It's A Wrap (Or 2)

Hi there,

I finally made my first wrap dress ... well, first and second wrap dresses.

I've made a couple of faux wrap dresses for myself but never an actual wrap dress because I have this nagging concern that one day, the 'wrap' won't be in the right place at the right time to cover up them private bits. But that's just me. My new client (referred by another client, thank you Ms. M) ordered 2 identical wrap dresses.

I'll be delivering them to her this weekend ... so excited.

Enjoy the pictures below.

My initial plan was to make both dresses simultaneously: cut pieces at the same time, sew bodice on one then the other, sew belt on one then the other and attach skirt on one then the other.

But then I decided to prepare one for a fitting so that if adjustments were needed, I'd only have to adjust one. As it turned out, Ms. O wanted the skirt shorter and the style changed to a pencil skirt.

Lining up seams like a BOSS.

All done now.
There's fastenings on the inside of the belt for securing the left half of the wrap.

K.I.S.S.

Hello there,

Have you ever been told to KISS?
Here's the nice translation: KISS = Keep It Simple Sweetheart.
It's something that has been passed down from one engineer to another at my 'other' job. The underlying advice is that while you can make things very complicated and fancy, you really should consider that keeping it simple may just be the way to go.

Why am I telling you this?
The feature piece in this week's blog post is about keeping it simple. I watch as many fashion design competition shows as I can and I often hear the judges criticize the designers for creating something that has already been done. That used to make me think that a fashion designer must always create something  new and different. There are many ideas that have I have tossed out because a Google search revealed that someone else had done it ... that was until my discussion with my aunt who owns her own design company: Osuare. She explained that sometimes, to make an impact, you just have to look for the simple things and do them your own way.

So here's my simple double peplum top; my way.
If you like it, you can place an order and I'll make one for you too. :)

Iro Wrap Skirt

Hello there,

Happy New Year!!!!

It's my 1st post of the year!!!

... and we're 3 weeks into 2016.
To be honest, I wanted my 1st post to be something grand and special like I've seen on other sewing and DIY blogs; some big revelation of an awesome resolution or a sneak peek at a new project I'm working on/just completed.
This isn't any of those and I'm just going to continue doing my thing ... there'll be time for grand posts later ... keep an eye out :).

I made this outfit on something like a whim.

I bought the red crepe fabric initially to make a dress to wear to the wedding that I made this gold lace dress for. I was going to put gold applique on the dress. Well, that didn't happen. I spent all my time on orders and ran out of time to make something for myself.
I did start another red dress with gold applique later - I'll let you know when it gets finished :). 

I've had the lace fabric for over a year: it was a gift from my mum and I was saving it for something special. I hadn't deemed anything special enough so in the stash it stayed. I saw an outfit by Deola Sagoe on Instagram and it looked like a wrapper but fit like a skirt; at least that's how it looked to me. I thought I'd try something similar but knee length and since the red crepe fabric was a perfect match, this outfit was born.

Enjoy the pictures :)

Front View

Side View 

(notice where it 'wraps'?)

Back View

(notice where it 'wraps'?)

'Twas a bit chilly out (not like the 'freezy' it is now *sigh*)

The Summer of 2015

Hi there,

It's the last day of the year!!!!
I am super grateful to God for bringing me this far. Can you believe it?
And best of all, I am ending this year better than I started it ... how wonderful is that?

In 2015, I had my first vendor/show case opportunities (3 in total) for ZiChiE Designs.
I also had an international order from the ZCD Etsy store (click here).
And a very busy summer. I'm guessing it is the warm weather but I had a lot of wedding orders in July/August/September. In addition to that, I made vests for the men in the LA Voice (my church choir).

To wrap up the year, I thought I'd put pictures from this summer's order in one post.

Enjoy.

ZCD Purses at a Showcase hosted by YAPPies (Young African Philly Professionals)

ZCD Vendor Table at ACANNA Festival

For the Sister of the Bride

Dress and Matching Vest & Bow Tie for A Friend's Wedding

Gold Lace Dress for a Friend of the Bride & Groom

Gold Lace Clutch

Pink and Blue Dress for a Friend of the Bride & Groom

My Birthday Skirt

Dress for Ms. V for our Church Anniversary Dinner

LA Voice

(Made the Vests for the Men and the Maxi Skirt [far left])

Skirts for Mummy and Daughter for a Wedding

Seeing Spots

Hi there,

Have you ever had an idea come out of nowhere and get stuck in your head?
Well, that's where this skirt came from.

I was watching Family Feud this past weekend and one of the contestants had on a lovely black and white stripped 2-tier skirt. On the 1st tier, the stripes were diagonal and on the 2nd, they were horizontal. It looked really cute and it inspired me to sketch a similar skirt. Instead of 2 tiers of stripes, I was going to have the 1st tier be polka dots (spots) and the 2nd tier be stripes.

I had to go to Jo-Ann's on Tuesday to buy a walking foot for my sewing machine (having issues sewing ponte knit ... story for another day) and I had a couple of coupons that would expire on Wednesday. While I was there, I thought I should get the black and white fabrics for my skirt. I found several options for the polka dots but no black and white stripes *gasp*. Sure, they had chevron and I considered it but nah, I didn't want to get that. I was gonna go home and try another day/another store but I couldn't shake the idea so I re-designed the skirt based on the fabric I could see and ended up with  the 3-tier polka dot skirt you see here: under $6.50 and in about 3-4 hours.

Enjoy the pictures!!! :)

The 3 Polka Dot Fabric Pieces

  

Close-Up Indoors

Outdoor "Photo-shoot" :)

Bold Stripes

Hi there!!

I hope you are having a lovely December so far.

To be honest, I've been feeling out of sorts recently; a bit grumpy and tired. I know things are not good when I 'm beginning to be impatient with myself and with others (including Boss. gasp!!!).
I'm now trying to get more sleep and take better care of myself so here's to things looking up soon (very soon, I hope).

Today's post is on this green butterfly sleeve top and stripy midi pencil skirt I made a while ago. I feel good when I wear items I made but unless it's a dress, those items are usually paired with something else. Don't get me wrong, I do like that also - the fact that I make pieces that complement others in my closet - but wearing a complete "me-made" outfit has it's own special warmth.

A few Sundays ago, the uniform for my choir (LA Voice at RCCG Love Assembly) was "wear something green". I wanted to step out of my comfort zone (which would have been green top with black pants/skirt) and I sent a picture to Zi of this top and skirt and asked what she thought (she's the fashionista in this duo). She approved!!!!

Enjoy the pictures below.
I really wanted to wear a brown belt but I couldn't find it in time. Sure enough, I found it as soon as I walked back into my apartment after church. Next time ...