A 17-year-old Omani girl had a dream to stitch the world’s largest traditional Omani cap and, thanks to a Maltese woman, she has realised her wish and made it to the Guinness Book of Records.

She just wants people to believe and see that nothing is impossible

Event organiser Karla Attard was working on an internship in India when she was contacted by the al Raisi family in Oman to help in the quest of making the record go down in the history books.

“When I first heard about Amani al Raisi’s wish to build the world’s largest kummah I was touched by her determination,” Ms Attard said.

A kummah is essentially an art piece. It is made of crisp white cotton that is embroidered in many different colours with unique, highly decorative designs.

Amani, 17, was inspired by her mother, a traditional kummah-maker.

“This young teenager in the Middle East wanted to do something that was beyond her. People around her said it could not be done but I was really inspired by her sheer will,” Ms Attard said.

It took young Amani 18 months to complete the intricate kummah. By the end, it reached a height of one metre and had over 200,000 hand stitches. Through common friends, her family then recruited Ms Attardto organise an event so that the Kummah could be approved by the Guinness World Records judges.

It took a whole month of planning from her side, including finding a venue, making an enormous pillow for the cap to rest on and finally transporting the kummah to the venue, and making sure all the Guinness rules were adhered to.

“We had several obstacles, especially as we were low on resources, but we made it somehow and on February 26, we organised a big do,” she said.

It took about an hour for the officials to precisely measure the cap and during that time the tension was palpable.

“When the judges announced that Amani got the record certificate, it was highly emotional and there were quite a few tears shed,” Ms Attard said, adding that the judges were especially impressed with the stitching and the story behind it.

Amani has now presented the kummah to the Sultan of Oman, Qaboos Bin Said.

“She just wants people, especially the young ones, to believe and see that nothing is impossible but possible,” said Ms Attard.