Hello family!

Welcome to a day of meditation blog, and I like how it has started off already. waking up to see so many lovely comments about you from different bloggers is more than an achievement already. I am pleased to see that I have impacted people in a positive way here. And to be honest, so many people have blessed me here too, and I do not take that for granted. Love you all 🎉🎊💯💕💕

Let me go through a quick recap of my fashion journey and progress made in 2023.
The year started off very well for me, and I was enthusiastic about having some goals separated into two sections: a to-do list and a to-buy list.

To-do list

• An exhibition of a created project in a photoshoot process (some lovely shoots to showcase my creativity)

• Obtaining my fashion career certificate from my boss or trainer, at least for the entry level of someone who has graduated from elementary fashion and can start a business line. While still going for upgrade courses in fashion

• Getting a brand name, business card, and logo for my fashion business and registering my business with the government (C.A.C. registration) that validates our business or brand.

• Creation of my fashion page on social media (Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and the like) ✓

• A business working space ✓

to-buy list

• A grummet machine for pressing buttons ✓

• A Zig-zag sewing or embroidery machine. ✓ (A picture of this will come later.)

• A pearl setting machine.✓ (A picture of this will come later.)

• A mannequin ✓

• Standing mirror.

• A weaving machine.

• A steam press iron.

Let me start with the easier one, which is my to-buy list.

To be honest with you, friends, I haven't been grateful in this year enough. I have often thought that there were no achievements made or something I could fall back on until I started this writeup and my eyes became open to the extent of the successes I have made.

From my to-buy list, I have ticked the first four numbers. Guess what? Inflation moved the prices of this to 4X their normal price, and regardless of the hike in price, I was able to make these purchases thanks to all the support I also received in an upvote from Hive. Some of my hive savings were challenged to meet these goals.

The other three are really expensive, and I have to sit tight to meet those goals.

To-Do List

For this to-do list, I believe that one thing leads to another, and I have written them in the categories I wish to achieve each, but nevertheless, I got my hands on a few of them.

The exhibition was halted because of reasons beyond my control. I experienced the worst health challenges this year and couldn't sew a thing from the month of February down to April. Family issues and other events also crashed my emotions. I can never be productive when I have these issues bothering me; hence, the sewing of my project work was halted.

I don't know if you remember this dress I had made and was embroidering back then; it is my exhibition project still packed at home.

And without this number one on the list, there will be no graduation or certificate from my trainer, which takes second place on my to-do list.

However, I still pushed to get a brand name for myself. Something as simple as a brand name also gave me a bit of a challenge; some will use their names or something of significance to them, so I kept pushing for what combination of sweet names to put up.

I had earlier wanted to use my late mom's name, who knew that a time like this would come and had purchased a manual sewing machine for her children right from when I was barely 10 years old (she knew that empowering her kids with skills is important for the future). Twisting her name to something sweet for my business didn't work out until I decided to use something important to her. She left me her kids on her deathbed and urged me to take care of them because it would make her happy. Anastasia was her last child, and my sister was barely 4 years old then. Since taking care of Anas gives her joy, I have twisted Anastasia's name here.

My brand name is

#Tacyne Needlework and Craft: Tacyne Fashion and Fabric Boutique

Whichever is the case 🥰🎊🎉

From Anastasia to Stacy( like we fondly call her) and to Tacyne with an "ne," some two letters from my name "ene"... Anastasia is 12 years old now and has a blog bearing my name here, @eneayi.

The brand logo will be created by a graphic designer, who I will be tipping to help me out with this. This is still achievable within the year, as I only need to place the call, and this will be done.

Creating fashion space on social media.

I do have a WhatsApp business page already with the brand names and a useful Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook page. All of these are waiting for some lovely pictures from my exhibition to show the world that a new fashion brand has started.

Working space/workshop.

Remember I mentioned that I had some family issues earlier? A constant disagreement with my dad and the poor state of my initial home made me leave the house. My health was at stake, and the previous environment was aggravating the condition.

Moving out was the best decision I made this year. Powering down some of my Hive power, I rented a single-bed apartment, and guess what? My living room will become the new working space. I have also called some engineers to work on the lighting, some carpentry work, and maybe a cushion for my customers to sit on. Work is on to set up the place, and you will see the magic of transformations turning my living room into a beautiful and convenient working space.

And to top this up, I also purchased an ironing table, a power bank to aid power supply inadequacy, and some other items courtesy of @terganftp; he has been a blessing to my career.

Here is me working on the table.

An improvement in my sewing and skills.

For this part, I will love to scream out my joy. How gratefully I have improved now amazes me personally.

I have inconsistently learned to sew for five good years, something that takes people barely a year to become perfect. Not giving up was the key.

Back then, when I made mistakes while sewing, I would just dump the project and stay frustrated for months without looking back at sewing, only to resume at a later time with a new passion. Eventually, when I couldn't get my hands on any reasonable job, I left my first fashion school and registered with a new trainer, @taimah. She is a good lady and boss (God bless her). She was patient with my mediocrity and slow fashion until I made a lot of progress in sewing.

She made me see fashion as a pleasure and joy to create something beautiful and to also clothe people. I keyed into her zeal and became better today.

In order to help me advance Further, I had recently done free Christmas outfit sewing for people in my neighborhood; sewing for free would help improve my skills too. I wanted to achieve some goals with this, which I did. Things like

• Timing it takes to make an outfit to test my speed

• Finishing and making an exact design that a customer will wish to have

• Creativity with fabrics and management of limited fabrics

Here are some of the outfits I sew for free for friends, neighbors, and family, though some are in their unfinished state and will be completed and delivered before Christmas.

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Another thing I have wished to learn with my skills is how to work with fragile fabrics like tulle.

As designers, we will be encountering different kinds of fabrics and must be prepared to work with minimal mistakes.

I took this up as a challenge to sew my sibling outfits this Christmas with the most fragile tulle net.

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This doesn't look like it, right? 😂😂 Wait until the dress is completed. I am learning and learninevery dayay.

On a final note, I have wished to learn men's fashion so that I can sew clothes for my brothers. The ladies have been enjoying the benefits of my skills while the men are left out.

And I also wish to learn about fascinators and how to make different hair covers.

Something like this

A screenshot from my best friend page

Having some beautiful hair covers to complement my outfits will be pleasing.

In 2024, my exhibition, certificate business registration, and working space will all be set by His grace.

I'm more than joyful to look back on this day, and all ingratitude has faded away. Thank you for coming with me on this journey. Your love, encouragement, and support will never be forgotten.

If you have made it this far, thank you for your time and reading through the lines.

• All images are mine
• Edited with Grammer checker quilldot for friendlier reading