The New Niqabi Doll! All Finished and Waiting to be Collected.

Meet the new Niqabi Muslim doll, handmade by Hijab Sparkle!

Please note:  This article is a slightly older blog post, therefore some of the information and prices of the items featured here may have changed since I wrote it.  For more updated information about the Muslim dolls, please refer to the Muslim Doll page. Thank you.

Assalamu alaikum all!

Insha Allah I hope you all had a lovely Eidul Adha. Alhamdulilah we made it to the Eid prayer at 8am at our local masjid (always an achievement for us with 3 small children, as I'm sure many of you understand ) and then had a barbeque the next day as the weather has been great lately alhamdulilah.  On the Sunday after Eid I took my two eldest children to the model train exhibition which we all really enjoyed.  My 4 year old son, in particular, was so excited when he realised exactly what a model train exhibition really was when we arrived there, I have never seen him so happy. He was literally spinning with excitement!

 Living in a non-Muslim country here in New Zealand,  and not having any public holidays for Eid, we sort of have to break our Eid up to fit in the weekends.  So this weekend Eid activities will continue here in Wellington, with get-togethers and community Eid events planned, insha Allah.

This photo shows the size of the doll in
comparison to my 6 year old daughter,

So...to the photos!  A friend of mine, a Muslim sister from New Zealand who is now living in Saudi,  asked me to make her a 'Niqabi' doll wearing Saudi-style dress, and this is what I came up with, alhamdulilah.  She loves wearing iqab herself, so this doll is just perfect for her.

This little cutie was a lot of fun to make.  She has a long black abaya with silver and white lace trims, and long black matching pants underneath.  Everything, including the shoes, scarf and niqab, is stitched on securely, so that insha Allah the clothes will never get lost and the doll always looks generally at its best.  With every doll I have been carefully re-designing and changing different aspects to make it safe and strong for all children to play with.  I have changed the eyes from buttons to small circles of black felt which have been stitched on with very strong thread.

This doll features a beautifully detailed black abaya, with a silver wave motif trim down the centre, finished off with a tiny pom pom trim at the sides.  It has a delicate lace trim accented with a narrow cream coloured ribbon and tiny bows.  There are also rainbow coloured silver sequins around the ends of the sleeves.

Closeup of the detailed trim decoation
on the front of the abaya.

Closeup of the shoes and pants.
Click for a larger photo.

This doll is a little more expensive than previous dolls, because it has quite a bit of detail, and some expensive trims included, as well as the extra time involved in making it.  If you would like to order a doll the same as this one, it will cost $45.  This is still very cheap compared to many of the other Muslim hijab dolls available, which are often mass produced and not made by hand.  Each one of the dolls pictured on Hijab Sparkle are completely hand designed and hand made by me.  If you would like this doll with different coloured abaya or trims, I can also do that for you if you wish.

I have been getting more requests like this one, for Muslim hijab dolls wearing clothes from a range of different countries.  Subscribe to my blog and facebook page so that you don't miss out on seeing the new designs.  Some which are coming soon include dolls with Yemen hijab clothes, and Somali hijab clothes.  My  friend in Saudi has also asked me to make a Saudi Muslim boy doll, which I am working on now.  If you would like a doll wearing a particular type of hijab style, please let me know and I will see what I can do.  If you email me a photo of what you are looking for, that will help give me an idea.

Please let me know if you have any questions or ideas, and I would love to see your comments about the dolls in the comments below or on the Hijab Sparkle facebook page.  You can also read more about the dolls and see more photos of different designs here.

Salam for now,

Regards,

New Doll for Islamic Kindergarten

Please note:  This article is a slightly older blog post, therefore some of the information and prices of the items featured here may have changed since I wrote it.  For more updated information about the Muslim dolls, please refer to the Muslim Doll page. Thank you.

Assalamu Alaikum!

I have just finished making this Muslim boy doll for an Islamic Kindergarten here in Wellington.  Insha Allah the children there will soon be happily playing with this doll, as well as the Muslimah doll with the pink checkered dress, pictured below.

Muslimah Doll -
Patiently waiting for a new owner.

This little cutie on the left  is still waiting for someone to love her :) She is the only one left until I have time to make some more.

I will be taking some more detailed photos of this doll soon insha Allah.
She has such a pretty dress, with a big heart with lolly print on the front, and ruffled ribbon all around the bottom edge.  She also has hand stiched felt flowers on her shoes and scarf, and long pants underneath with pink ribbon trim.

If you would like to purchase this doll, she is $35, plus postage.  If you would like to know how much postage will be, just send me an email with your general location and I will work it out for you.

For more info about the dolls, the idea behind them and how they are made, please read this post.

Salam 

from

Meet the Muslim Dolls! ...Handmade by Hijab Sparkle.

Please note:  This article is a slightly older blog post, therefore some of the information and prices of the items featured here may have changed since I wrote it.  For more updated information about the Muslim dolls, please refer to the Muslim Doll page. Thank you.

Salam everyone!  I'm excited to introduce a brand new surprise on Hijab Sparkle...the Muslim Dolls!  These are completely hand made and designed in New Zealand, by me, alhamdulilah.

When my daughter was very little I wanted to make her a Muslim doll, complete with hijab, which didn't have too much detail on its face or body.  My daughter and her little brother love to play together and make converstations between the characters in their toy box, and I wanted them to have some Muslim characters to play with. My children are all homeschooled, and all still very young (6, 4 and 1) and therefore they spend a lot of time at home playing, which is an important part of their development.   I consulted Islamic scholars about how the character should be portrayed, and they told me it would be fine as long as I didn't make it too detailed and try to re-create Allah's (SWT) creation.

So I got out my pencil and sketchbook, and began to draw a very simple version of a Muslim doll.  First I made the two Muslim girls, and then my son wanted one too, so I made the Muslim boy version.  As you can see, the face is very simple, with eyes only.  I think this also helps to develop the child's imagination, as they can decide which mood their doll is in when they play.  The dolls are all fully clothed, complete with long dresses, long pants, and a scarf for the girls, and a long shirt and long pants for the boys.  The boys also have a muslim cap.    The dolls are made mostly of cotton (calico/cotton, and polycotton), and then filled with polyester filling.  The shoes and some other small details are made with polyester felt. Some of the clothes are also made from recycled vintage fabrics, which I have collected over the years.  I have tried to vary the skin colours, too, to reflect the wonderful multicultural nature of our Ummah, masha Allah. They are 43cm long from the top of the head to the tips of the shoes.

It would be easy to mass produce these dolls, but as I make each one completely by hand, I found the fun in making them was that each one was differerent.  I enjoy thinking about the colour of the clothes, the details on the shoes and hijab, etc. I also thought of taking orders if people want them, but I thought it would be much more of a surprise to post them to my blog as each one was made, and customers can purchase exactly what they see.

Someone suggested that I give each one a different name, but then I would like to give that task to their new owners, insha Allah.

The Muslim Dolls, all packaged and ready to be sold to their new owners.

I really can't count how many hours have gone into making these dolls, from the design to completion.  I just make them one at a time and try to enjoy the process of making them as much as I can, and hope that the new owners will enjoy playing with them as much as I have enjoyed making them.

They are $35 each, which is very inexpensive considering the price of a mass produced doll in the shop, of this size.  I didn't want to make them too expensive, as I know it is hard to find Muslim dolls, especially in New Zealand, and I want as many Muslim kids (and adults!) as possible to enjoy them. If you need info on shipping cost to your particular location, just drop me an email.

The boy doll is not for sale, sorry!  I promised my 4 year old son that if I didn't sell the doll at the Masjid Open Day, that he could have it (he looked at me with those eyes...you know how it is lol).  However, I will be making more soon, insha Allah.  Join the facebook page or subscribe to this blog if you don't want to miss out.  There are two different Muslim girl dolls l for sale, however, as you see in the photos..

Safety note:  The eyes on each doll are made of small buttons, which have been securely sewn on with much care.  However, to be on the safe side, you might want to save the doll for children 4 years or older if you think this might pose a choking risk to your child.  The outer fabric of the dolls is made mostly of cotton, but the inside is polyester stuffing, therefore please keep away from the heater or naked flame.

If you have any questions, or would like to purchase one of the Muslim girl dolls, please feel free to ask in the comment section below, or contact me via email or the Hijab Sparkle Facebook page.

Have a great day, insha Allah!

Salam,