by Sherezzah
We love the thobe al-nashal, aka Saudi dress, the dress that is traditionally worn for women's Khaleegy-style dance. (Pic above: Rising Phoenix Dancers and friends wearing Khaleegy thobes at Oasis South Dance Retreat 2018.) Not only are they fun to dance in, they can also be useful for cover-ups or hafla outfits. They're beautiful, often with heavy embroidery and decoration, but they can also be a bit on the expensive side. Partly to avoid unnecessary wear on the pricier ones, we've made several of our own (see The Great Wall of Thobes for some pics) and want to share the methodology/pattern along with some tips and techniques based on our experiences.
First we'll provide
basic instructions, then add some
info on how you can use the same basic instructions to make
different caftan styles.
The Basic Instructions
|
1. Cut the fabric pieces you'll need.
Approximate* measurements as follows:
*NOTE: Since the garment is designed to be loose, there is a fair amount of flexibility in the measurements. Please see the thobe measurement details page for specific information on how you can modify these numbers as needed. **NOTE: Don't panic about the gussets. They turned out to be a lot simpler to do than I'd originally expected. NOTE: The fabric layout for cutting the pieces can vary a great deal depending on the fabric(s) you might be using--the size, whether they have a directional or border print, etc. I intend to add some specific examples here at a later date. NOTE: You might need additional fabric or other notions to finish the neck opening and/or the sleeve ends. Please refer to the relevant steps below for details. |
Thobe pieces. Not to scale. Not intended to represent a fabric layout for cutting the pieces. Pic is primarily to show orientation, what the "top" and "bottom" of each piece is, along with the placement of seam allowances (indicated by dotted lines) and hem allowances (indicated by solid lines inside the shape). | |||||||
|
2. Make a keyhole neck opening in the center front.
Because this style of dress is designed to be longer in the back than in the front (to create a kind of "train" effect), the neck opening is contained entirely on the front piece, centered 10" from the top edge. The round part of the opening should be about 5-6" in diameter (about the size of a small saucer), and the lower "slot" part extending about 5-8" below it, as shown in the pic at right. There are different methods one might use to do this; for example, you could cut the opening first and then finish it with a narrow hem or by using seam binding. My preferred method is to use a facing, and I intend to add specific instructions for that at some later date. |
Neck opening. Highlighted area indicates where sewing happens. | |||||||
|
3. Sew the "shoulder" seam.
Join the center front to the center back along their top edges to form the center assembly.
"Shoulder seam" isn't a technically accurate term for this on this style of dress, since the seam will fall somewhere around your shoulder blades rather than at the top of your shoulder. But I don't know a better one. | ||||||||
|
4. Attach the sleeves to the center assembly.
Match the center of the top (long) side of each sleeve with the "shoulder" seam on the center assembly.
| ||||||||
|
5. Sew a gusset on each side piece.
Match the center top of the side with the center bottom of the gusset. |
Side assembly. Highlighted area indicates where sewing happens. | |||||||
6. Sew each side assembly to the
center-with-sleeve assembly, as follows:
| ||||||||
|
7. Hem the bottom and finish sleeve ends as needed.
As a reminder, our measurements allowed a 1-1/2" hem allowance. |
Highlighting indicates areas for hemming. | |||||||
That's it, you have a thobe!
Making Other Caftan Styles
You can use these same basic instructions to make other more "standard" caftan styles.
The first thing you might want to change is to make the front and the back the same length, getting rid of the "train" effect. You do this by moving the neck opening so it is centered on the shoulder seam. To do that, you'd need to switch the steps around so you sew the shoulder seam first before you try to put in the neck opening. And of course, you'd probably need to adjust the overall length (height) of the garment as well. Please refer to the measurement details page for specific information on how measurements would need to be changed for this.
I've seen caftans where that's the only change; they have the same overall look as a proper Khlaeegy thobe, but they don't have the back longer than the front (which some people seem to think is a mistake). More commonly, though, you'd probably want to adjust the proportions as well: narrower sleeve (and correspondingly taller side piece), and possibly narrower side piece as well. Again, please check to the measurement details page to see how measurement changes can affect other measurements.
Return to
Rising Phoenix Dancers Home
