Orange Sherbet Part 2

Yeap, I love dessert as you can see with my creations for my daughter.
Mainly because she's so sweet...when she wants to be.


This pile of fabric & trim became this:



Made in 2012, kurta kameez with gharara pants, modeled by one of Zaynab's friend in 2013.
This little outfit was a one-hit success, the pattern was awesome and the fabric & trim were stunning however Zaynab only worn it once for Eid ul Ahda 2012 then she hit a growth spurt and the outfit was stored away.
The good part of this story is that I found a home for this pretty outfit. Zaynab's new friend was very happy.



The gharara pants with matching bands and silver ribbons.



The decorated bib neckline in silver ribbon.

Muslim Rant: Looking For Forgiveness In All the Wrong Places

Airing dirty wash is slang for letting others know about your private life (especially the bad parts).

There is the trend of today where people just let it all hang out online even at the cost of their religion, jobs, or relationships with others.
Instead of finding a good friend's shoulder to cry on, most feel more better letting the world's population know of their private problems.

Some Muslims do the damnest things like air their dirty wash online also.
Then get a defensive stance or dish up a combo of lame-ass justifications for their actions.

It's between me and Allah SWT. (Now it's on Facebook and Twitter, too.)
Don't judge me or remind me of my deen.
I have my reasons for why I did it.
I feel that I....
But so-and-so did it...
It's my choice....
I feel as through I should not be criticized....

Example: Muslim brother is having trouble with his gambling problem and he didn't leave it in Vegas. Instead the stress & regretting eats at him until he posts it on Facebook then get angry when alot of Muslims remind him that gambling is a no-no in Islam. But he is so comforted with the non-Muslims or Muslims who partake in gambling, come to his rescue. WTH!!!

Or better:
Example: Muslim sister has Christmas with her family and clearly it's nagging at her so she gets on a soapbox, being defensive against anyone who remind her about the stance of Christmas in Islam (Christmas is forbidden in Islam).
So why the hell tell people about her mistake and expect them to agree with her shortcoming?
Insha'allah, you are going to regret doing it and it goes against your religion: DON"T FREAKING DO IT!!!

That would save all of us the trouble of wondering what happened to the person's common sense.

There is no confession in Islam, meaning if you have something eating you up on the inside, publicly confessing it to the world is not good. Muslims can privately discuss the matter with others. Not saying that we should keep it all bottled up but airing dirty wash is not a good idea either. Airing dirty wash is just as harmful because it may lead to people actually justifying their mistakes/wrong doings and people maybe mislead about issues that they should avoid altogether.

Really, these Muslims are looking for forgiveness in all the wrong places. Insha'allah they can publicly confess their bad deeds/mistakes to a mixed audience then they can get some sympathy from others who have "been there". Unfortunately, those same people can't even pardon/fix their own bad deeds so what makes they capable of pardoning/fix anyone else's is beyond reasoning.

And another I consider just right out immature is when people play the "don't judge me" card after posting something that was not right. I feel that insha'allah, the person had enough courage to post their bad personal crap online, then hey; time to be an adult and face the crowd. Having this idea that people are supposed to be your support groupies when you are in the wrong is disgusting and childish. Also playing the "don't judge me' card does not excuse the mistake. The person looks just as arrogant because they were wrong and they want to be supported in their wrong doings/mistakes/bad deeds.

Orange Sherbet: Part One

The materials:

I wanted to do something different and more Islamic for Zaynab this Eid. So I looked through my fabric and found this lovely orange sherbet kameez salwar set. I did a kurta with sharara pants. I will insha'allah try to found my sketches for this project.
The kurta.

In women's fashion, a kurta is a kameez with a collar.
(Shrugs)
I wanted this style.

I brought silver ribbon for the trim.

The inspiration:

Butterick 3403 was my "template". Now you may think: that's a button-up shirt, not a tunic. Well, thanks to my relentless sense of perseverance (really I make stuff harder than it really seems) and the pattern was already in my slash, I have a tunic pattern. I like the version with the blue print and white pants. The pants were perfect for sharara pants because all I had to do was add gathered fabric around the hem.

With the help of this site: From Shirt to Pullover
I was able to draft a pattern for the kurta. The trickiest part was the neck hole and keeping in mind that children had big heads. I made the neckline placket alittle deeper and Zaynab was able to pull it on and off with ease.
 

I brought this kameez at a local thrift store. I thought it was adorable and that it would be useful for a pattern. Unfortunately, it was only adorable. Zaynab tried it on and she could barely lift her arms, let alone breathe. The kameez pulled across her back, the armhole was far too tight and small and the whole thing was a hot mess.
So making a pattern from this garment was a no-no.

Cute little mandarin collar with piping. 

The results were great. Stay tuned for Part Two. 

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: