KUCHING: Not everyone is cut out to be a tailor and the few who do go into the business can expect a challenging time to get to be a cut above the rest given the horde of tailor shops especially here in the city.
Nevertheless, being in the business can be lucrative especially during the special occasions and festivities such as Hari Raya.
Maryani Amat, 45, who is the owner of D’aryani Tailor has been in the tailoring business for over 12 years.
Tailoring piqued her interest back when she could not afford to make clothes for Hari Raya as she has a large family.
“From there, little by little, I started to learn the art of tailoring. Along the line, I started to go deeper into the craft.
“From making clothes for my family, I now offer this service to my customers,” she said.
Like any other business, there have been ups and downs and the COVID-19 pandemic only made matters a whole lot more difficult.
“It is undeniable that due to the pandemic, there were various challenges like, for instance, in this line of business, we are required to take the body measurements of our customers.
“Due to the standard operating procedures (SOPs) enforced, we could not do so, hence, there were not many orders for custom made clothes but alhamdulillah, there were some who ordered custom made clothes relying on the measurement of their ready made clothes.
“Aside from that, due to the lockdown, it was quite hard to find sewing equipment as all the shops were closed and on top of that I had to complete my orders on time,” she said.
She added that as the SOPs now are much more relaxed, her business is also starting to get back to normal and had received multiple orders in conjunction with the Hari Raya celebration.
As a home-based tailor, Maryani stated that there is not much difference between her kind of business and those who have physical shops.
“The only major difference is that home-based tailors are always available and are ready to offer our services at any time compared to shops that have closing time.
“Furthermore, in my business, I also offer services such as personally going to the customers’ homes to take their measurements. However, there will be additional charges for such a service,” she said.
Sharing further on the services offered, she said that most of the orders she received are to make baju kurung, baju kurung modern, kebaya, baju melayu, robes, and many more.
“These custom made clothes are based on the customer’s requests and preferences. That is why sometimes I also receive orders to make wedding outfits and embroideries.
“Of course the prices for each custom made clothing follows the designs requested by the customers. Usually, the cot of adult sizes clothing starts from RM48 while children sizes start from RM35 onwards,” she added.
She said that she took around 50 custom made orders from her customers for the Hari Raya festivity which is just round the corner.
Meanwhile, another tailor business venturer, Nur Azlina, the founder of Mini Naaw Atelier shared that her shop too faced challenges during the pandemic.
The fashion design graduate has been taking orders as a side income since her student years back in 2017.
“As it has been my dream to own my own business, I started Mini Naaw Atelier right after I graduated. With the ongoing pandemic at that time – since I started my business in Jan 2021 – I had fewer customers.
“However, as we are moving towards the endemic phase, my orders have been growing. I have had more clients, especially in the first half of the year as there are many celebrations during this period,” she said, adding that her business provides bespoke, custom and tailoring services.
Similar to Maryani, Azlina too faces challenges even though her business is fairly new.
“There was a period where I had no orders at all and that made me worried about the future of my business.
“That’s when I decided to release a limited edition ready-to-wear collection in December 2021, which was a great success and we sold out within a week.
“Since then, we have been receiving more orders. On top of that, with the Hari Raya celebration just round the corner, I opened orders to make all kinds of designs requested by my clients, such as baju kurung, modern kurung, kebaya, jubah and more,” she said, adding that she has been taking Hari Raya orders since November last year up to February this year while some of her clients had booked a slot even earlier.
For a simple baju kurung, the 24-year-old tailor said, it will only take around a day to finish a pair while a more detailed dress could take her up to a week or two to finish.
She stated that during the month of Ramadan this year, she took 10 to 15 garment orders from her customers.
“This is because most of the orders received this year are bespoke, which take more time to complete compared to normal tailoring services.
“Of course there is no specific amount charged for all of the services that we provide as this varies with the orders.
“At times, we would work around the customers’ budget as some clients have big budgets while some don’t,” she explained.
When asked about the most difficult design she ever made, she shared that in January last year, she had a client who wanted a wedding dress to be done within three days.
“It was a challenge to complete the dress, especially when she wanted simple beading too. Three days are definitely a big risk to make a wedding dress.
“As it is for a special occasion, dress fitting must be done to make sure it fits her perfectly. Luckily, I was able to finish the dress in time and the bride loved it,” she recalled.
Being in this tailoring business, both Maryani and Azlina advised their peers to never give up and to always strive for the best to achieve what they want to achieve.
“However, no matter how much success you achieve, stay humble and keep working hard to achieve higher goals.
“Never be afraid to try out new ideas and don’t let negative comments affect you and your business,” they added.
