It's traditional to have new clothes for hari raya. In my parents' time, it was a big deal because this might be the only time in the year you get new clothes. Now, we mostly keep it up for the kids.
This year, I made quite a few baju raya (hari raya clothes). For some reason, I feel compelled to document my endeavours. I'll give a warning first: "Boring post ahead, many ugly pictures"
First here are 6 sets of baju kurung I made for my friend. She asked me if I'd tailor for her little girls, and I said yes. I spent a lot of time worrying as I was working on these. I worried I'd run out of fabric, that I wouldn't finish in time, that I'd ruin some little girl's hari raya by making some terrible mistake with her baju raya.
In the end, it worked out Ok, and I actualy managed to turn my handiwork into profit. The last time that happened, I was 9 years old, selling origami models to my class mates for 5 sen. My school was a bit strict, so my mother put a stop the enterprise, but it was fun then. It's still fun now.
Next are the ones for my family, in all their unironed glory. They are unironed because I was in a hurry to get a group shot before my newphew's set went home with my sister-in-law. Year after year I tell myself to buy something that doesn't need ironing, but then I go the Kamdar, and hear the siren call of the cottons. I'm a sucker for natural fibres and can't resist the wrinkly stuff.
There's one big one for my brother, one with sparkles for the little lady, two baju melayu for my big guy and my nephew and one inadvertant extra. The little lady's has beading on the neckline (I'll get a close-up when it comes out of the wash). The extra is because I mismeasured my nephew and made his too small. There was extra cloth so I opted to just make another one. I'm not sure what to do with the extra. If you've got a 2-3 year old boy and would like a baju melayu, drop me a comment.
The next one is my current favourite (you can tell by the extra wrinkles). The skirt is linen and the top is Japanese cotton, a really yummy combo.
This last one is a mother daughter set, one for the little lady and one for me.
So there we go, 14 baju kurung, 11 of them finished in the last 3 weeks. Hari raya is a time of forgiveness. So, if any readers made it this far, I beg your forgiveness and wish you grace on this fine day. 'Selamat Hari Raya, Maaf Zahir Batin'.
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