At the Opera House

Chapter 6: Fitting

Author Note: While I can sew, I've only repaired clothes and made a few small items. Dresses are beyond me, if any dressmakers catch mistakes I made in describing the process please correct me and I will fix it.

"I'm taking a week off." Christine announced during the next Sunday dinner at the Giry's. Madame Giry looked up from her soup and pursed her lips.

"And why, may I ask?" She questioned.

"Emily's dress is not even halfway finished and her wedding is a week away. We must finish her dress."

"She resigned yesterday!" Meg announced. "I saw her sign the papers, no one was surprised of course."

"She did it so we could have as much time as needed to fit the dress on her." Christine sighed and stirred her own soup. "I declare, I've never sewn a dress so fast with such urgency. I fear that I shall make a mistake and then have to take it apart and do it again. If so, it will not be done on time."

"Oh you can do it!" Meg exclaimed. "You're such a good sewer, much better then me. I would die having to sew a whole dress by myself."

"I'm at my wits end." Christine admitted. "I've half a mind to ask the seamstresses at the Opera if I can use their sewing machine."

Madame Giry patted her lips with her napkin and set it on the table. "Unlikely. They're in a hurry to finish all the costumes. Sometimes, I think that they have the hardest job of us all. They never truly rest, the poor dears."

"We buy some of our costumes." Meg reminded her.

"And yet they still must be changed, fitted, updated and stylized." Christine reminded her. "Costumes are serious business."

"Oh, what will happen if you don't finish the dress in time?" Meg moaned and stared at her swirling soap.

"She will wear that blue dress of her's like you said." Christine reminded her.

Meg looked up. "Doesn't she have a nice pink dress?" She asked. "I remember her showing it to me. She looks ever so much better in pink than in blue. Some Lord had given it to her as a present." Her eyes brightened. "I remember she thought she would marry some patron at the Opera House. Whatever happened to her and him? I got distracted by Jane's new beau."

Christine hesitated for a moment, she had hoped Meg would have forgotten the whole affair. "A passing fancy darling." She told her. "And the man Emily has now will love her for the rest of her days, not give her presents and leave her. In my mind, that is a better deal all round."

"Oh." Meg looked down again at her soul and sighed tragically. "I suppose it had to be."

"Meg, eat your soup while it's warm." Madame Giry told her. "I'm tired of your stirring and sighing."

"Christine's been stirring longer than I." Meg insisted innocently.

"Ah, but she eats it eventually." Madame Giry reminded her. Meg pouted and began sipping her soup.

"The waist is perfect, but the sleeves are too big." Christine carefully pinned the new places to sew. "Those will have to be taken care of before we add the lace."

The dress was coming along well enough, it had several creases and decorations of lace were already pinned to the collars and sleeves.

Emile looked over herself and nodded, obviously delighted at how it was coming along. "Look at the creases!" She giggled. "It's wonderful."