I always prided myself on being a fast learner especially when it comes to learning new sewing techniques or patterns for the past 5 years in this craft I've been faced with several difficult style patterns, even the almighty corset that every designer so dreaded became a piece of cake after my first trial, sometimes it felt like I was born with this talent of mine.
It was a Monday, which was supposed to be my off day, as my weekends are usually very busy filled with customers coming for fitting or me putting finishing touches to dresses that ought to be delivered, that much weekend stress deserves at least one day of rest, but I had received a call from T, one of my loyal client about her intending visit that day with her fabric, she also mentioned that it was urgent.
Miss T is one of those clients you can't say no to, because to start with, she pays well and also has lots of referrals, anytime she adorns my design to a function, she is sure of getting me a new client, so I don't joke with her at all especially since she also had a perfect figure 8 body shape that gracefully modeled my designs.
As I sat on my workstation trying to keep my hands busy while waiting for her, I carefully folded some fabrics that were not in place from the previous day's work also rearranged some threads I found on the floor back to their roll, a client was coming, and it was too early for my sewing room to look messy.
A few minutes later just like she had promised, she arrived, looking sophisticated as usual wearing a jumpsuit I had made her some few months back, this is why I love her,
'Always representing!' I hailed her as she made her entrance, and she smiled as we exchanged warm greetings as old friends, soon we dived into the business of the day as she handed me her fabric.
"It's for my grandma's burial ceremony, I just even got the fabric from my aunty on my way here"
She explained having a look as if something else bothered her, maybe it was because of the demise of her grandmother, looking at the age on the invitation card to the burial ceremony which was packaged together with the fabric,
"She must have lived a good life and left a good legacy for you her children to carry on, don't feel bad"
I said, trying to comfort her
Maybe my words touched her, as she lightened her mood and proceeded to show me the style she wanted for the ankara fabric. It was a simple straight gown with long sleeves and also had velvet bias strips sewed to form a unique design at the front of the dress, however, as I took a closer look at the design studying every detail, my eyes landed on the built-up neckline.
I have worked with various necklines in the past but not this one and it seemed tricky, but I was not one to back off from a challenge, it even excites me to get one, but I never knew I was up for more than I thought, you know that problem people refer to small but mighty this was the case of this neckline.
I bid her goodbye as she hurried to her next appointment of the day, and promised to deliver the next day as she requested since she had to travel to her hometown very early the day after
In cases like this, going to YouTube videos for help usually does the trick, but when I saw different designers use different techniques to achieve the same neckline, I knew I was in for a tough ride, because even after following the technique of my favorite youtube tutor, the first attempt was a disaster, the angles were all wrong and didn't balance on the neckline at all.
I had to rip the whole seam and try again, spending hours even though I didn't have the time to study the pattern again, I added extra inches and increased the angle, making several adjustments I thought the first pattern needed. But the second attempt wasn't any better, the neckline looked more funny shaped, and I could feel my anxiety building up as she was meant to come for a fitting the next day, the reason why she picked a supposedly simple style.
No doubt Murphy's Law was rearing its ugly head, What could go wrong would go wrong. I took a deep breath, dropped the pattern this time, and decided to clear my head for a few minutes, but still, I found myself looking up similar dress styles online, holding the belief that every problem had a solution.
Just then, my client called to check on the progress of her dress, and if I would indeed meet up the next day as agreed, I hesitated, not wanting to let her know the neckline of the dress was giving me difficulty, I just assured her that everything was going well. After dropping the call, I felt more determined to make this neckline work, especially after viewing different angles of the different dresses with the same neckline I saw online.
Minutes turned into hours, and alas! I had a breakthrough on the fifth try phew! It was already dark by this time, thankfully I work from home and my kids were with their grandma, if they were around, I doubt I would have been given the luxury of having the whole day facing this dress, I had even forgotten to eat, my growling stomach reminded me of that.
I wore the dress on my mannequin feeling satisfied and drained. Today's experience had been a test of my patience and skill, thankfully, I emerged victoriously.
The next day, she came for a fitting, I presented the dress to her like a trophy, knowing the shege(stress) it made me pass through yesterday, she examined the dress as I helped her fit it, looking her herself on the mirror, a smile spread across her face. "it's perfect" she said genuinely in excitement.
I exhaled, feeling a mix of relief and pride.
First Image generated using AI