So after we made our purchases at the fabric market, Heidi & Eric took us to their favorite tailor where I got to design my own creation. Though I could see what I wanted in my mind it was a whole new experience to try to convey my ideas clear enough through hand gestures and finger pointing to hope I got my intentions across. They had some really old clothing catalogs that I flipped through until I found a page with a jacket similar to what I had in mind. Then I just tried to explain the thngs I wanted left off the jacket and the things I wanted added. He jotted down a few sketches and notes, took my measurements (no I wasn't laying down - I forgot to spin the photo upright) and 2 weeks later I came back and picked up this beautiful, perfectly fitting, just-the-way-I-had-imagined-it, totally Chinese jacket. And best of all it only cost me $30 for the labor and about $10 for the fabric.
Take a good look at the shop in the background. Talk about humble. Not only is this where this couple works 7 days a week from 8 am to 8:30 pm, it is also where they live. Behind me (behind the yellow fabric) is their bed and off to the side of the sewing machine is a very small table that held their rice cooker. It was their dining table as well. I have no idea where their restroom facitilies were... there was no running water into this room. There was fabric stacked up everywhere: orders waiting to be sewn and scraps from orders already made. They were so kind and happy and anxious to figure out what we wanted and accommodate our schedule for getting it done by the time we had to leave. They were in the process of working on a big order of several hundred graduation caps and gowns for some school so they were very kind to have accepted our order.
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