Tailors in Bauchi have expressed concern over the low patronage ahead of the Christmas and New Year celebrations.

Some of the tailors, who spoke on Thursday in a separate interview with journalists, described the situation as discouraging.

A tailor, Abiodun Ridwan, said patronage was lower than the previous Christmas.

 He said most families couldn’t afford new dresses for their children because of the high cost of fabric and sewing materials.

Mr Ridwan said the trend resulted in a significant increase in the charge for sewing a dress to about N10,000, up from N5,000 last season.

Another tailor, Daniel Michael, said the situation had forced him to diversify and retail ready-made wedding gowns to stay afloat.  

“I switched to sewing wedding gowns, and I still have plenty of orders. Presently, it’s unlike the festive season that used to be a period for orders in tailoring, but people are not ordering new clothes for the Christmas like before,” he said.

He attributed the poor patronage to the country’s current economic challenges.

Regarding the exorbitant tailoring charge, Mr Michael said that the size and style of a dress determine its price, adding that most customers now have a strong preference for ready-made clothes.

He said the prices of sewing had skyrocketed, with Duchess and Cashmere sold at N2,500 each, up from N1,800 and N2,000, respectively.

Corroborating Mr Michael, Simon Samuel said he had not recorded good sales this season due to low patronage.

He said that he now had few customers and planned to close his shop soon.

“Most families are not financially buoyant; therefore, they couldn’t afford new dresses to celebrate the season,” he said.

However, Adenike Rahman said she was enjoying good patronage.

Ms Rahman said she had stopped collecting more work so she could deliver to customers.

“I stopped collecting clothes for sewing last month. I’m working to ensure that all the dresses are ready before Christmas,” she said.

(NAN)