- With your arms at your sides, have someone measure from one wrist to the other going across the back of the shoulders.
- Purchase twice this amount of 60" inch wide fabric.
- Fold the left and right edges so that they meet in the center.
- Pin in several places to hold the fabric in place.
- Referring to the diagram: Cut a V-neck in the top layer of fabric.
- Stitch the seam line across the top.
- At the upper left and right corners, cut openings for your hands.
- The center seam of the abayah may be closed in several ways:
- The easiest thing to do is simply stitch the entire seam all the way up to the neck.
- You could also stitch from the bottom, half-way up, then insert a long zipper, or even several snaps or velcro.
- Cut the bottom of the abayah, large and round.
- Finish the neck opening, and cuffs with satin ribbon or bias binding.
- Hem the bottom.