Colourpop "Tulle" Ultra Matte Liquid Lipstick

How are you all doing? I am doing great and super excited cos I finally came home for the weekend after about 5 weeks. I am so looking forward to spending time with my family and definitely getting reacquainted with my sewing machine. Today's post is such a fun one because it features a little aspect of my Yoruba culture. So one of my friends got married last month and it was such a beautiful wedding. I absolutely enjoyed the traditional wedding, it really makes me appreciate my culture even more. For most traditional Yoruba weddings or occasion, everyone wears aso-ebi (translates to family's clothing) with our geles (translates to head-tie). Aso-ebi is basically a fabric (lace or ankara) that the family and friends of the celebrants wear to support them for their special occasion. I got my fabric way back in June and I had never worked with such a fabric before so I was a bit intimidated. And rightly so because it turned out to be one of my most challenging sewing projects ever. It is a sheer mid-weight lace fabric with stones and pearls on it, I had to take of the stones and pearls from the seam allowance so I don't break my sewing machine needles while sewing it. Also I got a silver charmeuse fabric to line the sheer lace fabric and it's fully lined. I decided to combine McCalls 7315 and Vogue 9173 to achieve this look and I absolutely love the way it turned out. It took me about 3 weeks in between school and going home every chance I could to finish it. I paired it with a lilac aso-oke gele and a pair of silver sandals. While it was not the easiest sewing project, I enjoyed the process of learning new sewing techniques and thinking outside the box with this sewing pattern. If you sew with patterns, I will highly encourage you to try making Vogue Patterns you can really upgrade your sewing skills with it. Anyways, I can't wait to make more aso-ebi outfits in the future. For those that sew, I have a pattern review below...:)

 Pattern Review: Vogue 9173

Pattern Description: Semi-fitted skirt has waistband, flounce and stay variations, and invisible back zipper
Pattern Sizing: It came in a size 14-22 and I cut a size 16.

Fabric Used: Aso-Ebi Lace fabric from my friend's wedding

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes, it was pretty easy to follow giving that the pattern is not simple to make.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I absolutely love the 3 tiered asymmetrical gathered ruffles at the bottom, it's so unique. 

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made? I actually made a lot of modifications, It is a skirt pattern but I made it into a dress using  McCalls 7315 for the bodice and this pattern for the skirt portion. Since it is a sheer fabric I had to cut 2 of each piece (1 main fabric and 1 lining). In the cutting process for the skirt, I wanted the scalloped hem of the fabric to show so I had to do some strategic placement for the 3 tiered gathered ruffles. So the pattern instructs you to gather each tier and sew it on to the upper skirt portion one by one, I didn't do that. Instead I joined the 1st 2 ones together (since they weren't lined) using basting stitched and then gathered them before attaching it to the skirt. I joined the 3rd one with lining, then gathered and attached it previous one. 

 My friends and I in our aso-ebis...:)