Master dressmaker keeps ancient tradition alive

In a small workshop, 68-year-old Liang Yuhua carefully measures a young woman for her wedding dress, a tailor-made qipao or cheongsam, which was once part of many Chinese women's daily wardrobes.

The dressmaker's workshop is decorated with elegant collars and figure-fitting dresses, from delicate long embroidered silk qipao to shorter versions for casual occasions.

"A tailor-made qipao requires more than 200 steps. One careless mistake may seriously affect the progress," she said, adding that measuring the customer is the first step and key to the dressmaking.

Born in 1951, Liang has more than four decades of experience in creating the classic qipao in North China's coastal municipality, Tianjin, where modernity meets tradition.

Tianjin's qipao is usually designed colorfully and with more wearable materials, compared with the Shanghai-style, another popular design, said Liang. The Tianjin-style qipao is listed among the city's intangible cultural heritage.

"For example, we design dresses with lownecks and round collars, as well as warm and wearable hemlines for daily wear," Liang added.

Liang started her career as a seamstress at the age of 20. The first three years of apprenticing laid the foundation for her craftsmanship.

"I began as an assistant of senior masters at a garment factory in Tianjin for years and managed to learn their skills," Liang said.

Tianjin's booming clothes market in the 1980s triggered large orders in the factory that Liang worked for, helping her learn from all the practice.

But during the 1990s, the domestic garment industry stumbled toward a downturn due to a number of foreign fashion designs that gained popularity in the Chinese market.

"I chose to stay in the business even though my colleagues left for other professions," Liang said. "Sewing, cutting and designing have become part of my life."

In 2001, a group photo of leaders wearing Tang suits, a traditional Chinese suit, at an APEC meeting set off a wave of nationwide interest in traditional clothing. Liang then made up her mind to focus her efforts on making qipao.

Based on the first measurement of the client, Liang said the dress's silhouette is cut out of silk and the dressmaker will spend over a month finalizing the details.

Before the garment is completed, the customer will have several fittings to allow the dressmaker to correct the details through elaborate embroidering, sewing, hemming and ironing, among other steps, Liang said.

"It is extremely demanding to sew the half-finished qipao on the mannequin to ensure the dress perfectly fits the client," said Liang.

Liang worries that qipao-making skills are in danger of dying out. Since 2007, she began to take on apprentices to pass down her know-how.

Liang also set up online courses to teach the younger generation the basic skills of making qipao's accessories, such as its collars and buttonhole loops.

"Liang's decades-long work with qipao will not fade nor die," said Jiang Yan, a qipao maker with eight years of tutoring under Liang. "I look up to her craftsmanship and will make it my lifelong career."