ko ko ko.. I heard my door outside my new apartment, who might be looking for me this early Saturday morning, maybe my neighbor I thought as no one than my dad knew this new place, I wondered what would have made the neighbor knock on my door, this early morning, we had already exchanged pleasantries and introduction the previous day, I slipped into the Dunlop slippers I had lying close to my bedside, to protect my feet from the cold tiles, as I got up from the bed. Not that I was asleep, I just wanted more time in bed as I fiddled with my phone, scrolling through some early author's posts on Hive and also thinking of where to draw inspiration for today's post, a habit I developed since becoming an active hiver.
I had dropped my kids off with my mum the previous day and my husband was on work travel so I had the whole house and much-needed peace and quiet to myself, only to be deprived of when I opened the door but in a good way.
There I saw Mummy Joy a favorite client of mine with her 10-year-old daughter at my door,
ahn! ahn! I exclaimed in surprise, "How did you locate my new place?", "Grandpa brought us", she said,
they must have gone to my parent's house to look for me as my moving to this new location was sort of impromptu, "where is he?" I looked beyond her shoulders, trying to see if my dad followed them, but was given a reply that he left for an urgent meet-up after dropping them off.
Only then did I notice the worried look on little almost 10-year-old Joy's face as I ushered them into my sitting room,
"how are you Joy", I asked,
"fine, aunty", a
she replied with a low voice that felt like she wasn't really fine as she said, I noticed she kept staring at my sewing machine which was situated at one corner of my sitting room, I offered them some refreshment and quickly took the opportunity to bath and change to something comfier and presenting, while doing that, Mummy Joy who is more like a close friend now kept gisting me on how Joy is feeling so disappointed in the fabric she had bought for her 10 years old birthday,
"ah Happy birthday in advance my dear", I echoed from the bathroom,
she had expected a readymade gown instead, not some plain fabric her mother bought from the explanation I gathered from her mum while attending to myself, now, I understood the reason for the sulky face she carried,
I walked into the sitting room, wishing her a proper happy birthday, and assured her not to worry, promising to make her the princess dress she desired, but that didn't shake any atom of doubt off her face, apparently, a friend from school had worn a dress she liked and it was readymade bought from the store when her mother had asked her friend's mum but was too expensive for mummy joy, so she opted to get hers customize by me at a much cheaper rate since she trusted my expertise.
An idea struck to make her feel more comfortable and less worried, I asked if she didn't mind helping out as I made her dress, and as soon as the words left my mouth, her face lit up in joy, and that was my first satisfaction and encouragement to get on with the day's sewing, her mum felt excited with the idea too, and even told me how she wished her daughter can learn how to sew in the nearest future.
I collected the plain white fabric from her mum and proceeded to take her body measurement, this would actually be my first time making her a dress as I had only sewn dresses for her mum in the past, she was used to buying readymade from the store dresses for her daughter until now. Her mum excused us to go open her shop too for the day's business, leaving us to get busy.
Joy's eyes lit up now, as she expressed herself freely.
"I want it to be beautiful, like a princess dress," she said, her voice filled with excitement.
As I began to work on the dress, she sat down beside me, watching with wide eyes as I measured, drafted, and cut the fabric into different pieces. She asked questions, curious about every step of the process, and I patiently explained each one to her, showing her the front piece, back pieces, and where other pieces would belong.
At first, she seemed to be enjoying the process and nodded as if she understood what I was doing, we also snacked in between
but at some point, I could see her getting tired and confused as hours passed, and her attention too began to decrease. I wondered what her little head was thinking as she drifted from focusing on what I was doing, left my sewing machine side, and soon found herself on the couch, next thing I saw, she was sleeping soundly, I smiled, the process, which was initially captivating her, has made her brain so confused that it needed a sound sleep.
By the time she woke up, I was done with her dress, which seemed like it was taking an eternity to make, her mother was also back to pick her up as it was evening time. I held up her dress, and her sleepy eyes now widened in surprise,
"Wow!" she exclaimed, her eyes shining with amazement. "You did magic!"
I smiled, almost choking with the water in my mouth as I drank to quench the taste of a tiring day's work, also pleased that she was impressed with her birthday dress's final outcome,
"No magic, just sewing,"
I finally replied after getting myself, as her mum exchange a thank you glance with me, also having the same satisfactory smile on her face.
But Joy was insistent.
"No, no, you must have done magic Aunty," she said, her voice filled with conviction.
"I watched you na, all that plenty pieces, how did it turn to this beautiful dress",
she said as she twirled the dress looking fit and cute on her. "it's beautiful!" She exclaimed again
Making me and her mum burst into laughter
She couldn't stop staring and admiring herself in the mirror either.
After much pleading from her mum, she finally removed the dress and I packed it neatly for them as they prepared to leave, the girl turned to me with a look of gratitude.
"Thank you so much Aunty for making my birthday dress beautiful,". "You're welcome, dear," I replied.
As they walked out the gate, she turned back to me with a mischievous grin. "I'll tell all my friends that you have a magic sewing machine," she said, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
Making us laugh out loud again, what a day, I said, as I waved them bye, feeling happy and satisfied to make her day as she made mine, and that, I thought, was the greatest magic of all.
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