Up close with: Amnesty Ding of Pretty Cool DIY Denims

In one of my previous inspiration Picks, I shared dyed diy denims, made by Amnesty Ding of Pretty Cool DIY Denims. Seeing how inspired she is in fashion and crafts, I decided to seek her out and ask her if she can share her thoughts with The Artsy Craftsy readers. Here's what Amnesty has to say:


Tell me about yourself and where you are from?

Just a simple Business graduate from a small town called Sitiawan, Perak, Malaysia. I moved to Kuala Lumpur when I was 18 years old; it has been 7 years now.

What’s your type of craft?

I revamped all sorts of denim, mostly jeans and shorts including jackets and vest From time to time, I would do different types of craft like keychains, bracelet and canvas shoes.

When did you start and why? 

It started on June 2012 during my semester break and I was looking for something to fill up my spare time JOmbre was trending then from TOPSHOP but the price was way too expensive for a pair of shorts! There and then came the idea where I thought, "Why don’t I just do it myself?" I got advise from friends which then led me to start my Facebook page

How did you promote yourself as a Crafter?

I wanted the support to be organic, therefore I did not do much advertising or asking random people to like my page; I wanted for those who liked my page to truly appreciate my work J I promote myself as a crafter through my designs and quality of work.

Any meaning behind your unique biz name?

It started of as Pretty Cool DIY Denim- derived from my thoughts, pretty spontaneous though, like DIY denim is pretty cool, hence the name. But I decided to change it to just my initial of my name. Now it is known as AMN'D.S; The DIY is taking a different approach now and I guess shorter name would be better for a branding J

What’s your favourite style, colour or pattern?

I love red and black! When I first started out, a lot of my designs consist different tones of red, but I start exploring different colours and designs to suit others. JAs for patterns, tribal is definitely my favorite and my best sellers too. It’s like my signature for DIY.

What do you love about yourself?

I guess what I love about myself is I am able to turn something plain into something different but I love my supporters more because they are the reason that keeps my passion going.

What/Who are your inspirations?

I don’t have a particular person, but I enjoy visitng sites like Pinterest or sometimes just Google to see how other crafters create their work. Just amazing!

What are your other interests/hobbies you balance with your biz

My other interests is definitely fashion, and it gels well with my business because I love DIY shorts myself and my style evolves around that. It is now a big part of me now.

Where do you see yourself next in biz in 2 years time?

I don’t know where would it bring me to in the next two years, perhaps more people would know my work; perhaps that is my real purpose from the time I started until now. I want to be able to share my work with more and more people. Amn’d.s have a business partner now, and we are planning to expand!

What are your significant memories so far from this experience?

There are many significant memories from my DIY projects, but I guess the most memorable ones are having a female fans leaving me a message on Facebook to tell me that they recognize my work from another blogshop, and the owner of the blog claimed my work as their own. The amazing thing is, these nice people recognized my designs in one glance!

Have you participated in any events/competitions?

I have participated in two events before so far, due to busy schedule; one is a culture run when I first started out and the other is an event called Art of Speed Malaysia 2013. As for competitions, I joined Kendall & Kylie’s DIY contest on Instagram and came out first and the most recent one would be the denim contest for Selfridges & Co London where my work was chosen to be one of the main image to appear on their window J

Got an inspiring advice or tip to share?

I never thought I would come this far with my work. When I first started out, there was a lot of trials and errors along the way, but I never give up in doing what I love most! Enjoy what you do, and do what you love. DIY doesn’t require real talent, DIY requires a true heart and passion to produce amazing results.

Thank you Amnesty for being an inspiration to all crafty-ladies out there!
*Photos courtesy of Amnesty Ding
*Photos have been edited to meet blog post requirements