Bursting at the Seams

by Chloe Taylor

  “We’ll find out,” said Priti. “Wouldn’t that be interesting?”

  “Very interesting,” said Zoey, who wasn’t sure how she felt about how good Sean was with a machine. “I think.”

  CHAPTER 4

  Sew Excited for My New Elective!

  After all the sewing I’ve done, I’m finally taking a real sewing class! It’s a home ec elective at my school (which inspired this updated ‘50s look), and it will include cooking as well, but first we’re beginning with a sewing project. We have to make our own aprons, improving the basic pattern in some way. It’s a fun idea, and an apron is one thing I’ve never made! It’s hard to believe there’s anything I haven’t made at this point—I mean, I’ve made outfits for dogs, hair accessories, screen-printed T-shirts, and soon a junior bridesmaid’s dress and a wedding gown!

  I just got a few new orders through my Sew Zoey site on Etsy that I need to fill, which means I’ll be busy for a while. Plus, all my teachers have decided to give extra homework lately. . . . Eeek! Luckily, Monday evenings are still one of my favorite nights of the week because I get to tap-dance with one of my besties! Tap, tap, tappity tap! (PS I am never going to get the hang of the time step. Seriously. It’s sooooo hard!)

  Mrs. Mackey dropped off Zoey and Kate at tap class Monday evening. Zoey wore a simple black leotard, but over it, she’d added a short wrap skirt she’d made from the custom fabric Daphne Shaw, Zoey’s favorite designer and fashion fairy godmother, had sent her and which were printed with Zoey’s sketches. Zoey had used most of the fabric to make pieces of wall art for her friends, and a skirt for Daphne Shaw, but she’d had about two yards leftover and figured it would make a great twirly skirt for tap class. She also wore a pair of brightly colored striped leg warmers. For her, dressing for class was half the fun. The other half was being with Kate.

  Kate looked athletic and graceful, as always. She wore a beautiful pale-blue leotard, with a matching chiffon skirt attached, and her long blond hair was plaited on one side of her head. She no longer had to wear her sling and could do small arm movements in class.

  “So how was industrial arts?” Zoey asked Kate as the dancers stretched to warm up before class.

  “It was so fun!” Kate said. “I really can’t wait to start my first project. Today we learned a bunch of safety stuff, like about wearing goggles and how to use the tools and watching out for the people around you. Lorenzo is in my class, and a few other guys from the soccer team, but I don’t know the other kids.”

  Lorenzo Romy was a boy in their grade whom Zoey thought often looked at Kate like he liked her. She’d never mentioned it to Kate directly, since Kate was decidedly more into sports than boys. But Zoey wouldn’t have been at all surprised if Lorenzo had taken the class just because he’d heard Kate had signed up for it.

  “How was home ec?” Kate asked. “I think I’m taking that next. It’s so nice you and Priti get to do it together!”

  “It was . . . interesting,” Zoey replied, still unsure of how she felt. She sat on the floor and put her legs out into a V, leaning forward slightly to each side to try and warm up her hamstrings. “Carter Perry is in the class, and he was joking around the whole time, of course. And there was this other boy, Sean Waschikowski. He fixed my machine for me when my needle jammed.”

  Kate’s eyebrows shot up high. “He fixed your machine? Impossible.”

  Zoey laughed. “He did. He said he had the same machine at home. I wonder what kind of stuff he makes.”

  Kate looked thoughtful. “Sean, Sean. I think I know who you mean. He’s tall and slim? He helped out with the costumes in the school’s musical last year. Maybe he sews costumes.”

  “Hmm.” Zoey was intrigued. She did like the idea of making new sewing friends. “I’ll ask him.”

  Their tap teacher went to the front of the room and clapped her hands to signal the beginning of class.

  “Oh, by the way,” Kate whispered as they took their positions in line. “My physical therapist said my arm is pretty much all better! In about two more weeks I can start playing sports again!”

  Zoey was so thrilled for her friend, she couldn’t help throwing her arms around her in a hug. “That’s so great, Kate! Why didn’t you say something sooner?”

  The warm-up music for their class came on, and Zoey had to release Kate so they could begin doing some shuffle, ball change steps.

  “Would you believe I actually forgot?” Kate said with a giggle. “I’ve been having so much fun hanging out with you and Libby and Priti, and taking tap, and going to the movies, I’d almost forgotten how much I missed swimming and soccer!”

  “Let’s get together this weekend and celebrate,” Zoey whispered. “I’m so happy for you!”

  “Okay, I’ll make a plan and tell everybody!”

  “Eyes forward, ladies!” bellowed their teacher. “Mouths closed. Feet moving.”

  Zoey bit her lip to stop herself from smiling and focused on her steps. Shuffle, ball change. Shuffle, ball change.

  On Wednesday, Lulu picked up Zoey after school and they drove to Zoey’s favorite fabric store, A Stitch in Time. For Zoey, any trip to the fabric store was an exciting one, because there was nothing she liked better than to roam the aisles, touching different fabrics and imagining the outfits she could make with them. But today was a particularly important day, because Lulu had approved the final sketch for her wedding dress, and she and Zoey were going to select the fabrics for both the wedding gown and Zoey’s junior bridesmaid’s dress!

  In the backseat Aunt Lulu’s dog, Buttons, sat wagging her tail and emitting the occasional yelp of excitement. Buttons wasn’t a very big dog, so she was occasionally allowed to join Lulu on errands, which she loved. Zoey reached her hand back to scratch Buttons under her chin, and she gave her a happy doggy smile.

  At the store Lulu, Zoey, and Buttons (who was on a leash) were quickly greeted by Jan, the store’s manager. She’d known Lulu for years, and had come to know Zoey very well also.

  After giving both Zoey and Lulu a hug, Jan asked, “Well, ladies, what can I help you find today?”

  Zoey looked at her aunt, who suddenly looked panicked. Apparently, Lulu had forgotten that Jan might be at the store and would certainly notice if Lulu was buying wedding gown fabric instead of pillowcase fabric, as she often did for her interior design jobs.

  After a moment’s indecision, Lulu shrugged, as if to say, Oh well, what the heck, and chuckled. “Jan, Zoey and I have a little secret to share. But we must keep it a secret, all right?”

  Looking intrigued, Jan quickly agreed. “Of course! Tell me.”

  Lulu explained about her recent engagement, the upcoming party/surprise wedding, and how Zoey would be making the wedding gown.

  “Oh my word, you’re kidding!” Jan cried. “That’s just about the most wonderful, most romantic thing I’ve ever heard. And to have Zoey make the dress—it’s too much. I might cry right here.”

  Zoey and Lulu laughed, because they knew Jan probably wasn’t kidding. She was sentimental and just the type to get a tear in her eye while helping someone select their wedding dress fabric.

  “If you only have a few weeks, we need to get down to business,” Jan said. “Let me see the design, and we’ll find you the perfect fabric.”

  Zoey produced the sketch, which Aunt Lulu had already seen and adored, and Jan oohed and ahhed over it. Zoey felt her arms and legs get warm and tingly, which is how she felt whenever someone complimented her work. She hoped the dress would look as good as the sketch when it was made!

  “We need just the right fabric,” Lulu said. “And Zoey seems to prefer the pearl-colored ones with a slight sheen.”

  “Pearlescent,” said Jan. “Absolutely. And we’ll need one with some good weight to it, to make your dress look its most elegant. I think that’ll work with this structure, too. Let’s go take a look.”

  The three of them, plus Buttons, headed over to the wedding gown fabrics. Zoey and Jan quickly zeroed in on on
e that would work, and Lulu agreed it was perfect. Next Jan gave them some suggestions for fabric that would work with Zoey’s design for the junior bridesmaid’s dress. Its combination of pink and red fabric would be easy for the maid of honor, Sybil, to coordinate with.

  “I can’t believe it was that easy!” Lulu said. “Now if only the sewing part was easy for Zoey . . .”

  Zoey shrugged, smiling. “Don’t worry about me. I’m ready for anything!”

  “Is there something else I can help you find?” Jan asked.

  Lulu nodded. “Some lace ribbon. We need it for trim and for some other decorative things.”

  They quickly found some ribbon in the notions department, and as Lulu was deciding how many spools of ribbon they should buy, Buttons jumped on her legs and barked excitedly at the ribbon, wagging her tail.

  “Is she saying she likes it?” Jan asked with a laugh.

  Zoey laughed too. Then she got an idea. “Oh my gosh! Lulu—we should have Buttons in the cere­mony! She could be the ring bearer, even though she’s a girl, and I could make her a little pillow with extra fabric from your dress and some of this ribbon. The ring can go in a little pocket, and she can walk it down the aisle. I saw it in a bridal magazine.”

  Lulu’s face lit up. “Zoey, that’s a wonderful idea! Buttons is a bit like my child, I suppose. It would be darling to have her as our ring bearer. Let’s get some extra ribbon, and we’ll do it!”

  Jan rang up their purchases, and pleased with how much they’d accomplished, Lulu, Zoey, and Buttons headed back out to the car.

  “How are all the other to-do list items for the wedding?” Zoey asked as they pulled out of the parking lot.

  Aunt Lulu sighed. “Well, mostly okay. But John and I are having a lot of trouble finding a photographer. I’ve called everyone in town, and even nearby towns, and only found one person available!”

  “One person is all you need, though, right?” asked Zoey.

  “Yes, but . . . ,” Lulu paused, shaking her head. “John and I had that person come by a few days ago to take some engagement photos for us, as a trial. And because I thought we’d use them on the invitations to the event. But the photographer just sent me the proofs this afternoon, and they are terrible.”

  “Terrible? Really?” Zoey was surprised. Her aunt was so beautiful, Zoey couldn’t imagine a terrible picture of her.

  Lulu shuddered and gripped the steering wheel tighter. “The photographer calls his style ‘raw photo­journalism,’ which is apparently code for ‘shows every flaw.’ The photos make us look old and sickly! Dig in my purse for my phone and then look in my e-mail. You’ll see it.”

  Zoey located her aunt’s phone and opened up the e-mail application. She found the e-mail from the photographer and opened up the attachment with the proofs.

  Lulu was right. Every picture was from an odd angle, with harsh lighting, and instead of looking warm and romantic and happy, John and Lulu looked like they were just getting over a bad case of the stomach flu.

  “Um, they aren’t the greatest,” Zoey said. She wanted to be honest, but she didn’t want to make Lulu feel any worse about them than she already did.

  “I asked him if he could fix them for us; you know, touch them up, maybe Photoshop them—anything. But he refused. So we’re at a standstill on the invites. I guess I’m going to end up calling people and inviting them over the phone!”

  “Don’t worry, Aunt Lulu,” Zoey said soothingly. “You’ll figure something out. You can always print up invites without photos, right?”

  Lulu nodded. “We could, but I was so excited for the pictures. I love seeing couples on save-the-date cards and engagement invitations.” She laughed. “Ah, well, it’ll work out. I’m thrilled about the fabrics and Buttons’s new job at the ceremony.”

  “Me too,” Zoey agreed. “I’m going to start sewing tonight. With only two and a half weeks left, we don’t have a moment to lose!”

  “You’ve got that right. Whose idea was this surprise wedding, anyway?” Lulu said. “It’s crazy.”

  Zoey just laughed.

  CHAPTER 5

  Sew Zoey? Chef Zoey!

  I knew that having electives at school would be fun, but I didn’t know it would be this much fun! It’s so nice to have a break from taking notes in classes all day (maybe not everyone does that, but I have to take notes to remember things) and go to my home ec elective! We started our aprons, and mine is going slowly, but it’s kind of hard to concentrate with so much action in the sewing room. Every five minutes someone gets something stuck in a machine or sticks themselves with a needle. It’s not exactly like working in my home “office” (a.k.a., the dining room)!

  Anyway, today we’re supposed to start cooking, which I can’t wait to do, because right now my two specialties are pancakes, and brownies from a mix. And that’s it! I’d like to learn to make at least a few other things. Like spaghetti.

  For home ec class on Thursday, students had been told to meet in the cafeteria’s kitchen. Their school didn’t have a cooking classroom set up, since the electives structure was new, so the students would be using the large industrial kitchen instead. It was Zoey’s first time back there, and she was amazed by how big it was and how enormous the walk-in fridges and freezers were. It was really neat!

  “This is much cooler than I thought it would be,” Priti whispered as the class huddled around Mrs. Holmes, who was preparing to demonstrate something in the prep space. “I love all these fancy pots and spatulas and things!”

  Zoey nodded. “Me too. I can’t wait to find out what we’re making.”

  Mrs. Holmes clapped her hands and then said, “Let’s begin. I think you’re all going to like today’s class, because we’re going to be baking . . . molten chocolate cakes!”

  A chorus of “yays” and “oh, yeahs” rang out from the group. What could be more fun than making chocolate cake?

  Emily Gooding, a girl with long reddish-brown hair who stood close to Zoey and Priti, said pointedly, “I already know how to make those. My mother is a chef. She even makes her own pastries. Most chefs have to hire a pastry chef to do that.”

  Zoey resisted the urge to elbow Priti, because she was afraid Emily would notice. But she groaned inwardly. Since the home ec elective had begun, Emily had already mentioned about twelve times that her mother was a chef. Zoey thought it was very cool that Emily’s mother was a chef, but the way she kept saying it made Zoey feel like Emily thought she was better than everyone else.

  “Yes, we know, Miss Gooding,” Mrs. Holmes said kindly. “In fact, I love your mother’s restaurant. Would you like to come up and demonstrate for the class how to separate an egg white from the yolk?”

  “Of course,” said Emily, tilting up her chin and gliding to the counter to stand beside Mrs. Holmes.

  Emily grasped an egg, cracked it confidently on the edge of a bowl, and watched as it splattered, bits of shell spraying into the bowl.

  “Whoops,” said Mrs. Holmes. “Why don’t you try again?”

  With slightly pink cheeks, Emily retrieved another egg from the carton on the counter and cracked it more carefully. As she was passing the yolk back and forth between the two halves of the shell, the yolk dropped into the bowl.

  Emily looked up, stricken. Mrs. Holmes patted her shoulder. “That’s quite all right, Emily. It happens! Would anyone else like to try?”

  To Zoey’s surprise, Priti’s hand shot up in the air. Mrs. Holmes called on her, and Priti paused a moment to dig around in her backpack, retrieving a plastic water bottle. She quickly drank the last few sips of water and then carried the empty bottle to the prep counter and placed it beside the egg bowl.

  “I know a really fun way to separate eggs,” Priti said. “My mom showed me how to do this.”

  Priti’s mom had a food blog called KarmaMama, and also used to run a catering business when Priti and her sisters were younger. Zoey knew Priti had a knack for baking, and she always seemed to have a suggestion for an ingredie
nt that would make their cookies or brownies better, but Zoey didn’t realize Priti probably knew a lot more than that.

  “Show us,” said Mrs. Holmes. “I’m intrigued!”

  Priti delicately cracked an egg on the edge of a clean bowl and dumped the contents in, yolk and egg white together. Zoey heard Ivy and Bree snicker­ing, and Bree clearly said, “Is she kidding with that? She didn’t even try to separate the yolk.”

  “I think those goth clothes are making her dumber,” Ivy said. “All that black is so depressing!”

  Zoey coughed loudly to get Ivy’s and Bree’s attention, and then glared at them. She would not allow those girls to talk that way about her friend. Priti had been wearing a lot of all-black goth-type clothing lately, but fashion was about personal expression, and Zoey felt that everyone should be able to experiment with their clothing without having to listen to Ivy’s opinions about it.

  “So, I have the yolk and the egg white together in the bowl on purpose,” Priti said loudly, to show she’d heard Bree but couldn’t care less. “And now for the trick!”

  With her empty water bottle held upside down, Priti squeezed its body and then lowered it until the mouth of the bottle was on the yolk. Then she relaxed her hand, releasing her hold on the bottle, which created suction and immediately slurped the entire yolk right up into the bottle! Priti tilted the bowl toward the class, so they could see the perfectly separated egg white in the bowl, without a spot of yellow anywhere.

  The students cheered. Priti repeated the trick several times, squeezing to release the yolk back into the bowl and then relaxing her hand to suck it back up into the bottle.

  The class, except for Emily, Ivy, and Bree, clapped and whistled. Priti curtsied and then returned to her seat.

  “Well done, Miss Holbrooke,” said Mrs. Holmes. “It’s a rare day in home ec when I learn something new. Thank you! Now, I’ve printed out lists of ingredients for you all, so please pair off and start collecting what you need. I’ll set you up at stations, and we’ll begin making our batter.”