Chen Liyun makes qipao at her studio. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

Chen Liyun, a qipao maker in Rugao, Nantong, East China's Jiangsu province, has been tailoring dresses for nearly 40 years.

"The longer I learned to make qipao, the more attracted I become to the elegant dress," said Chen, who started learning how to make qipao in Beijing when she was 18.

The dressmaker noted that different kinds of fabrics, patterns on the fabric, and pankou (cloth buttons usually made into the shape of flowers by silk thread and copper wire) have different meanings.

Different matches will produce different effects, but they all make Chinese women appear elegant and dignified, Chen added.

Qipao made by Chen Liyun. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

Chen said, "The moment I fell in love with qipao, I began dreaming of making different styles of the dress."

On her display shelf hangs a mid-long qipao made out of blue calico (untreated cotton, often used for wrapping, tablecloths and bedsheets), a dress that fulfills her dream.

"I talked more with my friends in Nantong," noted Chen, "From my friends working at the Nantong Museum, I learned about blue calico, a national intangible cultural heritage item in Nantong.

"With elegant and symbolic patterns, there is no need to add embroidery to blue calico and the fabric is good enough to make qipao directly, noted the dressmaker.

Blue calico-made qipao has become a hit at Chen's studio.

To attract more customers, Chen also made some changes to the traditional qipao to make it more comfortable and easy to match.