Tailor Makes House Calls

February 29, 2008

I have wanted clothes made in this country the entire time I've been here. It took me up until this week to actually take the fabric I bought months ago to a tailor. There is a tailor on almost every street of Dakar. So, I took my fabric to the tailor across the street from my friend Anna's house. I wanted two full outfits made and an additional skirt. I dropped off my fabric, he took my measurements, and we sketched out how I wanted everything to look. Within a day and a half he had one of the skirts and one of the outfits made and ready for me to try-on. They of course needed to alterations done, so I gave them back and he finished them by the end of the day. With the other outfit, he gave it to me and told me to go try it on at Anna's apartment. He said if there was something not right with them, just to holler out the window. So I did, and they weren't right, so we called out the window to him. He came up to the apartment and pinned what needed to be fixed and then took the clothes back down to his shop with him. Later in the day, he sent his son up with the finished clothes. So fast, and also quite cheap. A few days later I had three skirts made, he did them in just a few hours, and it cost me $8.