bespoke

Amina took me to her tailor’s shop today. The place has no name, unless it’s the only thing painted on the side of the small storage unit-like building: Overt 9:30-12:30.

James, of Four Kinds of Hot, says one of the many difficult adjustments to Niamey is that when you see a store here, it just doesn’t click that what you are looking at is a store. My early, reptilian mind looks for the clues that tell me, “I can buy something there.” Clues like signage, a parking lot, a door; and not seeing any of these things my developed-world early brain decides there is nothing to buy and moves on.

You know it’s a tailor because there are two guys sitting in a the small space, each at a beautifully old-fashioned treadle sewing machine. One guy has an electric Singer sitting on the same small table as the foot-powered one, almost on top of the other machine, if you could put one sewing machine on top of another. One guy is sewing beads onto a child’s tie-dyed shirt–huh? on these machines I think they should only be sewing clothes appropriate for Beatrix Potter– and another guy is doing a very nice job on a man’s dress shirt.

I bought a ton of this great, almost vintage, probably vintage, brown gingham from the Netherlands at Big Boss–you know the owner is French because she waves you in the direction of what you are looking for with a hand trailing the smoke from her cigarette. Her place has a sign, a parking lot and a door, so I know it’s a store, by the way. So I gave the tailor the fabric and a shirt of Stefan’s to use as a pattern. Stefan is going to smell like he like smokes Marlboro lights.

I haven’t gotten my Boden dress yet because they sent it to my pouch street address here, with all the city information for Portland. So I took some white with red dots fabric I got at the Grand Marche for like $3–I mean I bought yards and yards of it for $3, but I think everything should be either white with red dots or brown gingham right now, don’t you?–and the picture of the dress from the website. The guy took three measurements, told me this would all be roughly $12, and to come back next Wednesday. I can’t wait. I asked him if he could do the embroidery shown in the photo and he said yes, he has the right machine and he patted the treadle Singer.