Falansa Eniola A.

I needed to make a wedding gown for a client so I decided to go for fabric sourcing and here are the few things i learnt:

1) If you are looking to save cost, go to market yourself- It is cheaper when you go to market yourself than ordering online. There was a particular bridal fabric I saw online for 20k, got to market and it was about 4k lesser, imagine me buying 4 yards, that means I’ve been able to save about 16k. So if you have the time, got to market by yourself

2) Don’t write off any fabric- There was this fabric i saw, i felt it looked like old lace, snapped it any way and sent it to my client and she asked me to pick it. Even when i got home, i still wasn’t so pleased with the fabric but after making it, you need to see how i fell in love with it because it actually looked so pretty. Always have an open mind to fabrics because that ugly one might turn out to be the best of them after sewing.

3) Learn to carry your client along and give them time to decide- As soon as I got to market, i went to different stores to take pictures and videos of different fabrics, sent to her with their prices before i went ahead to do other things. It took her about 4 hours to fully decide which one I should go for and I wasn’t mad or pi**ed at her. Why? Because it is her big day and to avoid story that touches the heart, give her time to decide by herself.

4) Always charge for fabric sourcing- The most stressful thing you will ever do as a fashion designer is sourcing for fabrics. It can be so tiring and time consuming so you need to charge for it. You don’t have to charge it separately but when charging for the whole dress making, add your fabric sourcing fee to it to avoid any regrets.

I hope you learnt one or two things from this to ease your experience when next you go for fabric sourcing.
Share your experience about fabric sourcing with us in the comment section so others can learn.

Meanwhile, the wedding came out so beautiful and I can’t wait to show you guys🤗

I miss you guys btw

HEMMING GUM

Hemming gum is basically a life saver, Yes or no?

For me, hemming gum is such an important part of my sewing tools as I really love using it😁. It can be used for quite a number of purpose and I’ll be highlighting some below

1) Fabric lamination: it is used to attached two fabrics together to become one, most especially nets and lace.Net/lace and the interlining can be attached together with hemming gum to ensure proper alignment as shown below.

2) Neckline - While turning your neckline with lining/facing, just put your hemming gum on top while stitching. By the time you notch and turn, there will be no need for top stitching, just iron your turned neckline and have yourself a neat neckline.

3) Slits closure - Mainly for ready to wear outfits. Just fold your slit and place the hemming gum in between then iron. You might need to double the hemming gum to get a lasting result. It gives you a neat slit without sewing.

4) Hemming- Hemming gum is perfect for the hem of your gowns, skirts or trousers most especially for fancy fabrics such as crepe, poly, duchess, chinos e.t.c. For more effective result, double the hemming gum and press with a steam iron.

Have you been using hemming gum before?

What are other things you use hemming gum for apart from the ones listed above?

Don't hesitate to share please. We all have something to learn.

Getting a perfect turtle neck measurement!

I’ve had people ask me times within number how i get my perfect turtleneck, I’ll be teaching 2 different methods today

Method 1:

Divide your bust by 12, your answer will be your neck width for both front and back e.g bust 34/12 = 2.8

The same answer 2.8 will be your measurement for the front neck depth.

For back neck depth, use
0.5" for bust 36 and below
1" for bust 38-44"
1.5" for bigger sizes.

Method 2:
Ensure you measure your client neck circumfernce at the base of the neck, measure it with at least one of your finger inside to prevent it from being too tight.

For neck width:divide neck circumfernce by 5 and minus 0.5 (e.g neck circumfernce 14/ 5 = 2.8.

This will be your front neck depth as well.
Refer to the first method to get your back depth.

And then ensure you cut the collar on a bias fold.

I hope you find this helpful

Photo credit: Pinterest