HELLO Good People!!!!!!! Gosh it has been AGES since I was here! So let me catch up on all the greetings I have missed out on. Happy belated new quarter! Happy belated Good Friday! Happy belated Easter! Happy belated Workers Day! And the latest one… Happy Belated New Month lol! And of course Happy Happy HAPPY belated BIRTHDAY to all my fabulous people out there! I am sure you all had great holidays and even greater birthdays! I know we did at Martwayne! 😀
SO! What we have been up to since my last post (insert-covering-my-face-emoticon-in-here). No excuses really! As I type this, I’m thinking to myself that there has to be some app out there that just types away while I talk right?! There just has to be an easier way to blog…. I really have to explore that option. So yeah! That’s my excuse!
Okies you have missed a lot yes but not to worry! I am here to catch you up in one single post! We will do more of pictures but of course we still have to do a teeny weeny bit of writing for the benefit of those just coming into contact with us for the first time. Besides… let me confess… I just lost about 3 hours of this same blog post which just disappeared so really I am just oh-so-happy with just pictures and tiny writing right now…
SO! What do we start of with?!
YES! First! First!! First!!! We’ll start off with this AMAZING testimonial from one of us at Martwayne. Whoop! Whoop! You know how much we love testimonials! 😀
Yeah… this dress! All I can say is “THIS DRESS”! After all the drama, let’s just say I am glad it turned out great! A one time perfect fit, kudos to another Martwayne student @tolunimz on such a perfect pattern! And I am glad it turned out great! I think @ms_ellysha makes a stunning Maid of Honour don’t you think?! Glad our students see value in what we teach! Can’t wait to see more work from them.
Next up?! My interview with Pretty Woman magazine! Whoop! Whoop! Whoop! 😀
Yes yes! So I had this great interview with Tricia of Pretty Woman magazine on fashion entrepreneurship which you all know is my thing! Oh you should check out @pwmagazine and follow them on Instagram. The articles and pictures they post are really inspiring especially for fashion lovers. So yeah… this article basically centered on advice for fashion designers who are either starting off or currently running one so you should grab a copy at Glendora Bookstore in Ikeja City Mall, Patabah Bookstore in Adeniran Ogunsanya Mall, Surulere. Hang on though… the article came out in March so I guess it’s best to contact them for a copy and get yours delivered. So here I am saying Thank you! Thank you!! Thank you!! @pwmagazine! Really honored to have been considered for this!
NEXT up… Easter Holiday Hang-outs! 😀
Oh yes! This was another fun one! In April, 2 Martwayne students launched their ready-to-wear lines. There’s @chioma.redbutton of @redbutton.com.ng in the middle on the left and Nneamaka of @makayembellishments on the right. Yes yes! Always a proud moment for us. Wishing them both the very best in this new field. I cannot wait to rock my orders! 😀
OKIES! And now for work! 😀
Everyone who’s been on our instagram page @martwayne (you have to follow us if you don’t already do so :-D) can confirm we have been very very busy! In the first quarter, we successfully ran 5 courses! Yes! 5 courses!!! Actually make that 6! We somehow managed to sneak in a Juniors Course in there somewhere lol. Like wow right?! We started off with the Beginners Course and the Bodices & Dressmaking Course. And we also ran our very popular Design, Fashion Illustration & CAD Course. Then we launched 2 brand spanking new courses, the Textile Design Course and the Corsetry Course.
Now confession time…. we were so busy I actually forgot to take a lot of pictures. 🙁 But these were the few I could squeeze in. And by few, they are actually not that few but not as much as I would have hoped!
Let’s start with the Design, Fashion Illustration & CAD Course!
Yes! This is always a trip for me because it is always amazing seeing students who could not draw a thing when hey started churn out full fashion illustrations not only manually but digitally. Don’t believe me?! Ok check out this comment from a participant in this current stream:
See…. she said it. I didn’t! I have always said you can learn anything if you put your mind to it! And put their mind to it, they did! Even when we changed the timing from 12 noon to 10am, they were here on the dot of 10 and by 2pm they were out! And the weekend students were not left out as well. Shame I don’t have pictures yet but gosh they put in the long hours! 10am – 6pm every Saturday! I am literally in awe! Sometimes, catch up classes started at 8.30am and they stuck to it!
The Course is not over yet! They are currently working on their project based on the theme ‘Back to the Future – a link between the past and the future’ and I cannot wait to share those either. That will be in a separate post though. For now… enjoy the pictures…
Okies! Now we move on to a Sewing Course! The Corsetry Course!
So this was carved out of our Bodices & Dressmaking Course Part 3 due to demand. We had experienced bridal wear designers who wanted to learn corsetry without going through the whole course. And that is the beauty of our Courses. You ask, we listen and we make a plan! Most people have time and financial constraints so might not want to run the whole Course while others come in from out of town.
Yet again, we have few pictures ;-( BUT please “manage them” lol as they say… Hope to have more pictures next time!
Don’t you just LOVE a well-built corset?! 😀
Told you we didn’t have much pictures. I don’t have the corsets of the other participants plus this was just the first type of corset. The 2nd task was the corset with a cup. But anyway…. you can tell from the pictures they did a great job. The next one, which is a weekend option, is coming up in June so if you missed this one, watch this space!
Now on to the Textile Design Course! 😀
Oh wow THIS course here was the ISH! If you missed it, you definitely have to register for the next one! I was completely impressed with the participants’ work and there was even an excursion to the local markets to actually discover where to source fabrics from! Really bummed I don’t have much pictures at all! I am so sober! But I can tell you it was a GREAT course! There was beading, hand embroidery, tie and dye, fabric painting (oh that was my favourite) and even a small bag-making module. But like I promised, less writing and more pictures! 🙂
Stunning right?! I know! Not to worry, if you missed this one, we still have another one coming up sometime in August which you can still register for. And the Digital Textile Design as well so watch this space!
Yes yes! Almost done! We still had other things we were up to. I’ll touch on those just a tad bit!
Juniors Course:
Yes we had a determined young lady in high school who was DETERMINED to learn fashion on Saturdays! Like wow! Her passion is on another level! And boy was I impressed! I thought it would be hectic adding a weekend sewing program to her busy schedule but she is having none of it! This young fashionista is ready to move on to the next stage! I am tempted to move her on to the Beginners Course but I think we’ll just structure something for her which we will also run over the summer holidays as well. We already have the requests coming in! So big thumbs up to you Teni!
Corporate Training for Professionals on “Dressing for Success”
Haha! Yes! This is something I don’t really talk much about but I should! 😀 You all know I am a professional at heart right! Thanks to my background I am able to merge my fashion knowledge with the business community and structure a Course for corporate professionals on how to use fashion as a tool for personal and business success! Now you know why I love what I do right?! It is so versatile I can do so much! And of course this is one we just concluded for KPMG Professional Services. (I know right?!) It was a GREAT session and I thoroughly enjoyed it and I am sure they did as well! I am looking forward to the next one already! Thank you so much KPMG!
And finally…. (phew) and I m OH-SO-HAPPY about this one…
The Launch of our Clothing Factory! YAYE!!!!!!!!!
After running away from this idea for so long, 2 Martwayne students and 1 finally decided to confront this issue plaguing the Nigerian fashion industry for so long – an affordable production unit where fashion designers can outsource their designs to for production in standard sizes! And yes we started it out and I must say, it has been incredible! And we have not even advertised it yet! I won’t give details in this post. This is the content for another post entirely! But yeah…. you can clearly see that we have NOT been idle one bit!
PHEW! That’s about it! I am completely knackered!
I will conclude this post by thanking every single person that has made our year so successful – the instructors you are just amazing, Martwayne staff – you guys are the BOMB, those who refer us every single day – God bless you loads ….. and of course, our VIPs – our clients and participants! You are just AMAZING! Without you, we would not be here! We really owe you a lot! Thank you! Thank you!! Thank you!!!
Watch out for our next few courses coming up! We have amazing ones as well…
– Pattern-Making with Computer Aided Design (Digital Pattern-Making);
– Short Course in Childrenswear
– Short Course in Corsetry (Weekend option)
– Digital Textile Design (this is still tentative)… and of course
– We are still taking registrations for the Beginners as well as Bodices & Dressmaking Course as well.
Details will come up over the next week or so – so watch this space!
And oh… PS. I still haven’t forgotten the podcasts I promised on “Starting a Fashion Business”. I know many are looking forward to it but I have been warned to take things slow and tackle each project one by one. And I am heeding that advice! So I will work on it! My major prayer right now is for some serious help with my weakness for procrastination. I am really working on it.
Okay! Okay! I am GONE now! Like finally! I am now clicking “Publish” FOR REAL now!
Have a great week everyone!!! Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram @martwayne Just click this link! Ciao!
