Page 28 of Roar for Me
“I’m more interested in seeing this dress,” said Adele as she wiped her hands on the kitchen towel. “And next girls’ night should be at a bar so we can get Miss Thing here back out there.”
“I don’t do bars anymore.”
“Can we see the dress, Rory? Please?” Carrie saved her from objecting,again, to being dragged to a bar. She was the only other seamstress in the group, and she was always asking Aurora’s advice on projects.
“Sure,” Aurora chuckled. “Follow me.”
Schadenfreude
Aurora could hear Katie whooping for joy from her room as she ushered her friends into her craft room. “Bullet Bill! Eat my dust!”
“Ah, anotherMario Kartfan, like her parents,” Stacey sighed.
“Yeah, except she’s good at it.”Aurora chuckled. “Here is the gown-in-progress!”
She closed the door to reveal her dress form with the gown on it. Made of ruby-red taffeta, it had a sweetheart neckline that flowed into off-the-shoulder sleeves. “We drove out to Export to a mill end shop and got the taffeta for a steal.”
“This has got to be, hands down, your best work, Sis.”
“I want to touch it, but I’m afraid I’ll get it dirty.” Adele wiped her hands down her jeans as Aurora handed her a scrap of the fabric.
“Here, you guys can pass that around.”
“It’s gorgeous! Is the top two pieces?” Carrie was inspecting the dress form.
Aurora gestured at the left side of the gown. “This is the front of the whole dress, and it’s pleats go all the way to my hip, so you get that diagonal line. I pleated this piece in the other direction and sewed it behind the first so I didn’t pull a L’il Kim. Once I sew the lining in, it should lie smooth.” She spread the skirt out for the girls to see. “It flares out so I can walk around without tripping.”
“Can you lift your arms in it? In case you need to fix something on the fly?” Stacey asked, always the practical one.
“Yeah, I can lift my arms. I’m debating adding boning to the lining for structure.”
“Oh, there will be boning when you walk into the gala in that dress, alright.” Adele shook her head. “You’re so talented, Aurora.”
“It needs some sparkle. Right here.” Lizzie pointed at the junction of her hip where the pleats pointed.
“I have a sequin appliqué I’m going to put there.” Aurora brought out a floral vine made from red matte sequins and held it in place. “It’s exactly the same shade of red, so it will be subtle, but it will hide where the pleats meet.”
Adele threw up her hands. “It’s perfect.”
“Would you try it on?” Lizzie looked hopeful.
“Well, it’s not finished. But sure.” She pulled her T-shirt and jeans off. “Obviously, I would be wearing a strapless bra.”
“But the red lace is so cute!” Stacey teased. “And it matches the dress.”
“That’s not how this works.”
“Well, I don’t know. I’m not a seamstress. And I don’t have the magic wand you clearly have hidden here somewhere.”
“Okay everybody, watch for flying pins.” Aurora lifted the gown off the form. She threw the hem over her head and slid into the gown from below. “Can someone zip me?”
Lizzie pulled the zipper up her back and closed the hook at the top. Giddy, Aurora turned to look in the full-length mirror.
“I haven’t actually tried it on yet.” She criticized her work in her reflection. The sweetheart neckline looked deeper than it was thanks to the pleating, which also camouflaged her belly. It hit all the notes she had wanted when she dreamed it up. “It still feels a bit flimsy, so I’m definitely going to put the boning in the lining.”
Her friends stared at her reflection in the mirror, dumbfounded.
“That is amazing. The pleating is perfect. Seriously, Sis, this is the best thing you’ve ever sewn.”
