Page 53 of Darn Knit All

I plucked the last measurements from the small pile, turning to the adjustable mannequin as a dress began to take shape in my mind.

An off-the-shoulder with a sweetheart peek-a-boo neckline and fitted A-line skirt. We’d draw attention to her waist and breasts to create a gorgeous silhouette. We’d add drama with a beautiful double-sided train that attached to her hand with a gorgeous silver chain.

I sucked in a deep breath, feeling as if I could breathe for the first time since our plane had landed.

“Here we go.” Theo dumped rolls and rolls of fabric onto our workbench, attempting to catch them as they rolled this way and that.

A black velvet caught my eye, along with a stunningly vibrant fuchsia satin.

“These two,” I said, discarding the rest. “If I draw the patterns, can you cut?”

“I think I can do that.”

We exchanged a wry grin.

“Remember what I taught you about cutting velvet?” I asked as I reached for my sketch pad.

Theo lifted one hand to his chin, cupping his jaw. “Something about the pattern and fluffing.”

“Shedding,” I corrected as I began to sketch out the design. “We need to plan how to cut this carefully—and we don’t use pins, we use weights. Velvet’s too delicate.”

“Gotcha.” He reached for a pair of scissors. “Just tell me what you want, and I’ll do it.”

I finished the quick sketch and held it up for him to see. “Thoughts?”

“I like it. It’ll be awesome.”

I heard a murmur behind us, the last few words of the conversation reaching my ears.

“…check if he can sew?”

My shoulders tensed, the hair on the back of my neck prickling.

Oh, God. We’re going to be found out. We’ll be ostracized. I’ll never be able to work in?—

“But will it have pockets?”

A shock of laughter burst out of me at Theo’s unexpected question. “What?”

“Pockets. For snacks. I assume red carpet means a long-ass event. People are bound to get hungry.” He tapped his stomach. “I know I could eat.”

There was a snort from the camera crew, and I began to relax, the pressure easing a little.

“We’ll see if we have time.”

He gestured at the long train. “Be cool if that was hollow or had a zip. You could fill it with chips and chocolate.”

“Theo!”

“What?” he asked, shooting me a grin. “You’re saying you wouldn’t want a sneaky snack mid-performance? Imagine wearing this thing to the cinema. You could smuggle a whole minibar in.”

I rolled my eyes but noted gratefully that the film crew appeared to be amused rather than suspicious.

I pushed the bolt of satin toward him. “Just roll this out.”

I measured out the pattern pieces on large sheets of paper then handed them to Theo to cut down to size. Once we had all the parts laid out and pinned or weighted on the fabric, we began to cut the pieces we’d need.

Around us, machines whirred, and teams called instructions to one another as they worked rapidly to cut, pin, press, and sew each part of their design.

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