Now, here’s where I came into the picture.<\/p>\n
My mom began to rope in the family to help run the business. She trained me to stitch edges of cloths with a sewing machine called a serger. This is the fastest and easiest method to prevent cut edges of fabric from unravelling. But mind you, that serger was of the industrial kind and ran at high speeds. I learned how to feed each piece cloth into the serger where there was a sharp cutter to trim away the rough edges quickly and at the same time some needles would run through the edges to create a finished seam. I was nine years old then.<\/p>\n During peak seasons, e.g. months leading up to Hari Raya Puasa, I also helped out in sewing up entire baju kurungs <\/em>by using the standard sewing machine and hand-stitching for buttons and hems. I didn’t always enjoy the process as a kid but parents kept reminding us that it was all about survival and improving our standard of living. By the way too, my two younger brothers also picked up some sewing skills in their growing up years. My dad’s role was mainly to buy back lunches and dinners and also to do special deliveries when my mom couldn’t meet her deadlines for some of her customers.<\/p>\n After about 20 years into the business, the Malay community in Singapore has relied less on tailors for their traditional costumes as it has become easier and cheaper to buy off the rack. It was about time for my mom to slow down for retirement as well. She still takes in some customers to keep herself occupied – which I think is a good thing as this will keep her brain active in her senior years.<\/p>\n The Home Economics curriculum in secondary schools has seen modifications throughout the years. One significant change is the great reduction or total removal of sewing lessons while cookery lessons survived. This is a pity because sewing is such a useful skill to acquire. I notice that garment alteration services are quite costly nowadays. A simple shortening of the hem for a pair of pants can cost $6-10. Sigh, we do go for such services occasionally because of the lack of a sewing machine at home. Certain fabric such as denim should be machine sewn as it is a tough material. If it is a soft fabric, then I could get the alteration done by hand-stitching. I wish I could inherit my mom’s sewing machines but they are too bulky for storage purposes. Hmm, perhaps it’s time to shop around for small, portable one? :)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I remember we used to have very basic sewing lessons in my secondary school education. Those lessons belonged to the girly subject called Home Economics. The other major component in the subject was cooking. I aced at sewing but fared<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/members.sparedollar.com\/butaflykisses\/serger.jpg\")