Where it all began
It all started in 2011 a event happened that resulted in us losing everything we had our house, job and all our belongings it wasnt safe for me and my children to return we was placed into a safe environment.
Our Background :
I was brought up as a catholic with Irish roots the church was a very big part of my life i had a holy communion looking like a little bride. We was there every Sunday without fail my pap made us dress in best clothes he was serious about his belief, i remember my brother had sneaked some farting putty in one Sunday oh my god he never did that again big Mistake !!! Even when we went on holiday abroad we always attend church.
Back to 2011:
The accommodation we a eye opener i mean it was nice enough but we shared our kitchens and toilets it wasn't something i was use to but Alhamduilah we were safe. We met this one sister who was a revert sister with a child she lived on the next floor down, alhamduilah she became a rare friendship "no let me rephrase that she is a sister of mine still to this day we speak on video call everyday for hours no matter where we are in the world "
Anyway lets get back too it we was left with nothing but a lot of time on our hands so i started to read the English Quran and then this same revert sister said do you want to try the hijab honestly i never thought that after everything I had been through in my life , that now this piece of cloth i was wrapping around my head made me feel so content and protected in a wonderful way , But it did!!
How did my family react?
It went down like a Lead Balloon for nearly 2 years we didn't speak no one accepted it even friends i had worked with for over 7 years stopped being my friends Alhamduilah for everything it real opened my eyes like nothing before, i was shunned out of this so called community i had know all my life. Still to this day its a very rocky relationship. Better to keep the distance.
How i learnt to pray:
We used to get up at Fajr time and go downstairs into the children play room to use the safe houses computer for playing YouTube so we could pray along with the videos,
Now the feel i got from praying to Allah wasn't the same feeling as praying in the ,church. Praying to Allah gave such a inner peace i knew this is the true book of god. My stance was strong and it seemed i lost every one i cared for but i knew this was right.
Fast Forward 3 years
I purchased my first one-piece jilbab in classic black, thinking it was a safe choice since I had never tried one before. It turned out to be quite nice, although it didn't fit my face properly no matter how tight you tied the headband, and it was cheap either, I'm a person who prefers quality over quantity.
I'm i very colorful person in my hair and my dress sense so from the moment on after knowing i love the jilbab i started looking at colourful jilbabs and wow some beautiful styles online.
But the one thing that always played at the back of my mind was yes i loved simple modest design but i didn't like the bad craftsman ship i brought it from a well establish company and i paid good money for it but the fitting over all was terrible.
I was on a mission from then on i used to make and design a lot of my own clothing before Islam came into my life i loved my own twist on things. So started designing and sewing making a few errors along the way this is good and how you make yourself better.i finally had four sample to start down to every small detail.
Manufacturing
It took me 7 month to find my right manufacturing team that i work very closely with to ensure fair good working standards and fair pay, We sample every piece of fabric by hand in the UK before any of our designs go ahead because we pride ourselves on High Quality every time.
My Own Modest Clothing Journey
Its 13 years on and its taken me 9 years to become a full time niqabi women and my advice to any Muslim women who is on their own modest journey it to take your time for sure especially if you come from a revert background if you jump too quickly you back out just a quick I'm telling you this from personal experience.
So that how and where OnHerDeen Clothing began and came from.