It has been several months of researching, finding, thinking and monitoring and I finally have the first samples of the 10 fabric designs that took months and many iterations to complete. I am so excited I want to sleep curled in the new fabrics with their bright colours and designs. I am delighted with the way they have turned out and am so excited now about sharing them with South Africa. The fabrics are currently being turned into umbrellas and I am now working with the sample fabric to construct first forms of bags, sarongs and kaftans. I have enlisted the help of my local dress maker who, after helping me create samples, will help me find a pattern maker and CMT group for the production of the range. I have uploaded photos of my first attempt. It is far from a perfect effort but was to help me establish what dimensions and finishes I want in the final products. I have never sewn with lining before and the final product will have zips etc, which are a bit too much of a leap for this novice seamstress at this stage 🙂