Egungun Suit

Peace!

Its been awhile since I posted. So much life has been happening to me.

I quit my day job My boss was a HUGE liar. Just lied and lied about everything. Even stupid stuff that he didn't need to be lying about. There came a point where I lost all trust and confidence in him. I'm good surprisingly. My mother left me 2 homes that are currently being rented out. and I still have my side hustles... one of which is sewing.
Osunfest recently passed in Atlanta. I'm not going in on the whats and hows. If you know you know and if you don't.... ask. I love being involved in this community especially for sewing. You just can't buy hotep clothes at Macy's, so these clothes have to be made.... and since seamstresses are few and far between, especially Black seamstresses.... BOOM! I made a ton of money during Osunfest. But it does mark the end of festival season. It'll be back come spring.

One of the things I made... which was on my sewing bucket list... was and Egungun suit.

Whats that Serenity?

I'm glad you asked!



Egun in Yoruba refers to ancestors. Egungun Suit is a masquerade garment used to commemorate and honor all ancestors of a given community. Technically it's supposed to made of strips from garments that were worn by folks ancestors. That's not how I made this one...

I never made one before. I never saw one in person. When tasked with this task, I was all over the internet to no avail. I'm a smart girl. I figured it out. First make a tunic. You'll need the tunic to attach the strips of fabric. Don't sew the tunic up though. I made that mistake. But the wearer would have to try it on so..... this is wear it kind of went left.... I had help from ile members who cut the strips. They don't sew and I wasn't there when they got to cutting. They cut most of the strips 1 inch thick. I couldn't use those strips because of the seam allowance. But they didn't have a ton of extra fabric because they cut all the fabric they had wrong. Well.... my remnant scraps to the rescue! I had a bunch of scrap, but not a lot of hotep scrap. Either way... I made it work. Big note.... DON'T USE SATIN! Frays like a motherfucker....



That cutiepie model is my husband. He wasn't the one to wear the suit. The suit has a basket woven headpiece and a breastplate made with crystal and leather. I didn't get a pic of the wearer dancing in the suit. Other obligations kept me from that part of the festival. It looks crazy, but the Babalawo was mad satisfied with the result and has offered me a job running his new clothing line. Do I have experience? No. But neither does he. We will fly or sink. But I will enjoy it!


Peace!