Two days after my fever, it finally went down.
Festive Clothing alterations were also quite risky. At this rate, I'd probably end up with another fever by the time the alterations were finished. Thinking about that, I climbed out of bed and went looking for my mother.
There she was at a table pulled up to the kitchen hearth, working away alongside Turi on some handiwork. It seemed that while I'd been laid up with my fever, they hadn't been able to do the Festive Clothing alterations, so they'd thrown themselves into other sewing projects instead.
"Oh, Mine. Has your fever gone down?"
"Mm-hm."
"Then shall we continue with the alterations today?"
Mother Reluctantly set aside her handiwork and spread out the Festive Clothing.
"What about Dad? Morning shift?"
"Just the day shift, but the snow's deep so he already left."
Soldiers got drafted into snow-clearing on the main roads too. Dad often grumbled while drinking that there was supposedly some special hazard pay for the shoveling, but it wasn't worth the backbreaking labor.
"Here, Mine. Put on the Festive Clothing for me."
Looking at the short-sleeved, thin fabric spread out with a snap, my cheeks tightened involuntarily. If I wore what Mother suggested, I'd probably work up another fever just standing in front of the hearth.
"Mom, would it be okay to wear a long-sleeved shirt underneath, even just one layer?"
"Then it won't fit properly, you know."
"That's fine. I'll have grown bigger by summer anyway."
Mother pressed a hand to her cheek, her brow furrowing with deep suspicion as she tilted her head. After letting her gaze wander as she thought it over, she let out a sigh.
"...Would that even be possible?"
I wished she'd at least said something like "I'm counting on it"!
Not wanting another fever, I insisted on wearing a long-sleeved shirt under the Festive Clothing and managed to secure permission to do the alterations.
"The biggest fit problem is the shoulders. What should we do about this?"
Just as Mother said, when wearing Turi's Festive Clothing, the shoulders were the most slouchy and unsightly part. So, I gathered the entire shoulder width together tightly. This created an off-the-shoulder dress with draped fabric bunched at the shoulders.
"But that leaves your shoulders exposed, doesn't it?"
"Mm. So I'll attach shoulder straps using some spare cloth or string right here near the neck. If there are any scraps left over from when this Festive Clothing was made, that'd work. If not, maybe something in blue? It'd match the embroidery and the sash."
"I do have scraps left. More than enough for shoulder straps."
Mother rummaged through the fabric box and brought over some scraps. She rolled them into cord-like strips and sewed them on as shoulder straps. The slouchy, unflattering dress with exposed shoulders was now an off-the-shoulder-style piece with camisole-like straps.
"Ah, that way the shoulders won't slip down."
Mother nodded with satisfaction, then furrowed her brow and pointed at the side of the dress.
"Mine, no matter how you look at it, this fabric at the sides is awful. What should we do about it?"
Bunching up the shoulder fabric had caused the excess material to gather at the sides. I pinched that section and tilted my head.
"Since we're cinching the waist with a wide sash anyway, wouldn't it be fine to have some extra fabric bunched at the sides?"
"Absolutely not. It looks terrible."
"Hmm? Then what about this—if we pleat it neatly and sew it down? It'd take some effort, but it'd be cute, right?"
I carefully folded the offending fabric at even intervals, creating about three tucks running from the chest down toward the sides. Sewing each one individually would be tedious, but it would use up the excess fabric and make the chest area look decorative.
"...Alright. That works."
Mother, who had been groaning, finally nodded and then held out her hand to me.
"I can't sew this with you still wearing it, obviously."
I took off the Festive Clothing and handed it to her. Then I immediately bundled on several layers and let out a breath of relief. Honestly, it was cold. By the time the Festive Clothing was finished, I'd probably be running a fever again.
"You're so lucky, Mine. That Festive Clothing is going to look so fancy."
Turi gazed at the tucks Mother had started stitching and let out an envious sigh.
With all those fluttery, draped sections, it certainly did look luxurious. But that was really just because Turi and I were built so differently. Normally, sisters wouldn't need this kind of alteration, and I felt a little guilty about putting Mother through the extra work.
"...Well, Turi and I are just too different in size. But remaking it would be a huge pain, so this is the only option. This Festive Clothing was originally made for you, Turi, right? New clothes always go to you, Turi. I just get your hand-me-downs."
"Oh, right."
Not being able to wear new clothes was the fate of those born later. Even Turi, the eldest, got most of her everyday clothes from neighborhood hand-me-downs, and rarely got anything new.
"While Mom's busy sewing, maybe I'll make some hair ornaments."
I decided to use the time it took Mother to finish the tucks to make my own hair ornaments. Since I was going to the trouble of making them, I wanted something a little different from the store-bought kind.
"Mom, I want to make a hair ornament for myself. Can I use our thread?"
"Since we don't need to make Festive Clothing for you anymore, it's fine to use thread for hair ornaments."
"Thanks."
Last year, nobody understood what I meant by making hair ornaments, so getting thread had been a struggle. But this year, since they knew what I was doing, I could get it without any resistance.
Feeling the importance of mutual understanding, I picked up the undyed thread.
"I think it was something like this..."
Digging through my memories, I began crocheting small, rounded flowers that looked like lilies of the valley with a fine hook.
Turi, who had finished one handmade hair ornament, leaned in to peer at my hands.
"Mine, what's this? The shape is a bit different from the little flowers you made for Frieda, and different from the handmade ones too?"
"These are decorations for the Hairpin I'll use at my
"You're going to all this trouble and not making something like Frieda's? Those were so pretty and elegant."
Turi had been fond of the rose-shaped flowers, and she pursed her lips as she rolled one of my lily-of-the-valley-like buds between her fingertips.
"The thread quality is different, so I don't think I can make them the same way."
Thinking of the exquisite, glossy red roses I'd made for Frieda, I let out a light sigh. Even making them the same way, I wouldn't be able to produce anything that compared.
Thinking about that, Turi grabbed the crochet hook.
"If it doesn't have to be the same, then I'll make them. Just like you made things for me, I want to make something for you too."
"Thanks, Turi. Then would you make the big rose like the one I made for Frieda, but a little bigger?"
Touched by Turi's kindness, I decided to entrust the rose portion to her. The big, eye-catching roses would look far better coming from Turi's more skilled hands.
"Turi, do you remember how to make it?"
"I'm not you, you know. Of course I remember. Leave it to me."
...Sorry for being so forgetful.
I left the rose-making to Turi and kept diligently producing small flowers. Since I wasn't exactly fast even when working hard, by the time I'd finished three, Mother had already completed all the tucks.
"Mine, try on the Festive Clothing for me."
"Mm-kay."
Putting on one more long-sleeved layer, I donned the Festive Clothing.
It was now an off-the-shoulder dress with tucks across the upper body. The tucks made the fluttering sleeves fall into a natural-looking drape.
"Mom, hand me the sash. I want to try it on."
"Sure."
When I cinched the wide blue sash tightly, the skirt took on a soft, balloon-like fullness.
"While I was sewing it, I didn't think much of it, but looking at it now, it's really cute."
"Because I'm cute?"
"Because of my skill."
We glanced at each other and burst into quiet giggles. Then Mother rolled her shoulders.
"All that's left is the hem. It's fine as-is shape-wise, but it's way too long."
Turi's knee-length dress would reach my ankles.
I didn't know who had decided it, but around here the rule was that skirts for children up to age ten had to be knee-length. Incidentally, mini skirts apparently didn't exist. If anything, the skirts on one- or two-year-olds, whose thighs were so short that knee-length looked like a mini, were the closest thing.
And, annoyingly, both too short and too long were unacceptable.
Calf-length skirts were for ages ten to fifteen. Once you came of age, a length that didn't even show your ankles was considered proper. The only women who could wear such long, flowing skirts were those who didn't need to work.
The skirt length for Mother and the other neighborhood ladies—all perfectly respectable working-class women—was about ankle-length.
"Should I pinch and pleat the hem the same way I did the shoulders?"
"I think pinching it in about two places in the front and two in the back would work. What do you think?"
"Mm, that sounds about right."
I pinched the hem in four spots to bring it up to knee-length, and it created a drape like balloon curtains.
After stitching it in place with thread, I decorated it with the same small flowers I'd used for the hair ornaments so the thread wouldn't show. Then I arranged the drapes so the embroidery that had been on the hem showed nicely, and the Festive Clothing was complete.
"It looks like something a rich young lady would wear."
"...Mm."
With tucks across the chest, fluttering wave-like sleeves, and a balloon-shaped drape at the hem, this decorative Festive Clothing, made with generous amounts of fabric, didn't look like a poor family's Festive Clothing no matter how you viewed it.
What I'd intended as a sneaky fix—pinching up the unsightly baggy parts and sewing them down—had resulted in a design that would be rare even among the wealthy. It was clearly beyond our station.
"...Maybe I should have just remade it from scratch?"
"It didn't take nearly as much work as I expected, so it was easy enough for me... but this really stands out, you know?"
Turi, overhearing Mother's words, gave a light shrug and pointed at the hair ornament she was still working on.
"Isn't that obvious at this point? The hair ornaments are going to stand out too, so it doesn't make much difference."
Even Turi, who had simply braided her hair and worn hair ornaments that nobody around her had, had been eye-catching enough to catch Frieda's attention.
The new Hairpin I was making would be just as conspicuous, so it didn't change the fact that we'd attract notice.
Frieda had said that attracting attention was good advertising for the hair ornaments. I decided to just embrace it.
"Since it's done and it's cute, I'm fine with attracting attention. We're going with this!"
This was the Festive Clothing I'd completed by sacrificing my own health with a fever.
Besides, compared to the frilly, mini-length maid outfit that Reina had been forced to wear at a cultural festival during her high school days, this was a far more subdued design. And since it was knee-length, there was nothing embarrassing about it.
"If you're happy with that, Mine, I don't mind. So, what kind of hair ornaments are you making?"
Mother leaned in with great interest to look at the rose Turi was crafting.
"Turi is making these big flowers for me, so I'm going to make over ten more of these small ones."
"I'll help too. It's a celebration for you, after all."
Chuckling, Mother pulled a crochet hook from her sewing box.
"Thanks. Then can I also have some blue thread and light blue thread? Enough to make about three small flowers each."
"Oh, fine. I suppose."
"Yes!"
All three of us sat there busily crocheting away, producing the hair ornaments.
With three people working, it went fast. Three large white roses, three blue small flowers, three light blue small flowers, and fifteen white small flowers. All the pieces were completed within a single day.
"How are you supposed to arrange these?"
"Aren't there too many small flowers?"
"It'll be a surprise once it's done. Don't look while I'm making it."
Even grinning and saying something like that, there was only one place to work, so everything was in plain view.
I could feel their gazes flicking over toward me as they pretended not to look, and I knew they wanted to ask questions but were keeping quiet because they'd promised not to peek. It was a little amusing.
"I'm home. Ah, I'm exhausted again today. Spent the whole day dealing with snow and drunks."
Saying things like that, Father came through the door.
He'd apparently brushed off the snow before coming inside, but some still clung to him. While Turi and I batted it off with quick pats, I asked Father a question.
"Dad, did you finish the Hairpin for my Baptism Ceremony?"
"Yeah, hang on a sec."
Grinning proudly, Father retrieved a Hairpin from the storage shed. It had been carefully carved and polished, and the smooth feel of it—evidence of all the time and care he'd invested—made the corners of my mouth curve upward of their own accord.
"How's that?"
"It's beautiful. So smooth, not a single snag. Thank you, Dad."
I sewed a small cloth bearing three white roses onto the hole in the Hairpin Father had made. Then, threading a needle through that cloth, I strung small flowers at even intervals so they'd dangle and sway below like hanging wisteria blossoms.
The flower closest to the rose was blue, followed by light blue, then five in undyed white. With a subtle gradient, the ornament ended up as three dangling strands of seven small flowers each.
I'd modeled it on the hair ornaments that Reina had worn with her yukata, but it turned out even better than I'd expected. It really looked like something for a special occasion.
"Wow, the way it sways is so pretty! Mine, put it on!"
"Since you've gone to all the trouble, show us in the Festive Clothing too. Dad's the only one who hasn't seen it."
"That's right. I'd like to see how it looks with the actual Festive Clothing on, not just over a long-sleeved shirt."
Pushed along by my family, I changed into the Festive Clothing and pinned the Baptism Ceremony ornament next to the current hair ornament.
"Oh, Mine. That's incredible! Everyone will surely think you're some young lady from a prominent family. It's far more detailed and beautiful than Frieda's outfit I saw the other day. And to think this was a hand-me-down from Turi—nobody would ever believe it was altered. Well done,
Father praised me while simultaneously complimenting his wife's sewing skills with a deftness that was almost its own talent, gazing at my Festive Clothing with admiration.
Mother gave a wry smile at his words and scolded him lightly.
"It's rude to compare it to Frieda's outfit, since the quality of the fabric is entirely different. But considering how easily it was altered, it turned out wonderfully fancy and cute. It really makes a difference when there's extra fabric to work with."
"I'm saying that if the fabric were the same quality, Effa's version would turn out better."
"Oh,
Somehow my parents had drifted into their own little world.
Watching their lovey-dovey interactions play out right in front of me was emotionally exhausting. For someone who had never been part of a happy couple since Reina's days, having them flaunt their relationship at me was just too much.
I wanted to escape. Was there anything I could do?
What pulled me out of my abandoned feelings and back to reality was Turi, who had been focused on the back hair ornament and had been outside my line of sight.
"Mm, it's cute! It's really cute, Mine! The clothes are gorgeous and cute, but the hair ornaments are especially nice. The swaying decorations really draw the eye, and your hair is that deep blue like the night sky, so the white flowers really stand out."
"You think so?"
That's my Turi. My angel.
Taking her cue, I spun around with my back to my parents. Just getting them out of my field of vision was a relief.
"While I was making it, I was worried the decorations might be too big. But looking at them on now, they're really not."
"My hair doesn't have much volume compared to your fluffy hair, Turi, so I need to dress it up with ornaments or it'd look plain next to the clothes."
"Wow, really?"
Even just standing there talking, I was shivering nonstop in the thin, summery Festive Clothing. Goosebumps rose all over my body, and an unpleasant shiver crawled up my spine.
"A-choo!"
Startled by my sneeze, Mother elbowed Father aside and hurried over to me.
"Mine, that's enough with the Festive Clothing. Get changed and go to bed right now. You'll get another fever."
"A-choo! ...Mom, I think you're a bit late. My spine was already tingling with cold, and now my neck's starting to feel warm."
I was rushed into pajamas and tossed into bed, but I could feel my fever climbing steadily.
Crawling under the slightly prickly straw mattress, I let out a long sigh.
Well, I'd figured from the start that I'd probably end up with another fever. It was just how things went.
Would my body ever get a little stronger?
Mine's Festive Clothing and hair ornaments were completed at the cost of her health.
At first glance, the outfit has the air of a young lady from a wealthy family, and the Hairpin was inspired by a yukata hair ornament.
Next time: