Dressmaker sees demand pop ahead of Diwali as P.E.I. Indian community grows

It's a celebration of light — and also of colour.

Eccentric sweets, fireworks and many-coloured lights and candles are some of the essential traditions of Diwali, the five-day "festival of lights" celebrated by South Asian people all across the world.

But during P.E.I.'s celebrations this year, Amanpreet Kaur's eyes will be focusing elsewhere: on the clothes.

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"Red is common colour... a bright colour, red and pink," she said. "Diwali is a big festival so everyone need bright colours."

Kaur has been stitching since she was a teenager growing up in northern India. She worked as a seamstress there for almost a decade before moving to Prince Edward Island with her family seven years ago.

Three years ago, she once again started making a living out of her craft. Kaur's Boutique has been serving people from the local Indian community who want to dress to impress at weddings, proms, festivals and other big events.

Kaur runs her store out of a little cranny in her Stratford home's basement.

"Starting it was a little slow ... but now, day by day and as the time grows, it's getting very busy," said Savneet Singh, Kaur's husband. "She is now full-time busy, with lots of people coming to buy dresses."

For the last few weeks, Kaur has been busy preparing for Diwali, the largest holiday of the year for communities including Hindus, Jains and Sikhs.

This year, the biggest celebrations will fall on Nov. 18.  That night, the P.E.I. Hindu Society will host a dinner for more than 200 people in Charlottetown.

Each dress takes a day or two

The Island's only gurdwara or Sikh house of worship will also be holding some festivities on Sunday. Those Diwali celebrations will coincide with Bandi Chhor Divas, another Sikh holiday.

"They need the dresses, jewellery and I am working like eight hours every day," Kaur said. "From roll fabric, if we start cutting and stitching, finishing everything [for a dress] take like whole day, maybe two days."

Golden dresses are pretty popular, and so are greens, reds and pinks. Kaur herself prefers light pinks. "Not too sharp," she said.

Kaur said she must keep abreast of the latest trends in Indian fashion, which can be a bit difficult. "Alia-cut" dresses with gathers at the front are in at the moment, and she's also seeing some pearl-work, and lots of sequins.

"Every two, three months or six months, fashion is changed here," Kaur said.

A growing community

Diwali is not the only festival that's kept her busy this year.

"In August, different Indian culture from Kerala side, they have festival, its name is Onam... I stitched lots of blouses they wear with sari," Kaur said.

"Last week, also a festival. People came in Karwa Chauth [where] women wear dresses, Indian, like sari or lehenga. They make a whole-day fast, and in the evening they [wear] Indian-culture dresses."

Singh said that as the local South Asian community in P.E.I. continues to grow, there are more events — and more reasons to dress up in the appropriate attire.

"We got feedback from our customers. It's very hard to find people doing the seamstress as well as the Indian dresses," he said.

"Their needs were different.... We deal with Indian cultural dresses, so they're very pleased when they come here and buy stuff."

'So happy'

Work continues to pile up — so much so that Kaur said she will soon be looking to hire another person to help out.

That may come in particularly handy when she multitasks to take care of a 12-year-old and a six-year-old after school.

"They come here, they play and they hug her while she's working at her workshop, and it gives more entertainment to them," Singh said.

But for the moment, the family itself has some celebrating to do.

Kaur said they'll be at the gurdwara on Sunday. There will be candles and singing — and maybe more than a handful of people wearing her outfits.

"I am feeling happy [when I see them]," she said. "They are also so happy if they need a dress on that spot because they are not expecting [they] can get dress on P.E.I."