Sewing at Home for the Siblings

 

In the 1940's my father's sisters had to make their own clothes. Aunty Chiew Sieng being the most capable seamstress spent a lot of time sewing with the family sewing machine making underwear, pajamas, and school frocks for the growing girls. The boys too needed clothes.

She remembers making six or seven dresses for the girls from a whole bale of floral materials. The textile came from China and Grandfather would think that buying the very fine European textiles would be too extravagant!! Those printed cloth from China was called Chu Buoh (or rough cotton) which required ironing.

Dresses made by Aunty Pick. Cloth was bought by the bale.

Aunt Chiew made pretty frocks for the girls, some with nice collars and sleeves. 

She remembers that before the war, Mrs. Hoover would want the girls in the Yuk Ing school to wear cotton samfoo. On Sundays some girls would wear white frocks. It really depended on the family background of the girls what they would wear to school or to church. So family seamstresses were very important in those days. The girls had to learn how to sew by hand and use sewing machines.

After Aunty Chiew went to Singapore to study, the sewing task fell upon Aunty Pick who starting sewing for the family from the young age of 11. She was to tell us at a family reunion that she did not go to tailoring school. To start making clothes, she took a dress , put it on top of the material and started cutting. She became the best dress maker I ever known in my life. Aunt Pick made clothes for all her siblings until she left to study in Australia. 

By all accounts, at their marriageable age, every Foochow girl would probably be able to make every clothing item, some even able to make western trousers.

In the 1950's, my Aunt Hung Yung my mother's youngest sister, was a good seamstress and in fact she went for a dress making course in Singapore apart from gaining extra two years of secondary school education after her Chung Cheng junior level. My grandmother was most happy with her achievement. Besides she was also very pretty and well sought after as a bride. The man whom she chose to marry was really a very lucky man.

Besides being a teacher, she sewed a lot of clothes for her children and relatives in Nang Chong. Her sewing machine seldom had a rest!

She told us that she made plenty of clothes for every one from simple under wear to beautiful gowns. she must have made a few brides maids' gowns. Her siblings were lucky to have her as a home tailor. She was at her sewing machine during the holidays sewing for every one. Pajamas were the most popular items she sewed. 

A lot of clothes were also mended, using the sewing machine. Nothing was wasted. A torn pair of cotton trousers could be made into a simple blouse for a small girl if patching could not longer be done.

In those days relatives and friends who attended funerals would get one piece of red cloth and a piece of calico (belachu , beige) cloth in return for their kind cash token (gift called white gold). These cloth, at the length of Two Chien (less than 2 yards) were often used to make sarongs, towels, baby carriers, pillow cases and underwear. The materials were very hardy and could be worn and washed for many years!!

Grandma would buy cotton material or choo  buoh (rough material or textile) by the bales whenever she went to sell rubber sheets in Sibu town. Grandma as the matriarch of the family was the manager of the rubber smoke house so she decided when to sell the rubber sheets to the middle man.

this occasion of selling the rubber sheets by the boat loads was called Chuk Sai in Foochow. And it had a great festive atmosphere for one or two days. Every able bodied man would come to tie up the rubber sheets in bales and carry them to the waiting motor launch.

After receiving the payments for the rubber sheets, grandma would go shopping in Sibu. She would buy, for example pajama materials were called yew leu (lined patterns) and the girls would get little frocks made from chuong diu ( cotton).