Lockdown kickstarts sisters’ business

BOREDOM during the start of the lockdown sparked the creative and entrepreneurial spirit in two Pietermaritzburg sisters.

Shannyn and Jemma Pillay, of Allandale, first started sewing face masks and selling them.

Now, a year later, the pair have expanded their business, Polka Face, and are now making luxurious lavender-infused wheat bags.

Jemma, 14, said they were bored at home, not being able to go to school, and decided to experiment with their gran’s sewing machine by using upcycled fabric to sew face masks.

“After making a few masks for ourselves we decided to turn it into a business. We started selling them to friends and family and later supplied shops in Pietermaritzburg to sell them,” said Jemma.

Jemma, a Grade 8 pupil at St John’s DSG, said her gran, Amy Rangan, 82, taught her to sew, adding that she had her own projects where she used to sew mini patterns on her jeans.

Their mom, Sheila, said due to the influx in the market of face masks and cheap imports of disposables, people were no longer buying as much.

“Business was booming at the beginning but started waning. They then decided to look at other ideas.

“Their granny has arthritis and she needed wheat bags. We decided this was an idea with winter coming up. After trying it, customers loved them because they are available in pretty fabrics, like duchess satin, lovely florals and 100% cotton, not your normal ugly corduroy wheat bags,” said Sheila.

Shannyn, 21, a third-year student in BSC in hydrology and geography at the University of Kwazulu-natal, said they also included mini wheat bags in their range.

“They are like eye pillows, as well as scrunchies and reusable produce bags,” she said.

The siblings said the experience had taught them to be organised, and equipped them with business skills.

“However, with the demands of school and university now we don’t sew every day. But our mom helps a lot with the sewing,” they said.

The wheat bags are available at certain pharmacies and online for R150 from the Instagram page @polkaface.