My Cheongsam Is READY!!!!

Every Chinese New Year, Mom, Por Por (my grandmother) and Kam Mo (my aunt) will be dolled up in new cheongsams (a chinese traditional dress) made by the finest tailor in Ipoh (and some say Alor Star too!!  Hahah)… ie. MY GRANDMOTHER! It’s not easy to find tailors who can sew cheongsams nowadays, what more make the pretty elaborate flower button thingy. Even if you found one, it definitely would NOT be cheap.

It’s an art really! I really can’t sew for nuts… but she did teach me how she sews down the flower thing onto the cheongsam. All I can say is that it’s a pretty tedious process. Not too difficult but tedious. Plus… you need a good eye for design too. Each and every flower design on all the cheongsams she makes is a different one. No two alike. She has tonnes of pattern templates which she hand drew over the years.

In the past, my cheongsams were passed down from my Mumzie, altered to fit me. This round, Por Por decided to make one… no TWO… specially for me. So happily, I went to Kamdar and picked out the nicest piece of cloth it could find (not to mention a super expensive one!!) for the cheongsam. One pastel floral design, and a piece of batik from Terengganu (which so happens to be my Dad’s hometown). So yeah… 2 new cheongsams for me. Yaye. The pastel one is done I think… but the batik… no news.. But for now, just drool over my finished one. Hahahaha…. Don’t be jealous!

Just so you know, my grandmother is not a tailor by profession. She’s a retired teacher, but she has many other skills that will probably put you to shame. Haha… cooking for instance. Most of the things she cooks are her very own recipes. She can taste stuff,  go experiment herself and conjure up some yummy dish. Pretty amazing huh? I definitely can’t do that. If I tried, I’d probably end up with a big pile of mush fit for the dustbin. Hahaha… The older generation have pretty interesting strengths don’t they? As for me, I just rely on the supermarket.