Tailor

The Grand Mall isn't very grand, but has clusters of certain shops, such as bakeries (yum!), sports shops (which don't actually sell sports shorts) and unfashionable women's fashion. One of the clusters though that appears at the very back of the Basement Floor and in the hidden corners on the Top Floor are The Tailors.

All they are are a small glass shop front which reveals a few sewing machines and a few blokes sitting there with material and cotton all around them. We haven't had a need to go there before, but I bought some new trousers for Scott that I saw on sale one day and they were un-hemmed (which is the way most trousers are sold here - un-hemmed and they hem them for you in about five minutes when you have bought them).

So I took down Scott's trousers with a few pins in to show the length they needed to be. I added a pair of pin strip trousers from Primark that I love, but the hems were going on. I also had a pair of trousers that I bought a few years ago in the Next sale (anyone who has been to the Next sale knows you can never try anything on - just buy then and regret later) that were too long and too baggy at the waist and thigh. I had stuck a few pins in these to show where they needed to be taken in, but the Tailor wasn't convinced so he asked me to put them on. They had a minuscule changing room, but that was all that was needed and he pinned them along the thigh and back.

I asked him when I should come back and he looked toward the wall behind me. I looked back expecting to see a calendar, but found only a clock. "Two hours" he said.

Three hours later (I didn't want him to feel rushed), I pop back and all three pairs are ready. My Arabic numbers greater than ten aren't great and so he showed me on the tape measure the amount he was charging me; 35LE

Just tried the trousers on and the hems are great on the first two pairs and the alteration on my Next trousers mean I can finally wear them again!