I got my life back by Tomi Rotimi

I got my life back I love what I do now but it wasn't always this way. There was a time that when I thought of work I got a headache just thinking about it. My brief stint in  the "collecting fabric/bespoke" world saw my typical customer engagement looking like this: I get a call or visit from a desperate customer.She needs her outfit urgently and isn't willing to pay express charges. Then I head to the market and start looking for fabrics ,trimmings,zips etc to service her order. A few times I come up with a masterpiece but she misses her fittings, and insists on sending her driver to pick up because she is just too busy to show up. Driver picks up ( without my balance) and she gets her dress. Usually one of these four scenarios happen after she recieves her order A.She gets it but has changed her mind and chooses to wear something else ( after all that stress) B. She finally tries it on the morning of her event and bombards me with calls expressing her disappointment  ( at odd hours , yelling and screaming ) C. She loves it,it fits right but.....I am warned never to replicate the design again and she has now labelled me her emergency bespoke tailor. All 3 scenarios belittle the reason why I left a thriving banking career to start my fashion brand. This is why I transitioned to ready to wear. I was tired of complaining and sharing war stories with other bespokers,the fact that we were all suffering didn't console me. I chose to do something about it and honestly relaunching Xclamations as ready to wear has been one of my best life decisions and I have never looked back in 16years. So now it's your turn. If you want to take back control then you need to take the course "How to start a ready to wear label in Nigeria " it's an investment you are making for your life,your mental health and your brand. It must be a priority for you just like it was for me to create the course. So what do you do now? Click the link to take the course now and please also click on my podcast to listen to my episode on "my problem with bespoke". Listen to the podcast here

Lesson: Try

Lesson: Try.  I was quite afraid to start wearing my pieces and taking my pictures myself, I thought hmm I need a young muse, skinny and all and besides I don’t know how to take pictures even though I have a top of the range Nikon and all the equipment, my good friend Didi said try try and try again if you fail you fail forward. So I sat on YouTube for hours learning how to work the camera (still learning) I looked for mentors doing similar things to what I’m doing I found Mimi G and ‘That Black Chic’ Success is not a destination, it’s a journey of twists and turns. It’s how you forge ahead even when there’s nothing, it’s how you get up, re strategise and push. You have to decide which part is not working and move without fear. There is always a way you have to find it.

  #startup #women #womeninbusiness #womenempowerment #dontstopbelieving #dontstop #womenentrepreneurs #saturday #girlboss #womenbosses #womensupportingwomen

Lesson: Trust your instinct

Lesson: Trust your instincts, I had seen the beautiful Airforce Blue glamour satin so luxurious to the touch in my local haberdashers and so before the close of Saturday business I rushed in to get a few metres. I was so eager to transform the fabric but I knew I did not have the correct interfacing material(interfacing is something you iron on to stabilise areas of the fabric) I had forgotten to buy the correct fabric interfacing for this piece. I tested a piece of the fabric and I knew deep down that it wasn’t that ok but my eagerness got the better of me! I also knew I should not put pockets but again I did not trust my instincts! I hung the piece up at midnight on Sat feeling very happy. It looked alright on the hanger! On Monday I tried it on and I saw the ripples of the wrong interfacing and the lines of the pockets! I did not want to post this unclear pic but I followed my instinct. Instinct must never be discounted 

 #womenempowerment #womeninbusiness #girlboss #nevergiveup #digdeep #instinct #women #lifelessons #womenentrepreneurs #womenempoweringwomen

How to sew an invisible zip

Fixing a zip right is one of the major skills you will need as a DIY sewist I like to use invisible zips for skirt and dress closures. I use normal zips for trouser fly closures Invisible zips gives a nice and professional finishing. In this short video, I show you three sewing feet. One for straight everyday sewing, one for fixing normal zips and an invisible zipper foot. You can use an ordinary zipper foot to sew an invisible zip but you would have to either iron open the zip groves or hold them down as you sew to get as neat a finish as possible.

How to sew a Skirt 2 Sewing

This is the sequel to How to Sew a Skirt (Cutting) here I show how I put this circular pattern skirt together. I fix the invisible zip and sew in the lining

Cutting An African Inspired Bomber Jacket

Here is one of my first attempts at recording a video which I did with my iPad
I decided to make a bomber jacket with African print which is cotton.
To make it meaningful for Autumnal Winter weather, I decided to put a wadding interfacing
To make it warmer.

How to sew a Circular Skirt 1: Cutting

So I finally decided to get my videoing act together instead of using my iphone or iPad to record as I had done before.
attempt at using my Nikon DSLR 3400, no extra lights! Watching the video back I realise that it was not high enough and so it did not capture all I was doing!
I now need to teach myself to use a video editor. In this new age of the internet and social media marketing, an entrepreneur must master all the areas and multi task, as the business grows one would be able to employ others to do the areas they are not too good at.