The Ushafa studio
Bring the shoes you will wear, and the bra that matches the neckline. The pin for the fitting room is sent when the appointment is confirmed. The studio stays a workplace.
The house
A young practice in Ushafa, Bwari, Abuja, for women who dress for a specific day.
Mairy Stitches is a young one-woman house in Ushafa, Bwari, Abuja. She cuts made-to-measure clothes for Nigerian women: the gown that has to last the owner of the dance, the introduction set you can sit down in, the court dress with sleeves you chose on purpose.
The label on the garment reads Mairy Stitches.
She works in ankara, adire, aso-oke, lace, and the plain cloths that give a silhouette its nerve. You bring the occasion. She brings the fit.
“Fit first. Cloth second. The occasion is only the reason to begin.”
- Owambe gowns
- Introduction sets
- Court wedding
- Aso-ebi desks
- Work tailoring
Four steps, then a garment.
The order of work is the one a made-to-measure house earns its name with: style, fit, agreement, then the sewing. What changes, in this house, is the garment. An iro is not a dress shirt. An aso-ebi run is not a single checkout.
01
Style
A look from the book, or a silhouette you describe.
02
Fit
Studio, home visit, or a tape after a video call.
03
Quote
Written, and accepted, before cloth is cut.
04
Fitting
Adjusted in-house before you pay the balance.
Three ways to be measured
A home visit in Abuja
From Ushafa through Bwari and the rest of the city. Travel is quoted with the making, not discovered at the door. Useful when the garment has to be seen in the room where it will be worn.
A video, then a tape
For clients outside Abuja. Mairy sends the measurement points. You film them in a fitted slip, or a local tailor takes the tape. She does not cut from a guess.
The first fitting is not a favour.
The first fitting is part of the making. If the garment does not sit the way you and Mairy agreed, it is altered in-house before you pay the balance. You do not take home a dress that argues with you.
The size card stays at the studio.
After a garment has been fitted, the numbers remain on your client card. The next owambe, the next Sunday, the next court dress starts from a body this house already knows. You do not re-explain your shoulder every time.
Aso-ebi, treated as tailoring
Aso-ebi is one silhouette and one cloth, graded for many bodies. Mairy cuts a sample in the celebrant’s size first. The run starts only after that sample is approved. Guests are measured. Nobody is squeezed into a single pattern with the side seams let out.
If you are not in Abuja
Finished clothes ship to the UK, the US, Canada, and Ghana, and to other Nigerian cities. Measurements can begin on a video call. She does not cut from a guess: you film the points, or a local tailor takes them, and the numbers are checked before cloth is opened.
Cloth the house actually cuts
There is no warehouse of a thousand prints. Each commission sources what the silhouette needs: a dyer, a weaver, a lace seller, or the ankara you already carried in a bag.
Adire
Indigo resist, in the dye tradition of Abeokuta and Ibadan. It sits best on a cut that does not fight the pattern.
Aso-oke
Handwoven strips. Alaari, etu, and sanyan each behave differently at a shoulder, so the weave decides the sleeve.
Ankara
Printed cotton with a mind of its own. Motifs are placed so they are not sliced through the face or the bust.
French lace
For court weddings and any dress that has to outlast the day. Always lined. Never left scratchy against the skin.
Mikado
A silk that holds a line. Used for skirts, short trains, and anywhere a print needs a plain cloth beside it.
Guinea brocade
Heavier and formal. Right for Sunday, and for introductions that are not in aso-oke.
Velvet
A night cloth. Used when the silhouette is quiet enough for the fabric to be the whole argument.
Organza
An overlay, not the structure. Naming mornings, a neckline, a little air over a heavier cloth.
Come when you have a date, or before you do.
Tuesday to Saturday, 11:00–18:00. Monday by appointment.
Ushafa, Bwari, Abuja
The full pin is confirmed with the appointment.