Hello Hive

A blessed new day to all the wonderful souls in the community. I do hope that we are having a good time and making the best of the times.

Today I would like to share with you some outfit hacks you can use to lighten up your look.

We have an upcoming event this weekend that requires an official dress code, but while dressing officially, we also want to portray the importance of culture in our looks. Being an official event, we do not wish to dress completely in native attire, yet we equally do not wish that a touch of our culture be missing.

Several ideas were put forward on how we can make the outfit a colorful one, including our appearance.

After several brainstorming sessions as a seamstress, I came up with the idea that can assist any of us to be officially dressed and yet with a touch of tradition in our looks.

One of the ideas that came up was to either sew a bow tie of the native fabric or a rose to be attached to our shirt pocket, but those ones will be very small and not visible. Hence, I proceeded with this idea.

You need a very small quantity of fabric to achieve this.

The African print fabric is a symbol of our cultural heritage; hence, I can choose to use this or other traditional fabrics.

Next I cut a front and back piece from this using my bust measurements, ensuring that this doesn't extend to the armhole.

The linings were cut in the same pattern.

Next I cut out 2 long, straight bands.

Then i started to sew them on the machine. The front lining and back lining were used to turn the fabrics in.

Then I attached the band to the base.

And use them to tie a knot around the shirt for firmness.

This outfit will be perfect for our program this weekend and a useful idea for anyone who wishes to be unofficially dressed but in a smart way for some occasions.