Sewing magic into clothes

Let me ask you a puzzler: who is the most sought-after person in Dhaka during this month of Ramadan? I know without a blink of an eye you would say your tailor, and my-oh-my, are they a busy lot or what?

The wish to wear exclusive, trending outfits during the Eid festivity by both men and women makes tailors the busiest people during Ramadan. There are plenty of ready-made options, yet, as soon as Shab-e-Barat ends, people start to crowd their local tailoring shops. 

Branded shops carry generic designs, whereas, your tailor will give you the exact measurements and designs you fancy; they would even add a few ideas of their own.

Fast fashion, store-bought clothes are all okay, but the Eid panjabi has to be special.  The fresh as daisy white morning dress with distinctive marks of your designing abilities -- one that will set you apart from others -- has to be custom-made. There is a constant need for good tailors because they deliver exclusivity.

The famous men's panjabi and sherwani tailor, Bashir Uddin of New Market, stops taking orders from the first week of Ramadan. Like most other tailors, they are overbooked because traditionalists prefer a bespoke panjabi over store-bought, nonspecific ones. 

Abdul Rob's tailoring shop in Purana Paltan is a tiny room where there is a makeshift double bunk, almost like a bad duplex idea. The lower part has space for the "cutting master", along with stacks of unstitched fabrics. The sound of their machine is the only constant in this stuffy work area where stitching, sewing, and embroidery are all done with clockwork precision.

Even the tailors who set up shop under the canopy of a big tree near a bazaar are busy. Shortening the length of your new jeans or khakis, fixing the rough tear on your old chikankari panjabi, making new bathroom or kitchen curtains, or sewing new household rags and pillow cases -- the chores add on as Eid approaches.

Tailors become like elves from that one fairytale, doing the impossible in the shortest time.  They all work way past midnight, finish their sehri and retire for the day at the break of dawn to start all over from noon. The scenario is the same throughout the city. Deliveries continue until the frenzied last hour of chandraat, the eve of Eid.

Every nook and cranny of Dhaka has stories waiting to be told. "My Dhaka" gives interested writers the platform to share experiences of city life. Only selected stories will make it to our print edition and digital platform. Send your Dhaka story (within 450 words) to [email protected]