A prayer garment for Muslim women which features a loose knee-length top and a sarong, is typically called telekung among Malaysian Muslim women.
The standard telekung would be all white and plain, but over the years, fashionable alternatives such as colourful or printed ones, or others that are adorned with embellishments like lace, embroideries or beads have penetrated the market.
While these offerings are aesthetically pleasing, the price tag that comes with it can be on the heftier side.
If you own a standard plain telekung and want to dazzle it up especially for the month of Ramadan without burning a hole in your pocket, it’s time to get crafty.
Norshahida Mohamed Shariff, the founder of a made-to-order tailoring business called ButtonMyButtons shared some tips with Sinar Daily on how to enhance the telekung simply with some lace, beads and pearls.
Firstly, Shahida said it’s important to choose the materials you want to match with the telekung. In this case, I had with me a basic, white telekung.
The material of the telekung was soft cotton, so Shahida said some French lace would be a perfect match. Choose colours that compliment the telekung – we went with an off-white French lace, some white pearls and crystal beads. When it comes to giving your telekung a do-over, be careful to not go overboard. After all, you don’t want to distract others during Tarawih prayers at the mosque. A few patches of lace were sewn on to the front side of the telekung and polished off with the beads and pearls for some added bling.
Placing the beads come in no particular order. "Treat it like art, it’s subjective,” she said.
With basic sewing skills I’ve gained since my high school days of learning "Kemahiran Hidup”, sewing the lace and beads wasn’t extremely challenging however it requires a lot of patience, therefore crafty do-it-yourself projects like this shouldn’t be rushed.
Also, it’s best to have it hand-sewn instead of using the machine.
"If you use the sewing machine you may not be able to maneuvre around the lace as you do with your hand and when the lace is sewn via the machine, it may crumple after wash,” said Shahida.
Look for inspirations on Pinterest or Instagram, and choose how you want to dazzle up your basic telekung this Ramadan or check out Dazzle's new episode on how to bedazzle your telekung on Sinar Daily.