33rd Winter 515AV
“So as you can tell, it’s terribly important that my dress is… something special.”
Amelia nodded sagely. Oh yes, if anyone could appreciate the importance of a dress, it was her. She bristled with envy, but kept her face towards the woman’s skirt to hide her expression. ”Of course. And a wedding! If there’s any reason to have a dress made, it’s that.”
“My son’s wedding.” The woman corrected briskly, but the smile on her plump lips softened the blow. “He’s my oldest, and I must represent the family well.”
”Of course.” The seamstress repeated quietly, her words muffled by the pins she held between her lips. Hoping that silence would blanket their interaction from now on, she continued hemming the skirt line of the woman’s dress. Her customer wanted a high-low dress, with the front length reaching the middle of her shinbones and the back going all the way to the floor. Carefully Amelia inserted the pin horizontally around the hemline of the skirt, which she had previously rolled up.
It was the top of the dress that needed the most work: at the moment it was a simple strapless navy dress, but Amelia’s customer wanted two sheer sleeves added, made of blue chiffon that she had previously purchased from the Silk Palace, as well as a matching chiffon neckline added as well.
After pinning the hemline up, Amelia assisted her client out of the dress. ”It should be ready in two days’ time. But if you wanted to come by tomorrow to see how it’s progressing…”
“No, no, that’s quite alright.” The woman said, waving a dismissive hand before extending it outwards for Amelia to shake. The deal was done, the price and style both confirmed. Upon the older woman leaving, Amelia set to work. She had taken her client’s measurements; the arm lengths, the width of the woman’s shoulders, even the circumference of her neck. All were tools that Amelia would use to hopefully create the ideal dress.
Material was gathered, scissors and needles were organised. Amelia was a true believer of the phrase clean desk, clean mind, and that a clean mind led to efficient and high quality work.
Finally, she began.
It started with the careful measurement of the chiffon. Adding an inch either side to the woman’s arm length, Amelia snipped a swath of the material into two narrow strips. She rolled these into long tubes, holding the ends of the material together with more pins.
As chiffon was such light and transparent material, a narrow needle and the thinnest cotton available would have to be used. Likewise, she would need to use short stitches rather than long, easily noticeable ones. A backstitch would be fine, and would also ensure that the chiffon - a material that was prone to stretching - would not be disfigured through general wear.
Amelia began the sewing by bringing her needle through the reverse of the long end of the two pieces of material. Pushing the needle back through resulted in a single stitch to be made in the chiffon, and Amelia added another repeating this process. Needle bought through, bought backwards and pulled to the other side. A backstitch. Simple, but effective, and if Amelia did a good job there would appear to be a seamless row of stitches.
She kept her hands steady and paused frequently to avoid hand cramp.
“So as you can tell, it’s terribly important that my dress is… something special.”
Amelia nodded sagely. Oh yes, if anyone could appreciate the importance of a dress, it was her. She bristled with envy, but kept her face towards the woman’s skirt to hide her expression. ”Of course. And a wedding! If there’s any reason to have a dress made, it’s that.”
“My son’s wedding.” The woman corrected briskly, but the smile on her plump lips softened the blow. “He’s my oldest, and I must represent the family well.”
”Of course.” The seamstress repeated quietly, her words muffled by the pins she held between her lips. Hoping that silence would blanket their interaction from now on, she continued hemming the skirt line of the woman’s dress. Her customer wanted a high-low dress, with the front length reaching the middle of her shinbones and the back going all the way to the floor. Carefully Amelia inserted the pin horizontally around the hemline of the skirt, which she had previously rolled up.
It was the top of the dress that needed the most work: at the moment it was a simple strapless navy dress, but Amelia’s customer wanted two sheer sleeves added, made of blue chiffon that she had previously purchased from the Silk Palace, as well as a matching chiffon neckline added as well.
After pinning the hemline up, Amelia assisted her client out of the dress. ”It should be ready in two days’ time. But if you wanted to come by tomorrow to see how it’s progressing…”
“No, no, that’s quite alright.” The woman said, waving a dismissive hand before extending it outwards for Amelia to shake. The deal was done, the price and style both confirmed. Upon the older woman leaving, Amelia set to work. She had taken her client’s measurements; the arm lengths, the width of the woman’s shoulders, even the circumference of her neck. All were tools that Amelia would use to hopefully create the ideal dress.
Material was gathered, scissors and needles were organised. Amelia was a true believer of the phrase clean desk, clean mind, and that a clean mind led to efficient and high quality work.
Finally, she began.
It started with the careful measurement of the chiffon. Adding an inch either side to the woman’s arm length, Amelia snipped a swath of the material into two narrow strips. She rolled these into long tubes, holding the ends of the material together with more pins.
As chiffon was such light and transparent material, a narrow needle and the thinnest cotton available would have to be used. Likewise, she would need to use short stitches rather than long, easily noticeable ones. A backstitch would be fine, and would also ensure that the chiffon - a material that was prone to stretching - would not be disfigured through general wear.
Amelia began the sewing by bringing her needle through the reverse of the long end of the two pieces of material. Pushing the needle back through resulted in a single stitch to be made in the chiffon, and Amelia added another repeating this process. Needle bought through, bought backwards and pulled to the other side. A backstitch. Simple, but effective, and if Amelia did a good job there would appear to be a seamless row of stitches.
She kept her hands steady and paused frequently to avoid hand cramp.
