Posts

My Biscuit Story: What Pattern Making got to do with it

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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

Kano Corper: Learn to Sew at OOTI During Your Service Year

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Are you a Corper serving in Kano state? Are you interested in acquiring Sewing and Pattern Making skill during your service year? Then this is for you. We are giving 50% discount to Corpers in both our Evening and Weekend class. ·          Learn in a conducive environment. ·          Join the Pattern makers. ·          Learn from scratch; Pattern Making and Sewing ·          Hone your skills and solidify best practices in the design discipline. ·      Meet and rub minds with our expert faculty, as they bring their professional industry experience to our classrooms, providing students with a unique hands-on environment to prepare for their fashion careers. This discount is only available to current serving Corpers, as your Identity card would be needed for the registration. Each course goes for a discounted price of up to 50%; you would need the   Sewing kit for your practical work. There is an extra N5,000 refundable caution fee which covers damages

What has Mathematics got to do with it: Converting from Inch to Centimeter and Vice-versa

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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

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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

Have you noticed the use of Organza as an add-on fabric to “Jazz” up a garment?

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Beautiful. Organza for me has from the beginning been the fabric we use to make our best selling Rose Brooch. When shopping for it, I always looked for a stiff one, as it would result in a brooch that stands firm. Of late, I have been seeing organza being used as an add-on fabric to “Jazz” up a garment. Knowing the kind of organza available in the market would not work for this purpose, I began my research on organza. I then found that there is a silk organza, knowing what the silk fabric felt like, I decided that this must be what is used to do the magic in garments. The Kano market is somewhat restricted in what is being sold. Generally, people love to stock their shop with fabrics in high demand, and organza in this area - is not such a fabric, not to get started talking about silk organza. But guess what? I found it. It was stocked but a Bail fabric (usually sample fabric, and sometimes factory reject, but most times, you find unique, and quality fabric ….Ab

May Session

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You love the glitz and glamour of fashion...:) Who doesn't? There are many parts in a career in the Fashion Industry. One way is to be part of the production process, thus being able to bring your garment imaginations alive. Learn how to sew and draft patterns in May at OOTI Kano. Evening classes also available.

Pattern Drafting or Free Hand

I started learning how to sew at a very young age. When I opened my business, people are always surprised when they come by and they meet me. Some, who do have courage did ask when I started sewing. I do not ascribe what I know today as regards sewing to the fact I started learning early. I had a lot of breaks in between, cause I could not tell my Dad that I was not going to school, so I could do garment production (ehe no go hear ram o). Besides, my father was proud that he could send us to school, seeing that he did not have our privilege, So back to the matter. In my learnings, the thoughtful part of me just knew there was something more and better, that would assure me of consistency in my result. I wanted to know more. I started learning with Mrs Mabel Odumah of Royal Vintage Kano, when I was twelve years old (it was during school breaks) She still does know the in and out of the trade. Me, I was just wanted to get straight to the matter, hitting the nail on the head, my