Welcome to my world.
For the longest time, people have described me as a woman of many talents, many skills and many capabilities.
And for the longest time, I did not quite know what to do with that.
As I moved through different stages of my life and career, I found myself wearing so many different hats. One day I could be designing and dressing someone for a special occasion; another day I could be drafting patterns or teaching young people how to sew. I found myself working in education, teaching within communities, taking commissions, designing for public figures and celebrities, developing creative programmes and eventually teaching within higher education and academia.
And somewhere within all of that, I am also a mother, a wife and simply a person who genuinely loves to make things.
For a while, it felt as though I needed to find one title that could somehow explain all of these different parts of me.
Interestingly, it was during a Community of Practice with other creative academics that this became a real topic of conversation. I discovered that I was not the only creative academic struggling with the question of titles, identities and where exactly we fitted. There was something incredibly reassuring about discovering that.
Eventually, I found two titles that seemed to bring my worlds together:
Creative Educator and Fashion Designer.
I used those titles for a long time, and for a while they felt right.
But as my practice has continued to grow, I have realised that even those words no longer quite do it justice.
My heart and my creative practice have never existed only within fashion.
I work with textiles and surface design. I paint. I draw. I explore pottery and sculpture. I sew and draft patterns. I photograph and make films. I create content. I write. I teach. I research. I develop creative programmes. I have become an editor and created a magazine. And, perhaps most importantly, I continue to experiment.
Creativity, for me, has never respected the boundaries between disciplines.
So, allow me to introduce myself again.
My name is Tolumi Abiola. I am a creative educator and multidisciplinary artist working across fashion, art and design.
And this is my world.
My Creative Journey
My creative journey began as a teenager growing up in Nigeria and has developed across almost three decades of making, designing, experimenting, teaching and learning.
Fashion and sewing have always been a significant part of that journey, but I have never really fitted neatly into one creative box. I love the process of taking an idea and discovering what it can become, whether that happens through fabric, pattern cutting, illustration, surface design, painting, sculpture, photography, film, craft, education, research or simply trying something I have never done before.
I am deeply curious about how things are made.
I sew, design, draft patterns, explore materials and techniques, and continue to learn through making. That curiosity has taken me from my own creative practice and industry experience into teaching and, eventually, higher education and academia.
But making has always remained at the centre.
I still love the process of starting with almost nothing — a piece of fabric, a sheet of paper, some clay, a photograph, an idea — and seeing what it might become.
Creativity and Education
Teaching has become as important to me as making.
Over the years, I have taught creativity both formally and informally, working with children, young people and adults at different stages of their creative journeys. I am particularly interested in making creative education feel accessible, welcoming and possible, including for people who may not always see themselves represented in traditional educational spaces.
My work in higher education has allowed me to bring together years of practical industry experience with academic practice, research and creative education. I am interested in how we teach creative subjects, how people learn differently, and how care, accessibility and belonging can shape the experience of education.
For me, creativity should never feel like something reserved for a particular kind of person.
There should always be room to begin, experiment, make mistakes, change direction and discover what you are capable of.
I believe that some of our most meaningful learning happens when we are given permission to explore without being afraid of getting things wrong.
My Creative Practice
My own practice continues to sit at the heart of everything I do.
I am fascinated by fashion, textiles, traditional craftsmanship, cultural storytelling and the relationship between heritage and contemporary design. My Nigerian heritage has naturally influenced the way I see colour, textiles, clothing and making, and I am particularly interested in the stories and knowledge carried through traditional creative practices.
But my curiosity continually takes me beyond one medium.
I might be developing a garment or drafting a sewing pattern one day and exploring surface design, painting, photography, pottery or sculpture another. Writing and storytelling have also become increasingly important parts of my practice, alongside photography, videography, content creation and editorial work.
I do not see these as completely separate practices.
They speak to one another.
Something I discover through sculpture might influence the silhouette of a garment. A textile technique might inspire a piece of surface design. Teaching someone else may make me reconsider how I approach my own making. Research might lead to a creative experiment, and an experiment might become the beginning of research.
That movement between disciplines is now an important part of how I understand myself as an artist.
I also care deeply about sustainability and the value of making things with intention. I believe in understanding how something is constructed, appreciating the hands and knowledge behind it, repairing where we can, and creating things that deserve to be kept.
Sometimes my work is carefully researched and meticulously planned.
Sometimes it begins simply because I wonder:
What would happen if I tried this?
Both are equally important to me.
Why Here?
For a long time, the different parts of my work existed in separate places.
There was the designer, The educator, The academic, The pattern maker, The artist, The writer, The editor, The maker who simply loves sitting down and creating something and more.
For years, I thought I needed to decide which one of those people I was. I now understand that I do not.
They have always been parts of the same person.
Here is where I bring them all home.
This is a space for my designs and sewing patterns, my art and creative practice, education, research, writing, experiments, collaborations and the things I am still discovering.
It is also a space where I can share what I know.
You might arrive here because you want to make one of my sewing patterns. You might be interested in my academic work, want to collaborate on a creative project, learn something new, read something I have written, see what I am currently creating, or simply find a little inspiration for something you would like to make yourself.
However you found your way here, welcome.
Stay curious. Explore. Make something. Learn something. Try something you have never tried before.
And if something you discover here encourages you to begin an idea of your own, then this space is doing exactly what I hoped it would do.
This is creativity. This is home.
Welcome to my world.
Fashionably Yours,
Tolumi.