The whirring of the sewing machine slowly eased to a stop. It had been going so long the silence of the room felt strange. Her foot ached from pushing the pedal but the item she had been sewing dulled the pain with a feeling of job well done. She allowed herself a stretch before pulling the garment off the sewing machine, flipped it inside out and looked at the completed work. It wasn't easy sewing with this material, which was probably what took nearly two weeks to work on. Joy filled the seamstress and she rubbed the silky smooth shirt against her face. It was a beautiful shirt, with embroidered material along the front and sleeves. A pain in the butt to sew in but sew in she did.
"It's so beautiful, I can't believe I did it." She admired, then sighed, drooping in the chair. "Too bad it's not an order for anyone. I'd get a pretty yuon." She muttered, but still she couldn't take her eyes off of it. Walking across the small shop floor, she pulled it over the wire dress-form mannequin set up in the corner of the room. Maybe someone would see it and decide to buy it?
The question was, who? It'd been a few days since any new customers entered the store, and even longer since any regulars came by. She credited that to the location of her store, smashed between two larger buildings, but just as old, who would look at this dinky place.
"Maybe if I painted a colorful sign...?" Tula thought as she poured hot water from the kettle for tea. "I don't have any paint but..I could sew letters out of fabric onto a banner of fabric...But then who would see it?"
The questions were a constant internal struggle as the seamstress walked back to the working area of her shop. Bolts of fabric were lined against the walls and propped against any available space. Bits of unfinished patterns or fabric were scattered on the chairs, in fact it was nearly impossible to see where chairs were.
"...I guess I could clean now that I have free time...again." She sighed, leaning down to pick up a few bolts of green colored fabric to organize them on the shelves.
