Happy New Year my lovelies, I am so excited for 2021, not that I think it will look completely different from 2020 but because I am mentally stronger. Like most, I set myself goals for the new year and I’m embarking on the entrepreneurship journey so I can only feel excited for a lot of new beginnings in my life. I haven’t been consistent on blogging this past year but when I was setting my goals for 2021, I realised this is a platform I would like to utilise more often and definitely build a community here too. So I will be creating blog specific content to keep this interesting and exciting.

My Relationship with Seamwork

To kick things off in 2021, I’m so excited to share that I have a pattern named after me, can you believe it? How did I get a pattern named after me? Firstly, I am a seamwork ambassador, which means I get an advance copy of their new patterns and an unlimited membership in exchange I have to make at least 10 of the patterns in a year. I love seamwork and their pattern catalogs is so extensive that this is really easy to do. On my Instagram, every 1st of the month I call it seamwork day because they release their new patterns and magazine for the month, I will also share a seamwork make whether it’s the new pattern or one of their older ones.

Seamwork’s call to the community

How did the name thing get started? June 2020 the world was turned upside down at the senseless murder of George Floyd at the hands of the police, though this was hard to watch it bought a spotlight to systemic racism that black people face on a daily basis. Seamwork reached out to the sewing community and asked how can they do better and be better allies to black people. I’m sure many people reached out because I have definitely seen a change in their magazine and they have kept their commitment to amplify melininated voices and other minorities. I also reached out to them and pitched several articles them. I will link below to my seamwork articles.

The evening of the 9th of June, I remember reading an article on Forbes (which was written in Feb 2020) saying how job candidates are still being penalised for having “Ghetto” or black sounding names. Basically people with black sounding names got 50% less call backs even when they were qualified for the position. Something as small as a name has such a huge impact on a persons opportunities that they are given. This got me thinking about how pattern companies have used the power of names to grow their businesses, that is how most of us find new pattern, through hashtags with the pattern name. Then I started browsing the popular pattern companies and most of them had “white” sounding names. This got me thinking, how amazing would it be to have diversity in pattern names since the sewing community is a large and diverse one. Can we start having our names associated with positive things, why can’t your favourite pattern be named Keisha, Kenya or Jamal. Because out there in the real world there’s are Keisha, Kenya and Jamal who are highly skilled, hard working and could potentially make a huge impact in your organisation but wasn’t even looked at because of his/her name.

On the 10th of June, I reached out to the seamwork staff asking if they were open to including traditionally black names when naming their patterns (actually culturally diverse names), not only were they open to it but suggested naming a pattern after me too. Of course I couldn’t say no, what an honor and a privilege. When I suggested this, I wasn’t asking for a pattern to be named after me, but this pattern is a physical reminder to myself to always speak up and that I have influence in my circle. Whether big or small, we can all make a difference. This is the community I want to belong to, that celebrates our differences because we are all brought together for our love of sewing. Thank you Seamwork for putting yourself out there and asking the community “how can we be better” and then taking those suggestions seriously and implementing them. So here is a look at the January 2021 Seamwork patterns, Tino and Amari ♥️

The Patterns

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I’ve made 3 Tino’s that I will be sharing over the next couple of days, I will update this blogpost with new images as I share them. First Tino paired with Amari, I made them using brushed DTY knit fabric that I got from The Fabric Studio. The fabric is light weight and so soft that is perfect for loungewear. The Tino leggings are high waist and have a side pocket feature, perfect for color blocking, and your knit scrap buster. Amari requires a medium to heavy weight knit but I wanted a set and Joburg is boiling hot at the moment, if you going to use something lightweight, interface the zip seam allowance and the collar pieces. Overall I love the colour blocking of the lounge set and will definitely make Amari again in the winter.

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When I first saw the Tino Pattern, my first thoughts was that these leggings are perfect for Pilates. So I wanted to create my ultimate Pilates outfit. I found these two fabrics from Habby and Lace, the maroon is a brushed DTY knit and the abstract animal print is and FDY print, the FDY fabric is lightweight and almost see through but the pattern lends itself well that it’s not too shear like a mesh. I paired this Tino with a matching sports bra, I used the Megan Nielsen Cottesloe pattern. I love the fit for both and am happy with overall set.

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Measurements and Sizing

• Bust – 105cm
• Waist – 90 cm
• Hip – 107cm
• Amari I made straight size 12
• Tino I made a straight size 14 in the curvy range, I did have to take in the waist by about 5cm for a more snug fit.
• Cottesloe bra I made a straight size 14

References:

Use my referral code to join Seamwork by Clicking Here and get $3 off your first month.

Forbes Article: Are job candidates still being penalize for having ghetto names. Click here to read.

Seamwork guide to sewing to Ankara fabric by Tino Motloung. Click here to read.

A seamworker’s guide to Johannesburg, let’s go fabric shopping by Tino Motloung. Click here to read.