Zaynab's Eid Adha Wintermint Princess Frock Completed

Zaynab’s Eid Adha Wintermint Princess Frock was a success. The colors were great, the fitting was good and the Thread’s seam-and-bound finishing technique I picked up was a hit. It is an awesome dress.

I combined leftover fabrics: sea-green denim for the pinafore, pink-striped cotton (binding strips & ruffles) and cream broadcloth for the underskirt to produce this wonderful frock. I combined my Neapolitan Feliz dress pattern with McCall's M6389.

Instead of finishing the princess seams with regular seams, I used the seam-and-bound finishing technique shown in an old Thread’s Technique book. It’s an easy, strong finish for bulky fabrics plus it can add alittle spice to regular seams.

The bound-and-stitched seam

And all of us who sew knows what happens to an terrific dress: It seems to never get worn to the intended event.
Well, it’s probably just happens to me but oh well.
Zaynab was supposed to wear this dress to Eid Adha back in the Fall but I was too exhausted & sick to go to the Eid so the dress had to wait.
Then my friend recently got married and I was invited to her walima (wedding reception or wedding banquet). I had the pleasure of seeing another one of my dresses on display in all it’s beauty for a client. I got Miss Little-Bit all dolled up just so she could show her evil side in a store three blocks from the party. Unfortunately, we gave her every opportunity to improve her behavior and we could not reward her bad behavior with the benefits of the party (there was cake, ice cream plus her classmates), so Miss Little-Bit and her dress was sent to her aunt’s house.
So I’m posting the after party pics for friends and family.

     

I got more completed projects on the way, so stay tuned.

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.

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. 

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. 

Hubby's New DIY Izar

Today I started a DIY Tailored Izar for my husband. I got the inspiration from the utilikilt. The utilikilt/kilt was great for design but too short for my husband's Islamic dress code needs.

Yes, Muslim men do have a dress code in Islam, they have to cover themselves from their navel to their ankles. One of the dress codes for Muslim men is that their garments must not drag the ground or end above the knee. Also they cannot wear silk or gold.

I wanted an izar that looked tailored yet simple make & could be made with old garments. An izar, from my understanding, is basically a simple length of cloth that is pleated and tied around the midsection. Islamically, the izar was worn by men and women however today it's more of a men's garment. The izar can be a simple tube skirt with elastic or drawstring waistband to a tailored garment with pockets and studs. The skies's the limit on this garment.

Im still working on the izar and will be more than happy to update this as soon as Im finished, insha'allah

****Islamic correction as of October 30, 2013: The original ruling on the Muslim men's dress code is from their navels to their knees. ****

A Peppermint Pink Gal

Two weeks ago, I finished a toddler outfit for my daughter, Zaynab. I took my inspiration from a toddler dress made in the Regency period. The measurements of the dress fit Zaynab's measurements. If you want to find out more on this little treasure, go here: Vintage Textiles

It was perfect: simple yet chic. The front was flat while back was gathered by drawstings and a sash. Zaynab plays hard so I could not make her dress long and the drawstring that gathered the back was out of the question. I was fighting the urge to make Zaynab an historic dress that she would not be too comfortable and my work would be ruin. I wanted all the makings of the historic dress but without the historic issues like drawstrings.

Then it dawned on me to replace the drawstrings with narrow elastic so the back can still be gathered while allowing her to play without snagging anything.

Then I turned the very broad neckline into a simple square neckline. After much thought and sketching, I made the pattern from an old blouse and I pulled this off:

I was happy, Zaynab was ecstatic. After twirling and bouncing about the apartment in the mock, she fought me off when I tried to take it. She didnt want to take the dress off and she cried.

I promised her another dress just like it but better. Then she agreed and took off the dress.

Isn't that just the smartest thing that a toddler can do: make a deal with the parents.

From there came a beautiful little minty creation called: Peppermint Gal.

I found the fabric at the local Walmart and I loved it. I didn't like stripes however I loved this one. It had an "antique look" to it. The colors very lively without being gaudy. It was just what I wanted for Zaynab. I brought four yards and produced a tunic top, bloomers and a chic little fichu.

I let Zaynab wore the outfit outside. She dirtied it within five minutes of playing. I let her play in the outfit to see how she moved in the garment, how garment reacted to motion and to see what I needed to fix. Also I have developed a bad habit of making dresses for Zaynab and as soon as she got them dirtied, I clean them and pack them away somewhere. So Zaynab has three great dresses that have been worn just a few times.

Then it dawned on me that I was wasting my time sewing all these clothes, then locking them away just because I could not bear seeing them on dirty. This could also explain her fighting over the mock. She loved and enjoyed her handmade clothes...and I was depriving her of them. I had to come to the conclusion that Zaynab was a toddler and she was going to mess up her clothes. I wanted to make pretty clothes for her but I had to deal with the stains, the rips and other dismays that were inflicted on my creations. Insha'allah (Allah willing) I kept putting away her handmade clothes every time they got ruined then my effort and time would be wasted. So I simply smiled at Zaynab as she played in the dirt then proceeded to sit down on the ground.