3 Seamstress Recommendations In Manila.

I hope that this post will be helpful for you in order to find someone whom you’d like to hire to have furniture covers made.

1. SEAMSTRESS LINA

Lina is a seamstress who became very well known thanks to a celebrity expat blogger, Amber of A Momma Abroad. She’s an expat blogger from the U.S. who embraces her life in Manila. Not only the expats, but also local Filipinos know her. She wrote about Lina and the slipcovers she made for her in her blog series called “Settling In”. You can see the blog post here.

I found Lina’s number from another expat source, though. Then some time after that I found out that the number was the same as the number Amber had posted on her blog. If any expats knew of Lina, they probably got her contact information from Amber’s blog. Anyways, thanks to the publicity through A Momma Abroad blog, Lina can get very busy depending on the season.

PRICE

Lina’s pricing is very reasonable.

FABRIC

She has swatches. The selections on the swatches are limited, but you see the fabric samples and pick from there.

SPEED

Lina has a team of staff who helps her sew at her workshop. Once you place an order, it would take about 2 to 3 weeks for her to finish depending on the volume of work she has.

When she came back with the covers for the first time, they unfortunately did not fit our dining chairs. She took them back and fixed them, which added a couple more weeks. In my case, it ended up being about 5 weeks, which is longer than her usual work time. It probably won’t happen to you. That being said, she is known to work fast.

FINAL RESULT

I like the end result. The fit is okay. I like the fabric. The covers are loose on the top and a bit too tight around the bottom on some, but I think the chairs look great. I get compliments on my dining chairs now!

In the last photo below, you see a cover with a stain. It looks like an oil stain. I don’t know what it is. She gave me a discount on this.

LINA CAJURAO

Mobile: 0918-557-4240 / 0926-754-5471 (Viber Ready)
EMAIL: linacajurao@gmail.com

SIDE NOTE

I had about a month or so when I did not hear from Lina. I would text or call her, but I got no response. Later when I got reconnected with her, I found out that she was very busy. She is a very sweet person and I could tell that she did not mean to not respond. This may not happen to you, but I wanted to throw this out there. If you don’t hear from her, don’t be discouraged. Just keep trying.

(I find things work amazingly in Manila. It sometimes feels as if we are in the U.S. However, speed of communication with businesses can be on an island time. Patience is a virtue.)

2. SEAMSTRESS NER (NERISSE)

I was introduced to Nerisse through my blogger friend, Ayessa of Undiplomatic Wife. Ayessa is a Filipino friend of mine whom I met through our blogs when we both lived in Jakarta between 2010 and 2013. She has an amazing sense of style and organizational skills, which she uses to help people through her decluttering services called Minimaluxe. Introducing her business is for another blog post, but for you to quickly see what services she offers in Manila, please click here.

Ner is a very sweet lady. She came with her son VJ to my house to measure the sofas. They lived in UAE for work before, but they are now back in the Philippines and run the sewing business.

PRICE

Nerisse’s price point is even lower than Lina’s, but not by too much. She is the most wallet friendly among the three here.

FABRIC

Nerisse’s son, VJ, got in touch with me and sent me photos of fabric options on Messenger. I picked fabric through messenger communication. This was different from Lina (above) and Sandra (below). I found it more difficult to pick fabric by seeing photos and without seeing fabric on a swatch which allows you to touch and feel the fabric as well. However, that is me. You might not mind. It was actually easy.

SPEED

Since Nerisse is the only one working, it takes a bit longer than Lina. It took her about 4 weeks to make the covers. It ended up being 5 weeks since again the covers did not fit our sofas, so she took them back and made adjustments.

FINAL RESULT

I would say the same thing about her work as Lina’s above. The fit is okay. The fit around the arms are loose, but the sofas look great. The fabric is quite soft and comfortable and most importantly my family likes the look.

LE MAIN DE NERISSE

NER MOBILE : 09154432099
VJ MOBILE : 09452347011

LANDLINE: 02 2839067 / 02 3513610

EMAIL: lemainsdenerisse@gmail.com

Facebook Le Main de Nerisse

3. SEAMSTRESS SANDRA

My friend who had Sandra make her sofa covers referred me to her. I met Sandra a couple of times at my place. She is friendly and professional. In the end I chose someone else because I wanted to be frugal because at the time I had many expenses for having moved to Manila.

I believe Sandra has someone who works for her to do the sewing. I find the craftsmanship of her work high. You can see them yourselves in the photos below.

The end work of my friend’s sofa covers was great as you can see in the photos below. My friend has the same sofas as we do.

PRICE

Sandra’s price point is significantly higher than the two above: about 70% higher. (This figure will fluctuate depending on the fabric type.) However, if you see the end result, it might be something you may find worth investing.

FABRIC

She brought swatches for me to pick fabric from. If I didn’t find anything that I liked, she would send me more with her driver. There was one fabric that I really liked in terms of the color and price, but unfortunately the fabric was no longer available. I found other shades of grey that I liked, but the price was high and it would make final price with labor go out of my budget.

SPEED

Based on the process of my friend’s sofa covers, she did the work very fast. I think it only took my friend a week or maybe 2 at most to receive the sofa covers. The covers fit perfectly at the first trial.

FINAL RESULT

I think that the covers are very well made and fit perfectly.