Shimmer

7 4 5

by joyceholt

by joyceholt

* names changed

Diana* was just one of the guys in her friends group all through grade school and middle school. Not one for frills and giggles, she frolicked through the woods and joined in building forts.

Then came high school, and her first serious boyfriend. Never interested before in school dances, now she wanted a magical dress for the prom. Something dark, filmy, fit for a woods nymph flitting through misty, mystical woodlands.

After hours poring over pattern catalogues, Diana landed on one enticing design that matched her vision.

No such luck with the fabric though. We tried Hancock's Fabrics, House of Fabrics, even Pacific Iron and Metal's sideline fabric shop tucked away in the industrial sector.

Our hopes dwindled. Maybe a store in the neighboring suburb carried a wider selection. We took backroads to avoid rush hour traffic, dodging through a backwater retail area of bike shops, sporting goods stores, cardboard products warehouses, and the like.

I did a double take. Then a U-turn to retrace our route half a block.

Jehlor's Fantasy Fabrics. The sign twinkled in the shop window like magic.

Inside we found an incredible array of specialty fabrics for costumes, weddings, and high school proms. We ooh-ed and ahh-ed over each new shelf. Silks and satins, spangles and sequins. Diana latched onto a wide bolt of black and blue lace. "Perfect!"

I gulped at the price. Fifteen dollars a yard, pretty steep for the mid-1990s. But I smiled at her delight and shelled out the bucks.

We went back to an ordinary fabric store and bought black satin for the under-gown before we headed home. We had only seven days until prom.

The next day I coached Diana from the sidelines as she laid out pattern pieces on the pricey lace. Measure twice and cut once. The carpenter's rule of thumb applies to dress-making, too. She followed directions well and soon had the over-gown completed.

I sewed the black satin under-gown during school hours. After school, we fitted the two together, secured them, did the finishing touches. Diana donned her creation, turned to the mirror, and gasped with delight. The black and blue lace shimmered with each movement, gleaming blue in the light and melting to black in shadows. Like magic.

The next day she came back from an outing with her circle of guy friends. They'd helped her dye strands of her auburn hair a deep shimmery blue to match the gown.

That's what friends are for.

(Moms get a little of the credit, too.)

Postscript:

Six years later I sewed a white satin wedding dress for Julie*, her sister. It fit like a glove, the skirt belling out when she swirled like Cinderella at the ball. The knack hadn't left me, I was glad to see.

But I'd used up all my sewing magic for the year on that one. When I made myself a dress for the wedding, it hung like a deflated balloon. Had to go buy an outfit for that occasion!

Prompt: fantasy