Modern Tailor

Several weeks ago, I went to town and bought a bunch of fabric. Nothing new for me, but for once, I wasn't making anything. I was having someone else make something for me! Ahhh. A dream come true.

I took the fabrics home, looked through certain clothing items I love, some that fit fight now and some that don't, washed and dried the fabric, then took my pieces and the fabrics to a tailor in town.

Not all of the city is made up of really crummy ally's like this one. But this is funny, my friend who has been living back here, this round, for 6 years, says it's been under construction those entire six years. Nice. You have to keep close eye out for garbage, holes, re-bar and rubble. I make sure to wear close toe shoes when I make my way into town.

This is the shot standing on the sidewalk, heading into the ally.

Many of the Indian clothing you can buy here, comes "ready made." It has the basic make up the piece, with enough fabric for arms, and a separate piece for pants. This is from Syria, and I love it. It has the greatest floral, wood block printed scarf that goes with it. I'll try it on sometime and show you. I wanted no sleeves on this, so I can wear it with a long sleeve t shirt. I haven't decided on pants yet, but I am thinking brown linen.

Sarri's are sold in 5 meter increments. Another friend and I loved this fabric, but a sarri really isn't wearable for us. (this was five meters for 12 dollars) Although, I hope to buy a really pretty one before I head home some day. Anyway, we had the fabric made into fake wrap around skirts. I think they turned out cute. Still deciding on what to wear on top. And in a church Branch with 8 ladies, we're going to have to call and see who get's to wear hers to church that day.

Mmmm. I love this one. I've worn it's "pattern" skirt to death. This is a bit dressier, but I really love it. And the color.

And this one is my other favorite. I used my beloved beaded skirt for this pattern. It turned out perfect. I love the length, I think I will be having more of these made. I love skirts in the heat. They make everything so much cooler.

I also had a light lavender linen shirt made. It is PERFECT. It covers my hips, my wrists, and is loose fitting. It's perfect with a pair of jeans instead of my abaya. It has the same kind of "Chinese" collar as the Indian 'shirt' at the top of this page, but it's button down. It's really is great. The craftsmanship is pristine. I am so impressed. It took about a month, but I've never owned such a nice, perfectly fitting, piece(s) of clothing. Want to know the total? The making of the pieces was a total of 75 dollars. I spent around that for the fabric. So five pieces, hand made to fit, for 150 dollars, wasn't bad. I think pretty darn good.

And yeah, I did fold all the skirts so they didn't look so ginormica, alright? Poor little tailors couldn't even get their arms around me to measure. Granted, they were REALLY small. But, I mean seriously. It was pretty embarrassing.