Sewing has been a passion for Zinaida Zavalna since childhood. She began by making soft toys by hand, then learned to use a sewing machine and moved on to more complex items. At one point, she decided to try sewing a wigwam, a small fabric play tent for children. The result was successful, and it inspired her to continue developing her skills.
She learned through online tutorials, gradually collected patterns, and before long had built up a portfolio of wigwams. Over time, customers began asking her to sew bed linen as well, and her range of products continued to expand.
“I created a social media page and started posting photos of my work, and clients began reaching out to me. That was incredibly motivating at the early stage,” Zinaida recalls about the beginning of her business journey.
In the spring, she took part in a business training programme aimed at strengthening the economic independence of women from military and veteran families in the Khmelnytskyi and Lviv regions. The programme was implemented as part of the project “Women, Peace, Security: Acting Together” by the Ukrainian Women’s Fund, with financial support from the British Government and the involvement of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration and the Office of the Government Commissioner for Gender Policy.
“All the tasks were interesting to me, and I could stay up late into the night working on them. Through the programme, I learned a great deal of new and practical things for running a business. I developed a business plan; it was challenging, but I managed to do it,” Zinaida says.
Following the training programme, Zinaida applied for a grant. With the grant funds, she purchased an embroidery machine, a sewing machine, an overlock machine, a cutting table, fabric shelving, and designed signage for her workshop.
As a child, Zinaida’s brother affectionately called her Zizi. She chose this name for her sewing studio. In his memory, a portrait of her brother hangs in the workshop.
“I rented a lovely space in the city centre and now run both an open workshop and a shop at the same time, working on the ‘open kitchen’ principle. It’s very convenient: visitors can view the designs, select fabrics, and even watch me sew. Everything is open. I had always dreamed of owning an embroidery machine, and now I have one. I can embroider babies’ names on blankets, which is very popular, as customers value personalised items made especially for them. The support of my family and friends came at exactly the right moment, and today my business has become my place of strength,” Zinaida shares.
Zinaida receives orders both in person at her studio and online. Ahead of the holidays, customer enquiries have increased. Her plans include hiring an assistant, expanding her product range, and creating a website that allows customers to explore everything Zizi has to offer.