BY AINA ARNI
KUCHING: Housewife, Nurafiza Nur Mohammad Fazil, 38, is one enterprising woman. She has turned her sewing hobby into a source of side income for her family.
Born in Spaoh, she began learning sewing just for fun in 2009 after she graduated with a Diploma In Information Technology from Sarawak MSU College.
“I once attended a sewing course organised by Youth Development Training Centre (PLPB) for six months, thanks to a suggestion from my friends, but I was able to attend for three weeks only because I was busy preparing for my wedding,” she said.
After she got married, Nurafiza moved here and continued to learn sewing from books and Youtube videos.
“I learnt mainly from videos, especially since a lot of people shared their knowledge on social media such as Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Youtube and Pinterest,” she added.
She admitted to never attending any sewing class and only relied 100 per cent on social media to hone her skills until she got the best results.
She did it just to fill her free time but ended up falling in love with the art after being impressed with the products that she made.
She began sewing entire sets of clothes for her family in 2011 and five years later in 2016, she began a tailoring business that she called ‘Teeya Apparel’.
“My family can save some money because we do not have to buy any Raya outfits,” she said.
The most interesting thing is Teeya Apparel sells outfits designed by Nurafiza such as wedding dresses, school uniforms, and male and female outfits from baby sizes to adult sizes.
The basic price for a school uniform is RM30. Depending on the sizes, materials and designs, modern ‘baju kurung’ go for RM60 and above. As for ‘baju melayu’, it fetches RM80 each.
“I also took orders for ‘tanjak’, ‘keringkam’, and ‘cekak sanggul’ for the independence month celebration last year. I will do it again this year.
“My ‘keringkam’ is made from beads rather than gold thread that people often use. That is why I called it budget keringkam,” she said.
Nurafiza is very particular about the neatness of the clothes she makes and the comfort of the user.
That is the reason why many customers repeat their orders. They are satisfied with her workmanship.
“My main challenge is time because when the children are in school, I have to divide my time between them, housework, and sewing.
“I spend a lot of time doing housework and managing my kids. On weekends, I prepare materials for my business.
“I am very thankful that my husband helps manage the kids during the holidays to enable me to meet all my customers’ orders.
Due to time constraints, she won’t accept certain orders even when she gets paid a lot.
On what is next for her and her brand, Nurafiza said that she dreams of opening a boutique one day, but at the moment she is comfortable keeping her business small at home as it allows her to take care of her kids.
“Once all of my kids have grown up and the economy is finally stable, then I will focus on expanding my business.
“Plus, I am only sewing for the sake of filling up my free time and not for the sake of profits,” she said.
Nurafiza can be contacted at 019-8663881. Her Facebook page is MamaHarith Fathia.
