sorry, it's been a while. i have been busy with invitations for my cousin. i'll put pictures up soon.

i've read blogs and seen people and pictures. and it has been on my mind to say. it's about bras. yes. if i must say, a good number of american women are scared of bras. i mean, they wear them but are scared to wear those that put the breasts where they actually should be. at chest level. i've seen girls both slim and not slim wearing bras that don't do much other than make them look even bigger. because the bras do not give any lift. and the funny thing even with some people i know, is that they aren't that big in the waist area. the droopy breasts just widens their girth. i remember my mom being appalled at the bra my bustier, older sister was wearing. she had been living on her own in the us for about 2 years. during one of her visits my mom took her to the store to get a "good" bra for her. and the girls were lifted and perky! my sister joked that her boobs were pointed like guns. we had a good laugh over that. but her clothes fit so much better and she looked slimmer instantly. even the really huge ladies back home wear bras that lift. and when i say lift i do not mean miracle bra. so i think before you start lowering the bust point of your patterns, it's a good idea to first do a bra check and maybe everything will fit so much nicer. we should be proud of them in any size and use the right bra to help them enhance our features!



coincidentally, the bra turned 100 this month so we should all celebrate by going out to get a new bra!

busy with midterms.

i love a great rtw outfit. and i found some at target to help build my "teaching" wardrobe. this brown and white polka dotted shirt dress fit nicely. i unleashed it last friday and as i was getting ready to go give my lecture, i found myself with a bunch of dry erase markers with nowhere to store them. i started fumbling with the side seams hoping a pocket will come out of nowhere. and what do you know??? it did! the dress had pockets which were sewn shut but were easy to open up w/o a pair of scissors. you'd have thought i found gold! so i stuffed my markers, keys and my flashdrive into both pockets and ran off to class!

ps: i was reminded of the a dress a day blog whose author is totally in love with dresses which have pockets. i'm seeing why now.

gele (gay-lay). that's what the headwrap of our traditional is called. it's made out of damask or heavy duty cotton/silk or some paper/cloth hybrid. i finally learned how to tie one properly about 3 years ago. i guess i wasn't trying to learn before that.

so at this wedding, i changed from my bridesmaid's gear into my traditional wear and did my gele. the other bridesmaids wanted me to help them with theirs. i willingly obliged. as i was working on my second one, in walks mr segun aka shecy. lol. people in the nigerian fashion scene should know of him. he owns the bride's escort and is super awesome at tying geles. he was flown in mainly for the bride and her mom. any other lady who wanted her headtie wrapped, he'd tie for a nominal fee. i'm like wow. "dami... do not freak out. don't be intimidated. try to hold your own". lol! too funny. infact, he was the sweetest person and gave me some tips when i started working on my 3rd gele. now i have to stand in front of the mirror and practice, practice, practice! he jokingly called me his disciple. i'll take protege. he gives classes by the way =)

here are some of my work. the left pic is my signature work. the right pic, mr segun helped me eliminate the twisted knot that is always in the center of my signature work. at least, i'll have two styles now.


in honor of the gele, i leave you with this video from lagbaja, a nigerian artist. enjoy.

the wedding was great! she had been planning for about 2 years now. i'd know because we sorta started together and i got married last november. we were each other's bridesmaids and i was so happy for them.

it was for this event i sewed frantically away. if i am to work with clients, my time management skills should kick into overdrive. anyhoo, i got the fabric and gele and pondered for a while what to sew with it. i thought of sewing a skirt and blouse (ibo-style) and bought some nice pinkish-peach crepe back satin to sew as the top. the satin looks pinker in this picture.

but i was runing out of time. so i decided a dress will be it. so i scoured the catalogs for a nice dress that won't be so casual and not so stuffy. so i decided on vogue pattern 2720. crazy, huh? not quite. i envisioned it as a short dress with short sleeves. it was fully lined (i had to basically sew it twice) and i think it came out great! working with these kinds of lace fabric has it's challenges. first off, there are HUGE holes and what happens when your tailor's tack falls in line with a hole? the stones were ridiculously abundant too. all in all, for the fabric and the design, i think it came out good. it'll look even better is a slinkier fabric.


a tip i learned from the tailors back home is to try to make the edges of your lining from the selvages (if cotton). it's neater and you have one less step to do (hemming)

the secret world of dressforms.

so, one of the last dresses i sewed highlighted my need for a dress form. i had too much to ask for. a really sturdy one like that on the 3rd page of this this catalog but adjustable as i'm starting to sew for people and people aren't "standardized". my search led me to the adjustoform company. in case you didn't know, they are the ones responsible for the dritz dressforms in america. they carry similar models but sell them in the uk under better names such as the diana and helena... and my personal favorite "supafit" - just because it reminds me of supafly! anyhoo, i want the lady valet dress form in ecru and in sizes small and medium. oh yeah. it's a bit pricey. ok. a lot pricey. but i figure if you are gonna buy something for such purposes, you should buy the best you can get. so it's free shipping within the uk and i called to ask for shipping prices to the US. around a 100 pounds. almost the same cost as the form itself. so i said to myself... i smell a trip to london in my near future... free shipping and a vacay! lol. drew and i were already contemplating a trip and this just filled up my pro column!

say it with me: tonight is he-roes!