Remember...

 those dress collars I told you about?

you know, the ones that are dirt cheap to make and yet seem to cost an arm and a leg to buy?

well, this is my first attempt..

 my dear friend sat by me almost every step of the way to stop me self harming with my crochet hook when things got a bit fraught.

And I'm happy enough with the result..

and even better than that, I'd say it counts as learning a traditional Algerian craft which means I can tick it off the demon list of to don'ts..

 This one has been claimed by dd11, and I've even been productive enough to cut a simple house dress to sew it on to....

these normally fall into a couple of categoies..ones worn for everyday and those worn by new brides, and the dress codes and female politics of Algeria make it  a scarey business if you get it wrong...

the heartwarming thing is that most  women here love it when you master something typically Algerian..

and are more than happy to teach the skills that more and more of the younger generation of Algerian women are less inclined to learn.