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.

70s Silhouette Lace Dress

I love the babydoll A Line Mini late 60s early 70s silhouette with the bow detail. 
Mary Quant was a great influence in the late 1960s psychedelic fashion .
Her style moved away from “grown up fashion” to playful “youth” driven. Her shift dresses were short, very short, and her prints were bold and colorful “mod” prints. Her fashion, her personality, set the tone for the rest of the 1960s as “fashion-is-fun.” Mary Quant takes credit for the "Mini" and "Hotpants"

Shop this look

 I have a nostalgia for this era as my Mum and Aunties wore them in mini and psychedelic colours. I made my piece in a more sophisticated corded brown lace and lined the bodice with chocolate coloured acetate. Dress is a mini at 36" but could be made into a micro mini if  desired. I made trendy  fluted sleeves which are here to stay. 

Mixed Gingham Shirt

It is speculated that the fabric now known as gingham may have been made at Guingamp, a town in Brittany, France, and that the fabric may be named after the town. Some sources say that the name came into English via Dutch. When originally imported into Europe in the 17th century, gingham was a striped fabric, though now it is distinguished by its checkered pattern. From the mid-18th century, when it was being produced in the mills of Manchester in England, it started to be woven into checked or plaid patterns (often blue and white). 

I went to the haberdashers to buy a simple zip and this fabric (ordinary gingham I call it ordinary as i is fabric we use for summer school uniforms here in the UK) started crying for my help! I usually close my eyes but my zeal got the best of me so I rushed home cut it and made a smart casual shirt. I used purple for the button stand collar and cuffs, yellow for the collar stand and yoke and navy blue for the body.Happy with how it turned out. I have made it in various configurations ever since

See more of this Shirt here

My Curly Kale Smoothie

I try to have a Curl Kale or a Spinach smoothie every week day morning in keeping with my lifestyle change of sitting at a sewing machine hours on end. What I like about this recipe is that it gives me enough energy for the job (bananas & iron) 

 and I am getting the benefits below:

• Great fibre content so aids digestion and elimination
• Kale has more iron than beef! 
• Kale is high in the K vitamin which can help fight various cancers
• Kale is great for your cardio health it helps lower cholesterol its also a good anti inflammatory food

Recipe:

1. Curly Kale (put as much as you like I usually use one bag for 3 smoothies)

2. 2 Bananas

3. Half a Cucumber

4. 1/3 of zero fat Yoghurt

5. Coconut Milk

Blend to your desired smoothness, if you like it a little thinner be sure to add half or a whole cucumber to your recipe.You may not have Kale in your part of the world but you will have Spinach or Water leaf as it is called in Africa you can use this instead I prefer Kale