Once upon a time, that is to say over 2 decades ago, I used to buy fabrics and bring them to my tailor’s house. This was a time when there was no Internet so of course I could only buy clothes from brick-and-mortar shops. Like my mother and her sisters, I loved browsing at fabric shops – there were a number in Chinatown and SS2, PJ. It was fun visiting the tailor and looking at her books to choose a design and of course, I could design something myself. I still have some of those clothes although I have long ago not been able to fit into them. They remind me of a time when monthly visits to fabric shops were my favourite things to do.
The last time I bought fabrics was way back in 2006. I bought 3 pieces which have been lying in my wardrobe ever since then because I couldn’t find a tailor. There was one in a housing estate near my home but it closed during the MCO. Then recently I found one in Pearl Point Shopping Mall. It’s a really small shop at the back entrance to the mall. The tailor used to be on the 1st floor next to Popular but she moved downstairs as the mall is renovating the upstairs. I saw her sign that she does alterations so I went in to enquire as I have quite a few culottes that need shortening and trousers that need the elastic waist band changed.
Her prices are a fair bit cheaper than ZA Altera where I used to go for these services. For shortening my culottes, she charges RM15 per piece and for changing the elastic, she charges RM20. These are very reasonable prices so I’ve brought in about 8 or 9 pieces of clothing for alteration/changing elastic.
I asked if she could tailor the fabric for me (I think they can be considered vintage by now) and she agreed. The total cost of tailoring the 3 pieces is RM380 which seems a lot but it’s better than having the fabric sit in my wardrobe forever. I’m so glad I have found this tailor albeit rather late. I did notice her shop before but I always thought she only sold Nyonya clothes as she had mannequins outside the shop draped in Nyonya kebayas. I never knew that she offered alteration and tailoring services.
