As a newbie, while surfing to familiarize myself with the communities, I came across this community, and I decided to share my fashion world with you. It's nice to find a community that supports handicrafts (ise owo), as we popularly call them in my country. Many people believe handicrafts are for the illiterate, those who don't have the opportunity to get educated, but I strictly disagree with such a notion. Irrespective of whether you are educated or not, knowing one or two handicrafts will help your financial life and also lessen the cost of getting them elsewhere if you don't have the idea.
Clothing is an important part of our lives as humans; we need different clothes for different occasions and new and improved styles to make us look elegant. Clothes are worn to adorn and beautify the body, and as a human, it is very important to look good at all times because "the way you are dressed is the way you will be addressed". This is why it is important for you to have good dress sense and not just wear clothes for their sake.
As a fashion designer, customer satisfaction comes first in everything I do because if I fail to sew for them what they want, there is no way they will come back next time. A male customer brought a chiffon material to me to sew a shirt out of it. Looking at the material, a good outfit might seem impossible, but with patience and good know-how, something good can be made out of it.
Using chiffon material to sew a shirt sometimes might look weird because people prefer ready-made shirts and believe sewing on a manual machine won't be as good as one on an industrial machine. Well, I don't agree with that; it depends on the fashionista sewing it馃榿.
All I needed for this material to become a fitted shirt suitable for the owner were buttons to hold the cloth in one piece after I'm done sewing, a stay to hold the collar and make it firm, just like a packing shirt, and the chiffon material itself.
Being a material shirt, it can be worn as office wear, church wear, or even casual wear. Such cloth is easy to wear, iron, and wash. The customer specifically told me to make it a grade 1 shirt, which means I should sew it in a way that it will look like a ready-made shirt from a big boutique. I laughed as he explained what he wanted, but I know customers are always right, so I had to give him what he wanted.
Cutting through the clothing material, I thought, "What if this made me the best at it and eventually announced me to the world?" It's hilarious, I know, there are many people out there doing what you are doing, but what makes you different is the packaging and uniqueness you added to yours.
Competence and diligence are keys to making people want to patronize you, and building good customer relationships is very important because it is your work that will make you known even where you least expect it.
Taking corrections well when you are being corrected also makes you improve well in whatever you are doing. I once sewed a cloth for a customer, and she brought it back to me with some complaints. I couldn't ignore her because she paid for her service, and it is her right to complain about anything she doesn't like about my service. No one is an island of knowledge; to succeed in any handicraft you choose to do, you must be teachable.
Customers reviews make one know where and how to improve in one skill. This is why I consider my customers reviews very important. It makes me know where I am lacking and where I have improved greatly. The end result of any given job is one's victory; if the end result is satisfying, then you can proudly say you made it.
After the sewing, I looked at my work and smiled. Even if it's not 100% perfect, it is so close to being ready-made. I called up the customer to come check it out; he tried it on on his arrival, and the smile on his face made me feel relief. I said kudos to myself; I did a great job.
Thanks for your time. All credit images are mine.