Dress for Success and Snow

by **Rosela** on December 20th, 2012, 9:18 pm

Timestamp: 2nd – 4th of Winter, 512AV

Founding Day had been an interesting time the night before, though she still maintained that these Rivarians simply didn’t know how to truly party. She’d gone home fairly late, but was still up with the sun to trudge down and open the shop and earn her pay.

There was a flutter in her stomach at the thought of mizas, and the knowledge that she finally had some. Her hard work last season had paid off and even now, she could easily cry at the memory of her bag of mizas in her little ram-shackle cottage. There were so, so many things she wanted to spend it on, a better hearth high on the list, but at the very top was her winter clothing. After surviving the autumn in her dress, she’d finally given up and promised herself a new outfit for the winter. She had it exactly in mind, and was going to be paying herself to do it.

After opening up and settling in behind her desk, she pulled out her design paper and pencils. She sketched a female figure out on a design paper, adding six arms with a smirk of satisfaction. With a furtive glance around, she erased the bust and redrew it slightly larger.

Forcing herself to get down to business, she drew a long shirt, form fitting, and coming down over the hips. At first she drew a standard neckline and six fitted sleeves, but erased all of those lines as too dull a style. She was representing her shop! Plain clothes were simply out of the question. As much as she wanted folds and linen to remind her of Eyktol, the time was coming to move past them. She’d be working with white wool here, she decided on a whim, and drew a meandering neckline from the neck to the side of one shoulder. It may have been winter, but any real chill would be outside, where her cloak would cover everything.

The sleeves remained, still vexing her. She needed movement, so they either needed to be not there, which was out of the question, or extremely loose. One long, curved line crossed all three sets of wrists, making a long, flapping sleeve. She copied it on the other side, and pursed her lips. Imagining pushing against the fabric while measuring a faceless customer, she added an open line along the bottom of each sleeve and three, tiny buttons. It was very flowing, and reminded her of the loose, long clothing so common with the women of the city.

She erased the inside lines of her arms, seeing more accurately what she’d look like in the shirt. Not bad, overall, but it was still very plain. She started to make dots along the bottom hem, imagining it covered in sequins. She’d sparkle for the entire season, and would be an excellent way to draw attention to herself. Riverfall was so plain, and she guaranteed no one in town had the nerve to swear something so bold.

After a second thought, she erased the dots, biting a nail. She wanted to draw attention, but a mass of sequins were a bit much. An aimless doodle as she fluttered her pencil around gave her an idea and she trailed long vines around the base of the shirt and the sleeve ends. As an added bonus, she grabbed the red pencil and went over the lines and leaves with it. It would tie in well with her hair, but they made the overall effect very autumn-y. There was one thing she’d come to know that made everything look warm and winter-ready.

Fur.

Scribbling lightly, she added a black fur lining to the neckline and sleeve hems. There was a moment where she nearly went back and made them thicker, but stopped herself. It was perfect.

by **Rosela** on December 20th, 2012, 9:21 pm

She moved to a corner of the paper to work on the pants. Sketching out a pair of legs, she wrapped them in long, flowing lines of very loose pants, cinched at the bottom. Cute, and likely similar to what everyone else would be wearing, but not warm enough. All that extra space would just fill with cold air. Moving to the bottom corner of the paper, she drew out another pair of legs and paused. Warmth and style would be the words here, and she had a strong desire to work with fur again. Not because she enjoyed physically working with it – it was a pain to sew – but because the fur of the top might look out of place if not repeated somewhere.

Lengths of fur wrapped themselves around the sketched calves, and she filled them with white pencil. The white fur she had left in her storage wasn’t as blinding white as the wool top would be, but it would be fine. Too much white that low on the body would look odd.

The rest of the pants couldn’t be solid fur though, not without looking like a snow beast from the waist down. Drumming her pencil on the desk, Rosela bit a nail. They couldn’t be too loose, since she’d return to the problem of the previous design, and they couldn’t be too tight because…well, because nobody else in Riverfall would dress that way. It wasn’t the same as the sequins – tight pants weren’t exactly high on the shocker scale – it was a simple matter of style. Loose and functional were the way to go in Riverfall.

The question was, did she want to go the Riverfall way?

Experimentally, she filled in the legs with black, adding no extra lines, indicating skin tight leggings. It didn’t look that half bad. She’d have to experiment with fabrics to make sure something that tight didn’t chafe. Cotton would be the most comfortable, but wool would be the warmest. If only she could create some custom fabric that incorporated both qualities... She’d never wanted an in-house weaver more badly.

In any case, the pants were just what the outfit, and she, needed. Refocusing on the sketch with the shirt, she filled in her fur lined pants underneath, and a pair of small, black blocks where the bottoms of her boots would be. Now that was an outfit worthy of the owner of the hottest clothing store in Riverfall. She’d never seen anything quite like it in either Riverfall or Ahnatep, but it still worked fabulously. Picking up her red pencil again, she drew in hair and streaked it with red, happy to see the whole design come together.

She nodded in satisfaction just as a customer pushed through the door. Shoving the paper under another, she slid to her feet.

”Hi there, welcome to Red Diamond Fashions….”

by **Rosela** on December 20th, 2012, 9:26 pm

The customer was quickly squared away with a couple off the shelf shirts, and Rosela was back to her design. She picked up a pencil instinctively, but tapped it against the desk as she picked up the paper. There didn’t seem to be anything she could add. She lamented her winter boots didn’t have a little more heel on them, but banished the thought. It would be her first snowy winter, and she wanted to be secure while walking. Tripping honestly could be a way to meet a man, but tripping over your own footwear was just embarrassing.

From the back, she brought her bolt of white wool and an embroidery needle and red thread. She picked up the thin roll of black night lion fur, but put it down to get later. It was so luxurious and lovely, she’d been afraid to use it as extensively as she could have. This would only require a little bit of the edge, but she always felt like she should charge more for it. In any case, the embroidery would take long enough, and the trim would have to go on after it.

Despite owning her own shop, Rosela didn’t actually know her own measurements. She knew the approximates, in order to buy clothing, but making something for herself, particularly the pants, would require something more exact. One eye in the mirror, pencil and paper in one pair of hands, measuring tape in another pair, she began to measure the necessaries: shoulder to wrist, shoulder breadth, chest, waist, hips, etc.

A pair of Akalaks paused to looked in as she put her foot up on the measuring box to measure her thighs through her skirt. She tried not to laugh as she did it, but a smile twitched at her lips as the pair of them nearly ran into an elderly Akalak as they stared inside. Looking down at the tape measure, she immediately frowned and the men were driven from her mind. How had she managed to lose that much weight? Granted, she’d eaten a lot less than she was used to in Ahnatep, for nearly the entire fall season. Measuring it quickly again, she stared at the tape measure. Forcing herself to move past it, she measured her knees, calves and ankles, ending with an awkward measurements of her outside length and inseam.

Measurement paper filled, she wrote her name at the top and put it under her pincushion on the desk. The hardest part was over, at least until it came time for the embroidery.

Pulling her pattern board out from under the desk, she pinned a length of wool to it and started cutting. She didn’t have a preset pattern for this style shirt, so parts of it, especially the neckline and sleeves, were guesswork. Each piece was laid in a line on the desk as she finished it: sleeves, front panel, and back panel.

Folding and pinning was next, and she snipped here and there to keep it to her own measurements. The sleeves seemed overly large as she pinned them to the front and back panels, and added extra pins to the bottom of each sleeve where the buttons would go.

Sighing deeply, she picked it up off the desk and settled into her chair. Whipstitches would be the order of the day, a quarter of an inch, along all of the seams. She started on the seams between the front and back panels, popping the pins back into her pincushion as she went. She sewed a few inches along the armpit of the sleeves as well, to prevent drafts.

After several bells, and two customers blowing in with the cold, Rosela flapped the shirt and took a look at it. Even though it was inside out, the shape of it looked good, though she wasn’t so sure about the bust. She might have to put a few darts in the side to make it bigger.

She briefly considered skipping the hems, since she’d be adding the fur trim anyway, but went with it after a deep sigh. Of all pieces to skimp on, she shouldn’t cut corners on her own clothing.

She pinned the hems back and worked through them with a herringbone stitch, the fabric being too heavy for a usual slip stitch. Slip stitches were her favorite because they were completely invisible, but the texture of the wool would hide the tiny horizontal stitches on the front. In and out she went with the hem, attempting to keep the lopsided X’s of the herringbone consistent throughout.

by **Rosela** on December 20th, 2012, 9:29 pm

Just as she finished the hem, an Akontak woman came in, and Rosela made a successful sale on two wool shirts with beautiful white and silver accents that offset her cobalt skin nicely. As she left, Rosela lamented there weren’t more Akontaks in the world. All that lovely white hair looked so fabulous against so much blue.

The only pins left in the shirt were where the buttons would go, and she scurried to the back to snatch up a few little white buttons. She sewed them on quickly enough, and painstakingly ran through the buttonholes. Going over the layering in her head, she turned the shirt right side out. Even before embroidery, she had to fit it and make sure it fit. Fitting next, then embroidery, and lastly the fur.

It was nearly the end of the day, so she waited until she closed and she went in the back to try it on. Goosebumps skittered over her skin as she pulled off the top of her dress, but the wool seemed to warm her on contact. Pulling the bottom over her dress she slipped back out to the front to look in the mirror.

Not bad.

She kept her arms together since the buttons weren’t hooked up, but overall the effect was very nice. She’d measured well, and the overall fit was quite comfortable. Turning this way and that, she pinched the fabric on either side of her bust into a makeshift dart. That was much better, and allowed for a subtle emphasis. She grabbed a few pins with a spare hand and fitted them in awkwardly, trying not to stick herself.

The neckline was the most unique part, she felt, and she fiddled with it. It was plain, and she was glad she’d be adding the fur later.

Back in the work room, she slipped it off again, minding the pins and keeping it inside out. There was a brief mental debate as to whether she should drop it and work on it the next day, but the thought of going home to her cold house made her decide to finish at least the darts that day.

The darts went quickly, with twin lines of herringbone stitches on each site. She’d threaded two needles and worked through them with two different hands. Even moving slightly slower to coordinate both hands, both lines were done in a matter of chimes. Knotting off the end proved too difficult to do with two separate hands, and she had to tie them one at a time. After that, there was no reason to put off going home, and she left.

by **Rosela** on December 20th, 2012, 9:31 pm

Rosela shivered all the way to the shop the next day, and resolved not to leave until she had her winter clothes. She hadn’t actually calculated how much the outfit would be yet, but since she’d be getting it back in her seasonal wages, it didn’t bother her too much.

As usual, the morning was cold even inside, and she contemplated just putting the shirt on over her dress, but kept it off and threaded her embroidery needle instead.

With painstaking patience, Rosela outlined the vines and leaves with chain stitches, stopping often to switch hands and massage her cramped neck. It was nearly lunch before she was done with even the outlines, stopping a couple times for customers: a lean, older Akalak, a Konti, and a human man. Renewing her vow to finish the outfit before she left for the day, she stretched again and added straight stitches to the middle of all the leaves.

Almost there, she told herself, and tried not to look at the fading sun outside. Padded satin stitches would finish up the leaves, and she forced herself not to rush through them. A couple needed to be pulled out and redone, but she cracked her shoulders and kept on it.

She knew the evening bell would sound any minute when she finally knotted the last thread and snipped the thread with her teeth. Flexing her fingers, there was no small amount of relish as they cracked loudly. Last step, the fur trim.

The trim was a piece of cake compared to the embroidery, and a few quick measurements later she was cutting four lengths of midnight black fur. Four hands quickly pinned the fur in place and the last threaded her needle. A long, tiresome blanket stitch went along the outside edge of all of the fur to anchor it to the wool, and then more herringbone stitches on the inside edges to finish them up. The last knot was made with a little more vigor than necessary, and she slumped back in her chair, throwing the shirt down on the desk.

It almost didn’t seem worth it to start on the pants. All six hands raked through her hair in frustration and the evening bell finally rang out. Heaving out of her chair, she trudged to the front and changed the sign to closed. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t leave until she finished her winter outfit, and that was what she was going to do. A draft slipped under the door, sending goosebumps over her legs. She needed pants, and now. There was no embroidery to slow her down this time, so she should be done in a bell or two.

by **Rosela** on December 20th, 2012, 9:34 pm

She pulled out the black cotton and the black wool, holding them against each other. The wool wouldn’t sit as tightly as she liked, but the cotton was so very thin… Letting them drop, she flopped two arms over her head. Her brain seemed to be running on empty, much like her stomach at the moment.

It looked like she’d be going home without her pants. Spinning in frustration, she snatched up the two bolts of fabric and shoved them back into the shelf. Another bolt of black fabric caught her eye. Tentatively pulling it out, she looked at the tag. Cotton flannel. It was cheap stuff, and she normally didn’t like to use it for more than undersides. However, for her needs, it may just be the thing. An experimental tug told her it was springy enough to lay tight, and fuzzy enough to be warm.

Unrolling it on the pattern board, she began to cut quickly, only needing two pieces to make up the pants. Pinning them together, she ran over to pull out the roll of white fur. She was so very close to being done…

Two hands held needles, quickly whipstitching the fur panels to the bottoms of the flannel. The stitches continued up the sides, extra hands removing the pins as she went. The thought of being nearly done invigorated her, and even her stomach was silent for the moment. The bottom of the fur didn’t need hemming, being that it would only go over her boots, but a slip stitch along the top of the pants hemmed the top neatly. Jamming the needles into the pincushion, thread tails still hanging on, she snapped the pants right side out and looked at them in wonder. They seemed almost too simple after how complex the shirt was.

She needed to see the finished product though, to know if she was truly done. Glancing around quickly to make sure all of the windows were firmly closed, she stripped down and pulled on the new pants and shirt, breathing a sigh at the softness and warmth. She’d been so used to wearing skirts that she’d never even realized how much difference a pair of pants would make. She pranced out to the front room, striking a pose in front of the back mirror. The pants were indeed much simpler design than the top, but it allowed the top to be the focus. As an added bonus, they made her butt look fantastic. The fur of the pants were a bit fluffy, but she leaned down to brush at it. If she didn’t like it the next day, she’d just trim it down. Her cloak was pulled on with a dramatic spin, and she ran to the back to gather her dress up into a bundle.

Now she could go home, and face the winter.

by **Rosela** on December 20th, 2012, 9:37 pm

Rosela practically bounded through the streets the next morning, reveling in the warmth of her winter wear. Catching her reflection in the faces of the windows she passed, she decided she liked the fluffiness of the pants. It added a little extra curve to her figure where she’d lost so much weight in the last season. The thought redoubled her conviction to save up the mizas she’d earned last season and really splurge come spring time. A bigger house, a nicer bed, a hot bath…

When she got to the shop, before she even opened, she sat down at the front desk and pulled out her small purse of mizas. Her outfit was done, and it was time to pay up. Wool shirts were typically 2gm, though she’d add another 5sm for the fur. The pants would have been 1sm without the fur, so she’d average out the whole affair to 5sm. Feeling self-satisfied, she dropped 3 gold mizas into the till before squirreling the purse back into her cloak, and hung it up in the back.

The day started slow, as it always did, and she preoccupied herself with more design work. She felt more productive now that she was warm. Drawing three pairs of men’s legs on her paper, she sat back and tried to think up designs. It was a rare occasion that she have something inspired for the men’s side, but she still hoped for it every time she sat down to work.

A meandering line down one leg turned into a loose pair of slacks, and a series of lines around the waistband turned it into a drawstring waist. She added a few extra lines and wrinkles, imagining the fabric hanging flatteringly on a muscular frame. A box at the bottom made them fold up once, but she erased it and had them hang loose. Her pencil touched the paper tentatively a few times before giving up and moving onto the next pair. Men’s slacks were supposed to be plain – pieces with too much ornamentation simply didn’t sell, as she'd found out the hard way.

The next pair started off with a belt. A fly for buttons next, and fine plaits, then straight lines all the way down. On this one, she allowed a folded up hem, and drew it in with a pair of curved boxes. As before, she wanted to do more, but couldn’t bring herself to break the simplicity. By way of compromise, she added two arched lines at the ankles and a few lines around the crotch, to indicate the fold of the cloth.

A customer interrupted her before she could get to the next pair, and the sale of three pairs of woolen slacks made her next design easy. She sketched out a pair of loose, wool pants, with belt loops though there was no belt this time. As an accessory, she added a pair of cargo pockets on each side.

Another customer came in just as she finished the pockets, and by the time she was back at her desk, a scarf and cloak combination sold, the pants looked quite finished in their simplicity.

by **Rosela** on December 20th, 2012, 9:40 pm

The shop was becoming steadily busier, and it was looking like she’d only finish one pair of pants that day. The plain wool slacks were the easiest to pick up and put down, so she ended up focusing on those. The fabric was quickly cut in between customers, and she started on the seams with a heavy threaded backstitch. Men’s clothing, particularly pants, needed to be sturdy, and if the rumors were to be believed, a hard winter was about to set in. In starts and stops, as people came in, she went back over the backstitching with whipstitches, and made sure the knots were good and tight.

People came in continually after that, and after a few false starts, Rosela gave up trying to go back for more fabric and got out her design papers instead. If days like this one would be anything to go by, she’d need to start spending her days off replenishing her inventory. For the first time, the possibility of a shop hand came to mind. The idea of trusting someone else to make sales chaffed, but so did the idea of having to close for even two days during the week in order to keep her stocks up.

In any case, she could make more mens pants later. Winter was high scarf season, and she needed a few more.

Scarves were easy to draw, and didn’t require more than a generic head and shoulders as a model on the paper. A quick, loose line was turned into a flimsy, wide affair, likely to be made out of cotton. She started to add tassels to the end, but erased them halfway through. Big tassels somehow didn’t look right on so delicate a thing. Instead, she added short lines to the long edges of the scarf, each with a tiny circle to denote a large sequin. She had just the cotton in mind for it, a bolt of cotton dyed with large patches and lines lay in the back, unused.

The next scarf lay flat around the penciled shoulders, thick and woolen. She almost added tassels to this one as well, but decided against it. She already had wool scarves with tassels, she needed a couple without. There was a bolt of plaid wool in the back that would be perfect. Thus far, she’d only used it for edging and the occasional underside to a cloak, but it would make a lovely scarf.

The third was drawn quickly and nearly haphazardly, the idea already in her head. It bunched up around the neck in a warm ruff of fabric, but there were no trailing ends. The scarf itself was a large loop of fabric, to be simply doubled up around the neck. That way, there were no ends to flop about or get in the way of say, some burly warrior or hunter. She imagined a buff, shirtless Akalak wearing the scarf for a moment before the front door opening dislodged the image. It was a lean, elderly Akalak, and Rosela let her imaginary model go with a fake smile of welcome.

by **Rosela** on December 20th, 2012, 9:43 pm

The day was finally coming to a close, and Rosela stretched all six arms widely. The day could probably be counted as her busiest day yet, though her stack of unmade designs made the day only bittersweet. Maybe she’d buy a little chest to keep more supplies out front to work on in between customers. The idea had merit, but the notion of a shop hand was looking ever more attractive, especially as another customer came in, interrupting even the thought of doing actual design work.

Once he was squared away with a new set of shirts, Rosela sat down to whip up some new ones, or at least design them, if that was all she could do.

Three generic, headless men’s torsos were quickly drawn out on the paper. The first shirt was similar to the ones she had just sold: black, button up, and slim fitting. Grabbing her white pencil, she added the thinnest of lines around where the hems would be, indicating white threading, slightly thicker around the collar. A row of white buttons ran down the front and she paused, tapping the end of the pencil on her chin. This one needed something a little extra… A stark white line ran down vertically from each of the shoulders, and curved away toward the back around the end of the rib area. A messy sketch underneath showed the back of the shirt, with the lines meeting horizontally. With the slim fitting, the lines would emphasize the muscles underneath, like the pecs and shoulders, something she was sure would go over well with the Akalaks. She made a small note to the side to duplicate the design with white fabric and black stitching.

The next would have to be warm, and she tried to think of something that would use the midnight blue wool she had in the back. A standard sweater outline started things off, and she added ribbed edges to the cuffs and the bottom. For the neck though, a standard v-neck would be too dull and she experimented with a turtle neck. It was still too plain, however, and she widened the neck again and again until it hung as loose as a scarf. Something about it didn’t quite speak to her still, but she put it down for the moment as a customer came in.

It was nearly closing time when she finished up with him, sending the young human man off with a wool sweater and trousers. She had gotten an idea while setting him up, and erased the bottom of her extended turtle neck, folding it down into a large, loose collar. Boxing off the hems around it, she added an oversized wooden button to complete the look.

Sighing as she looked at her third torso, she was almost grateful when the evening bell rang and she could successfully leave it for the next day. She cracked the knuckles on her drawing hand as she moved to the front to change the sign to Closed. It had been a long, long day, and she wasn’t quite sure if she wanted all her days to be that profitable.