The Seamstress

There is an area of the Arab souk containing a couple of score tailors'shops and some related suppliers selling thread, braid, ticking, ribbons, buttons etc. Most have a sewing machine but much of the work is done in the traditional manner by hand whilst sitting cross-legged. Maybe half a dozen of the shops are run by young women and they seem to prefer using machines. I generally try to use one of the women's shops if I want alterations for no better reson than latent feminism. (Which is a reason for eating at stall1 in Marrakesh). The pictures are of the alley where the seamstresses I last used have their shop. It is a bit of a back alley and all the stalls are tailors. It is used by the men opposite for winding thread which they attatch to a loop in the wall at one end;  you can see this in the photo to  the right and the old man sewing in the traditional tailor's croosleg sqat to the right. The garments in the womens'shop are typical of the day to day outer clothes worn by women who adopt arab clothing.



Winding thread in the tailors' alley of the Arab Souk Taroudant