Hello, creatives! Hope you are all having a lovely weekend. Valentine is around the corner and I promised to make my first love a Valentine's gift which I would love to share as my entry for the #needleworkyourvalentine contest

Who received the very first Valentine’s Day card you ever gave? Chances are, it was for your elementary school crush or your best friend. But what about the first person who ever truly loved you, your mom? This Valentine's Day, I decided to take a moment to show my original Valentine how much she means to me with a heartfelt gift, using my skill as a fashion designer,

From the moment we were born, our mom has cherished us more deeply than any other. While our early crushes came and went, our mother’s affection stayed constant, even till this very moment as adults, I'm a mom myself now, and I know how my children are the most important to me in the whole world, and I can go to any length to make them feel happy,

In other words, our mom was our first experience of pure, unconditional love. Society may emphasize romantic love on Valentine’s Day. However, the nurturing care we received from our mother laid the foundation for understanding affection. Before anyone else, our mom taught us how to give and receive love.

The bond between mother and child forms our earliest and in many ways deepest emotional connection. There is perhaps no love more patient, forgiving, and selfless than a mother’s love. My mom has made countless little sacrifices for my happiness and well-being without me even realizing it sometimes. In that sense, she deserves recognition as my first true sweetheart.

I visited the fabric store and this beautiful floral African print with a dark background caught my attention, it was love at first sight, though a bit pricey than the amount I had budgeted for, no thanks to the high dollar-naira exchange rate.

I already had a style inspiration in mind, so I got all the other needed materials which included

• Black coloured dutchess
• Sample lace
• Bias strip
• Matching coloured thread

The upper part of the dress was made using the Duchess fabric combined with the lace as the yoke, I also followed a bustier pattern with Basque

I used the sequin bias strip to design the upper front, by sewing straight lines by the side and the middle

The lower part is a straight skirt pattern, i traced and cut out the Basque shape of the upper side

The back side of the dress is a normal back pattern which I also combined the same way I combined the front.

The sleeves were the tricky part, as I didn't know how to achieve the puffy sleeves I wanted, which had me trying different pattern styles on paper, I finally went for this pattern which was a bit close but not exactly what I wanted, to add more drama to the sleeves, I attached a basic long sleeve, so It's a two in one sleeve.

I will be delivering the dress to her tomorrow to get it fitted, I hope she loves my valentine surprise.

Have you ever specifically told your mum what an amazing job she did as your first love? This February 14th, and beyond, let your mom know you understand how special and formative her early love and care was for you.

_{All images used in this post are mine.}

Thank you for reading.❤❤