Hello my dear Steemians! Most of us find it boring when we watch over the sick, right?
My mind is pretty much occupied but my feet is tied since I am watching over our invalid little princess.
I need to do something to keep me awake so I thought of digging over my old stuffs.
I guess they're more than a decade old already. I can still recall that I had been working on my crochet handicrafts under our mansanitas tree while watching our men working on the rice paddies.
The thread are still tough since I've securely kept it in in dry box. Here, let me show you my finished product! One for me, and one for princess Antonia.
You know guys, my two girls were still nursing students during that time in Bacolod. They would ask for additional P300 allowance. My answer was that "pamaligya mo ang halin inyuha" (you sell and your profit is yours)
It was as simple as that. Well, they're already used to that though. Whenever I grumble that I didn't have money in my pocket, they would ask me 'mama, do you have any collectibles? And they would volunteer to do the task.
My bag making has been my lifeline. Making pouch has been my delight since I was young until now.
It was during my 3rd child when hubby aboard his ship. He was not able to join the ship immediately since we had no helper.
Time came when we ran out of stock. No more milk in the cupboard, no rice for the day. I decided to make a credit in a nearby store. The owner was a chatterbox so I waited for hours, anxiously waiting and worried that my baby might be awake with no milk in her feeding bottle. At last I was able to fulfill my plan. The owner gave me credit with sarcasm saying that 'sailors are indeed one-day millionaires'.
That was it! I accepted the challenge. I thought of something creative where I can make money.
There is money in Ukay-ukay:
I was looking at those relief goods for sale. I bought a knitted cardegan @P4.00. I cut it straight on the chest and joined both ends with the extra yarn then I braided the cords. I made a lining with inner pocket too.
That was my first sling bag for sale @P40.00! The rest was history.
Ukay-ukay from Japan was already very popular during that time which made me think of making money out of those wool skirts and jackets and those knitted stuffs. They felt so itchy to the skin that it seems nobody wanted to buy even at much lower price.
For a price of 5 pesos each, I would choose the bigger and wider ones so I could make more. I also chose bright colored knits to dismantle and made cords and strings for small and big pouches.
I made travelling bags out of wide skirts and jackets. Well, the big pockets served as big side pockets of course and the belts as handles.
The ukay-ukay owners liked it very much. Whenever I pass by their stand, they would choose their own cloths and let me sew them for P20 labor fee and I can finish 4-5 bags/night 😃.
Soon, I made innovative designs. I bought large zipper sliders, foams, snaps, straps, etc.
I was like a celebrity guys. Many followed my style but with my style and durability, one would say, I had a style of my own and I had made it my trademark.
Nowadays, there are already good branded bags and other stuffs in the ukay-ukay stands. Looking at them, I couldn't help smiling thinking that once upon a time, it saved my day.
Thank you for reading guys!
