Osas Olumese Training Institute

It is the last starter class for 2018!!! Yes, you heard me right ... It is the last for our weekday class. It starts on Monday, 22nd October 2018 Are you looking for a fashion school in Kano state that would give you value for your time? We are excited to have you join our programme which is so structured, so that every day you are present in class you must deliver.  You would be pressed to deliver, you would work hard, you will sweat, you would be confused, but must of all you would LEARN, and meet other creatives in the process,... making the journey worth while. Our curriculum has been designed to take you from a novice, to a knowledgeable person in sewing and pattern drafting. You don't need to go outside Kano to make your dream a reality, as we offer you a world class curriculum. Registration is ON , and it would be closed as soon as the slots available gets filled up. Your slot can ONLY be secured by you paying your fees. The exact

Can I learn confidence in two(2) months? This should be the actual question asked. The truth is this, the principles of sewing and pattern drafting are simple, but they may not be properly communicated to the learner. As a result, the learner learns by self interpretation of what has been observed. Principles which have been communicated to a learner properly, needs  practice time to be mastered. But a of time long practice time does not necessarily mean mastery, as mastery time may be elongated by lack of confidence. I remember when I started pattern drafting, in following the instruction, I would read and re-read instructions, I would compute, and compute again to avoid mistakes, I would compare pattern instructions... not sure of which would work.... These I realized latter on, were time wasters... though  these actions made me more in touch with pattern drafting. I had to take the risk of being incorrect, making use of the pattern to cut the fabric (testing the patt

Looking at the time, I realized it was 12:04 AM, 20th July, 2018. Yay!!! It is my Birthdaay. I said a quick prayer, and then it was time to sleep. I woke up excited, smiling to everyone at home, but they didn't even realize it was my day. Funny enough, my sister  had reminded me the day before about what happened Eleven (11) years ago. That day doubled as my birthday and my sister's convocation... so everybody forgot my side. Anyways, my childishness 11years ago, did not steal my excitement this year, although I didn't remind them, I went to the office as usual. I was the first person in, and I ensured I monopolized the music box with my choice of songs😊. As my colleagues came in, they wished me happy birthday...except one (Kelechi). How could they forget, as I had on numerous occasions reminded Sekina (one of my  Mighty girls ) that she would be making my birthday dress. Birthday Girl - moi Sekina Fast forward to about three(3) hours latter, th

I was surprised today when she brought me a micro-mini version of the cut out fabric of what she had been taught in class, asking how it should be sewn. On a second thought, I was excited about the fact that she would be adding her creativity to the work...So I thought. I asked her, she further surprised me by saying, it is actually a macro-mini version, and she would be using it as house clothe😟😞😕 ....house clothe, ke? you mean you would take your time to sew a house clothe? My thoughts were these: she plans not to take the class work serious she would not put effort to ensure a beautiful result, by ironing or evening using interfacing. When I inquired, she then goes on to explain how she is better than those who made their class deliverable for some other person. Then I realized her issue, as I remembered a student who once said they were being thought how to sew vintage clothes. Consideration has been put into the curriculum we have come up with. We have had t

When you have the idea for a blog post.... better blog away. Dont think it twice Anyways.... I have four apprentice and many students. Our students have a structured relationship with the business, but our apprentice do not. About four years ago, when my assistant came to ask me if I wanted an apprentice, my first answer was NO. I really did not want to be baby sitting anyone. She was still in Secondary School, and I did not have experience with teenage girls wahala. After many thoughts, I agreed, and as at today, I have four of them, the first is still with us and she is the youngest. The journey has had its ups and downs. They just know how to press my buttons. We even had breaks, where I told all of them I have had enough of them. Looking back I smile. I am a lot of times thinking of them as My Mighty Girls.... (you know how David had Mighty Men 2 Samuel 23:8-39 , right?) A lot of times I envy them, and I make them know this. I wish I knew what they now know when I

Gist time. So today, during office hours, my colleague asked me "Ma, must I test my block?" Okay, here is what transpired before this question came up. I allowed staff interested in learning pattern drafting, to join the evening class. And the first task was to make a block (template for a garment). The block is usually tested to ensure fit on the wearer. This lady had done her block, but maybe laziness, or i have tested a block before... or something else made her ask me the above question. I really did not know what to say to her. When the time for the evening class came, I spoke my mind to her.... and here it goes. You never really know, until you work it out... you can read all the books on pattern drafting, but until you try it out on paper, test for the fit in a sample fabric, you cant say you know.... I have been in this situation. Before I began actual pattern drafting, I had read through books. I enjoyed going through these books, and imagining the

Man cannot discover new oceans  unless he has the courage to  lose sight of the shore .  - Andre Gide -  An essential part of creativity is not being afraid to fail. -Dr Edwin Land- This morning, I found time to do two posts on our Instagram handle @OOTIKano . As I turned on my data this evening I got a notification about a comment...  (who does not like a comment on ones post... call me vain, Nah you sabi) Student's Work: First garment deliverable Excited, I went to check out the comment, to my surprise, a handle I had sometime gone through and admired was the commenter...Yepa😃😄😄 Dont get me wrong, I know we take our time to impact knowledge here at Osas Olumese Training Institute, I know we ensure that the students follow the outlined steps to come up with their unique style, I know we have tweaked and tweaked the curriculum - to ensure that it reflects new trends and maximizes the times students spend with us; but yet an outside opinion, of a hand

We would sincerely like to appreciate you for choosing us in your pursuit for sewing and pattern drafting knowledge. We would love to inform you of some changes that would be effected in 2018. We have made changes to the curriculum we have been using, and are excited about this. Our course offering .has reduced to four courses, and they are: Starter: Sewing and Pattern Drafting Course – Skirts Sewing and Pattern Drafting Course – Bodice Jacket Making Course Trouser Making Course For details on the courses, please check the Course Page Tab Each course would run for four to eight (4 - 8) weeks, four times weekly. In order to maximize the available space, two courses would run almost concurrently, with one running between the hours of 9:00am and 1:30pm (Tuesdays to Fridays), while the other would run between the hours of 11:00am and 3:30pm (Mondays to Thursdays). In 2018, we would continue having evening and weekend classes to accommodate persons who love to maximize their

Happy Sunday people, It seems I am having fun typing away. I hope this continues, so I can load this blog with so much of my musings about FASHION of course. So today, I went to the market after service (please don't judge me)... guilty conscience . I then decided to get myself my current favorite biscuit... Igloo Coconut Cookies. As I pointed it to the biscuit to the seller, a lady I met there told me about this NEW biscuit, I should try... OK. I left what I had in mind to buy, and got myself this NEW biscuit. As soon as I  had the opportunity,  I opened the biscuit to enjoy it. It was nice, but to me, it did not measure up to Igloo Coconut Cookies... my opinion My point here is after getting the information from the lady, I decided to take a risk, and try. As the saying goes "The proof of the pudding is in the eating". Confidence can only be built when to you step out on your own. Look at a child learning to walk... He takes a step, falls down, stands, a

Hello... It has been on my mind to share with you some of the things we take our students through at OOTI, but the time to sit down and blog has to be planned, since I am not a full time blogger (for now). As we introduce our new students to the world of sewing and pattern making, we also introduce them to the basic mathematics of converting from centimeter to inch and vice versa. During the course of the week, as I taught new students on Calibration , I could read the expression on their faces ( Not again, I thought I was done with maths... LOL). The good news is that; it is more about the application of mathematics to what we do :) Now to the topic at hand: Why do we need to do this conversion in the first place? Generally, we at OOTI take measurement on the human body using inch, but we follow some pattern instructions ( Winifred Aldrich ) that  makes use of  centimeters, thus the need to know how to do the conversion.In between, if you must know, I think in inches. goo

You can never know it all.... Yes you heard me right. One thing I keep telling persons who come to us, inquiring about our course offering; is that, we can not teach you everything. This is so true and so real about every Fashion school. I am sure your question now is ... but I want to learn everything there is FOCUS... A magnifying lens can only get fire started when it focuses the sun ray. You want your impact to be felt in the Fashion world, then focus,,, as you keep learning every day

How time flies… I was just going through the blog post we put during the year, and it got me thinking… We have grown as an institute, and we have been privileged to impart our knowledge to individuals who keep inspiring us to do more. As we make plans for 2017. We are re-strategizing for effectiveness, and below are some of the things we would be doing

Have you always wondered about pattern making and wish you knew how to do it. This course is an introduction to pattern making for bodice. You will learn how to draft three (3) different bodice blocks: Basic Bodice Block Easy Fitting Bodice block Close Fitting Bodice Block These would be based on accurate measurements, and following pattern instructions. Standard measurements would be given to help those who would like to do ready-to-wear pieces in Standard sizes. With the blocks ready, we would put them to use in various class projects. We would also discuss design options that can be created from the blocks. So that at the end of the course you would be confident with pattern making and use your blocks to bring new designs to life. So excited already right Come, learn and bring to life endless possibilities in design of a bodice, through pattern making, thus enhancing your sewing experience. Course Prerequisite:      You must know how to sew Start D

So free hand cutting and pattern making? Well I have been here and there, but I must confess my preference for pattern making, and I am also a huge fan of standard sizes. I hope that is not too much for a beginner. Ok let me take it one step at a time. Free hand cutting, I believe a large number of us would be aware of it, but we might not know its name. Free hand cutting entails cutting a fabric directly, making use of the wearer‘s measurement. Tailors chalk may or may not be used to make markings on the fabric. The tailor or seamstress is usually very experienced, and over time have become accustomed to what he or she does (in most cases through trial and error).  Pattern drafting involves drawing out how the design would be accomplished on paper; making use of dart manipulation. Tools such as French curves, hip curves, set-square (60 and 45 degree), pencil, eraser, tracing wheel, etc are used. Exact measurement is used in pattern drafting. The drafted pattern is the