Solo Dressmaker Part III

[Sosicly Magnolia]

15th of Autumn

All she wished to do at this point was sew the dress together, slip it on and be sure it would fit but unfortunately more sewing was required. Sosicly wrinkled her nose at the dress, then glared at her sewing supplies, as if that would make them magically create themselves. Then she remembered her shawl would also need to be made and let her head fall to the table, and rested her cheek there for a few moments before grabbing her needle to thread it. Maybe she should buy gloves to protect her fingers.

The thought set aside Sosicly continued to spear her fingers, nearly all of them, as she threaded her needle. Having someone else embroider it would be nice but it would spoil her hiding what she was going as. Stretching her arms out till the thread was just as long she let it flutter to the table and snipped it. Tying a small knot in the end she groped around the fabric for where the bodice would be and speared the silk with more force than necessary.

There would be no real pattern to this, only simple back-stiches, she thought, to form the V. Something simple. Eyeing her still spread out cheat sheet the girl pulled the thread through slowly, wrapping it loosely around her hand to prevent knots then spearing the needle in again backwards. Then she repeated the process, spearing ahead of her previous stitch and pulling the needle backwards and down to complete it. Again and again, until her eyes grew watery from focusing on such a small point.

Around ten chimes in she hit her first bump in the road, so to speak. A knot had formed regardless, and her irate tug had snapped the thread. Nearly flinging the needle she pulled out her previous two stitches and struggled to fasten a small knot. Dragging the not finished dress up by the thread she held it close to her eye and fiddled with the pieces of thread. A few chimes later the there was a jumble of small knots littered the inside but hopefully would keep the piece tight.

Getting what was left of her thread she snipped off where the little mass of thread was and with tense gentleness poked the needle through the thread, beginning where she had left off.

She did not want to think about how much more she had to do.

[Sosicly Magnolia]

It took near several bells to finish the bodice but it looked decent. Not her best work but something she was pleased with all the same. Setting that to the side she picked up her excess fabric. Sosicly wanted to take a break but it would be easier to just finished this part then go to sleep. And this part would be fun, or so she told herself as she grabbed a bit of chalk. Next she grabbed a few of her already dyed feathers and made a rough trace of one. She tossed it back with the others then folded her scrap fabric until it had four layers near the edge of one side with the outline. After she took a few ticks to pin the fabric in place so it would not slide then searched for her scissors. It took her only a moment to remember where she left them and she wandered toward the chaos that was her bed nook. Sure enough the shears where situated under her pillow. Likely left there after a late night sewing session. Excited she moved back to the table and ignored the way her body seemed reluctant to sit back in the chair. It really did not look appealing so she grabbed her fabric and chalk then headed back to her bed. Practice made it easy for her to snuggled in with her feet pressed against the ceiling of her bed nook, her arms cramped but comfortable with her work on her chest. Sosicly began to cut from the bottom, thin and small then widening near the middle until she made it a bit thinner near the top. It made for odd shaped and slightly lopsided ovals. She set them to the side and repeated the process of the tracing; this time using one of her already cut oval shapes. It came out a bit more awkward without the flat surface of the table but she folded, pinned and but it all the same. It took several cuts for her to need to get up and get the rest of her scrap which she let fall near her bed pulling up only what she needed. This time she did each individually for easier cutting and so that she wouldn’t stick a pin in her thigh again. -- It was her scissors falling that woke her. Startled she rolled over sending fluttering pieces of oval fabric out of her nook. She hung half in the nook, half out, a heated glare being sent in the direction of the scissors. Sosicly plucked them up and finished falling out of bed and went over to the table. There she slammed the scissors down and began to hunt for all her ovals. When she had found each oval Sosicly stack two to four pieces together with one pin in the middle and set to work. Each oval would be a little different and this would not take much. Holding one set so she held the fattest tip Sosicly made her first quick cut and nearly chopped off her finger. Surprised she adjusted her fingers and tried again, making quick, jagged triangle cuts that fell away swiftly. The finished product looked mostly like a feather, obviously handmade but a feather all the same. Sosicly grinned triumphantly and set to work finishing the rest. After this she would take a well-deserved rest. Again.