Ramadan Mubarak!

Ramadan Mubarak to everyone! May Allah SWT accept our fasting and good deeds and reward us well:)

Take care and Asalamalaykom:)

Tania:)

Work Sheet

Asalamalaykom everyone:)

Due to an increase in business over the past little while, it was becoming difficult to keep the prices consistent in my head for the various sewing jobs that sisters wanted me to do for them. As such, I have created a Work Sheet that I attach to each job which allows for me and each of my clients to fill out what they want and add any details for measurements, alterations, etc. so that the sewing is done properly.

Therefore, If you live in the Victoria, BC area and would like some sewing work done, please feel free to email me at: purplebutterfly26@gmail.com for my Work Sheet and I can email it out to you. I am avoiding putting it online as my personal information is listed and because I am only taking on clients who live on Vancouver Island or in the Vancouver, BC areas (due to the necessity of providing me with fabric and/or the clothing items that need alterations).

I offer very competitive prices – half of what local Victoria dry cleaners and tailor shops are offering. For example, I charge $20 to hem abayas that are very wide at the bottom (up to 210 inches around) and dry cleaners and tailor shops in Victoria are charging $40 and up. I am trying to keep my prices very low as many of my clients are students and I hope to be doing a good deed by charging less. Plus – I love to sew and I don’t mind keeping my prices low:)

I hope to hear from anyone in the Vancouver Island-Vancouver, BC area who needs my Work Sheet and some sewing done for them, Inshallah:)

Take care and Asalamalaykom:)

Whoa....It's been awhile!

As the title of this post says - it has been awhile since I last posted anything! Since my last in October 2010, I have been so busy with Hajj 2011, a new job, a new city, etc. - the list goes on:) I have also been busy with tonnes of sewing projects and since moving to Victoria, BC, I have gone into a small sideline sewing business for sisters:) I'm really excited about this as now that I am in a bigger city with more sisters who wear the khimar and abayas, mine have been getting a lot of compliments.

Plus, given that online shopping is tricky with sizing, shipping and waiting and with a lot of sisters relying on family back home to send them clothing, me taking on a few sewing projects has been keeping me busy, too:)

I recently completed an abaya for a sister from Saudi and have posted a couple of pictures below. It's so nice to see someone wearing the clothing that I made them - I love it!

As for pictures of other clothing I have made over the past few months, I will post them in a separate blog, Inshallah:)

For the pics of the abaya I did for the Saudi sister (below), I would love to know what you think:) The fabric is a suiting that she provided me and for the type of weather we have here in BC, it will be good to wear year-round (although in really hot weather, it might be too warm).

Take care and asalamalaykom! :)

Jilbab Workwear!

Now that I am so comfortable with abayat, I love to wear them to work:) They are so convenient and because I like to sew them usually in solid colours, all of my printed khumar go really well with them. Abayat are so simple to make and they are really very fast. On average, each abaya that I make takes from cutting the fabric to finishing the abaya itself about 2 hours. Further, sometimes I only have about 3 meters of fabric and for a small abaya, about 3.5 meters are needed at a minimum. So, if I don't have enough fabric to make the entire abaya from the fabric I have, I just do the sleeves in a different colour (or white as shown below) with the cuff matching the body of the abaya as a detail. I really like the ones I made and get a lot of comments on the style. It's great to make do with what you have, alhamdollilah!:)

Sports Jilbabs:)

I like checking out different websites for abayat and such. The clothing from the UK is really great and I like the styles over there. The abayat are fashionable yet understated and that's why I like them so much. Plus, I was looking for some clothing that's less formal than what I wear for work and more casual to hang out with friends on the weekends, go shopping in or for walks etc. So below are a few that I sewed for myself. Each jilbab has a hood with a cord so that it looks like a modified version of a sports hoodie. The jilbabs also feature a panel of lining material that I sewed into place around the knee area. This was because when I wear pants underneath, the fabric has less friction with the lining panel than it does without. The sleeves being wide as they usually are in sports hoodies, are also a great feature bcause the cuffs stretch nicely so when you want to pull up your sleeves up past your elbows for making wudu, it's very convenient. Let me now what you think:)

Abaya Doesn't Have to be Black:)

At first, I didn't want to wear an abaya because 1) I'm not from Saudi Arabia:0), 2) they're always black and 3) they're kind of intimidating to people. When I reverted to Islam, Alhamdulillah, I received an abaya as a gift. It was so beautiful with the soft, satiny fabric, red sleeve inserts and matching hijab. I think the style is so beautiful but I only ever seem to wear it when I pray. Because it was too big, I decided to take it in a bit. When I saw how simple it was yet so flattering, I decided to make a pattern from it. I didn't want to take it apart and I'm really glad I didn't because I managed to make an awesome pattern from the existing abaya without so much as ripping a stitch:) I have used this pattern to make 3 so far and I have also modified the pattern to make a long kameez that goes past the knees to wear with my flared jeans. I can't believe it took me so long o come around to wearing abayat! They’re classy and elegant in black - but in different fabrics ad colours, they’re modern, flattering, comfortable and sooo convenient! Just pull it on overtop whatever your wearing, add a hijab and you're out the door:) With my pattern, I have further modified it and I'm also just finishing up a nice and light cotton coat for the summer. Below are pics of 2 of the abayat I made and the long kameez. What do you think?:)

Light Denim Fabric  - Ocean Blue

Polyester Suiting Blend - Raspberry Flower 

Cotton Suiting Material - Embellished Gray

Turn your jeans into a skirt:)

When I first started wearing modest clothing, I definitely needed to update my wardrobe. My clothing was fairly modest to begin with but the styles I wore were pretty fitted. I didn't want to give away all of my clthes, so I began "recycling" them:) Since then, it hasn't just been me who converted! All of my jeans and pants have too, ha, ha, ha:) Here’s one of my favourites that I did - and every time I wear it, my sisters and friends tell me how much they like it - hope you will too:) I've posted direction below if you want to try this out for yourselves:)

•Take a pair of jeans or pants, turn them inside out and mark from the top of the waist, 8 or 9 inches down.

• Cut along the line you measured.

• Measure the bottom edge of the wide waistband you now have. You will use this number later.

• Take apart the pants legs and trim down the edges to make four equally-sized rectangles that taper at the top. They should look like squared wedges, narrower at the top of wider at the bottom. The narrower the top is, the more fabric you’ll need from the other material you’ll be using. The width at the bottom will add to the overall flare of the skirt. Make sure that you have added at least ½ inch for a seam allowance for the top, left and right sides. I usually make sure there’s at least 1½ inches for the bottom to hem later.

• Measure the top of each rectangle and add the numbers up. Subtract this number from the bottom of the waistband you measured. For example, if the bottom edge of the waistband is 42 inches and the tops of the wedges you now have add up to 24 inches (6-inch widths for each one), 42-24=18.

• You will need to make sure the wedges you are cutting from the other material you’re using, will measure no more than 18 inches overall. So, for four wedges, that’s 4½ inches each, at the top.

• The bottom of the wedges can be any width you like as long as they’re equal to the top width or wider. Make sure that you have added at least ½ inch for a seam allowance for the top, left and right sides. I usually make sure there’s at least 1½ inches for the bottom to hem later.

• Once you have your 8 wedges with the seam allowance factored in and they are all cut, sew them together, alternating the materials.

• Measure the top of the sewn-together wedges and make sure the measurement is the same as the bottom edge of the waistband.

• Attach the waistband to the top of the wedges and sew in place. Measure to the desired length and hem.

• From start to finish, this skirt takes about 1½ hours to complete, sew it’s extremely fast, pun intended:)