up with the use of flat-chested models to bypass decent hijab?

Just because a Muslim woman have little to no boobbage, didn't mean little to no hijab. I would not even style the hijab like this on a non-Muslim model for the reason it promotes an indecent hijab style. 

But the majority of us who have not been blessed with a size 4 figure + lightly endowed with breast can't wear the pastie hijab very well.

I know the designers have to make the scarves look good. However sometimes the scarves are wrapped to where they can't even make it past the woman's nipples let alone the collarbone. I just saw some scarves where the sisters must have had massive hair or wearing about five scarves packed underneath the main one. To my observance, the main scarf was frighten of the breast area. 

My thoughts: (slightly bored tone) "Masha'allah, more almost camel humps or pastie hijabs."

The models were like: I'm so happy to designate most of my scarf to my hair.

Or 75% of it to some massive decorative knot/flower thing.

Not all hijab styles are like this, I'm just going on my humble observation of hijab-breast phobia among Muslim fashions. Some may say I'm old-fashion or not hip or not modern, I'm saying that as a Muslim women don't the breast, on women, those two protruding globes that sometimes need a bra, are supposed to be COVERED.

Not barely covered with a hint of a hijab running across them.  

Some Muslimahs want to wear nice clothes with a bit of modern flare nevertheless there are limitless options to consider. Since the breast can't be shown, why not find clothes with appropriate sleeves that have decorations or skirts and pants were decorative hems. The sky is limits when it comes to Muslim fashions. 

And Allah SWT Knows Best. 

Recent Projects

I love working late night into early morning, hubby hates it but I love it.
The world is much quieter, my Zaynab would be asleep and I tend to notice things a whole lot better.
I just can't put my finger on why I love working at night.
This time I was preparing my muslin fabric early in the morning when I noticed that I used canned food to weight down my patterns while cutting. In the past, I used my roommate's canned cat food and it worked very well. I wanted some nice weights and I did some research.
I found:
DIY Pattern Weights
Great tutorial on pattern weights. Here mine at the moment.

Update: stuffed them with scraps and pennies.

I made Zaynab a very nice dress for a picnic at the local masjid however my grandmother passed away so she wore it to the funeral. Everyone thought she was adorable. I made a matching pair of bloomers for the dress too.

A beautiful built-in lining/petticoat. 

I ventured out to the local thrift to buy bedspreads for my Eid 2011 muslin and I found a super bad grab-bag of mostly sewing stuff. Can't argue with $1.40. 

I got these cool sewing accessories along with Singer needles and other sewing nick-knacks. 

A cool 1/4 seam foot.

And a hemming guide

Tune in for more projects.

Current Events

Assalaam waliekum and hello, everyone.
I'm sorry about the recent drought of blogging on my part. I have been sick with some stomach issues for a while now. Probably something I ate or the weather. Nevertheless, I'm finally feeling up to blogging again and I have some things to show you.

A future project...



I normally buy Simplicity patterns however I saw some of the beautiful dresses being made from this pattern and I could not suppress my pattern-collecting tendency. Also Hancock's had a sale on Vogue patterns. I'm thinking about a lovely little Empire dress and I'm still working on what the sleeves will look like. I know one thing: I going to try plaid this year, insha'allah.