Page 20 of Bride in Blue
“It appears we have a mutual friend.”
“Who?”
Before Max could respond, her father walked in the room.
“Maximillian, I went through all the pants in your office. These aren’t double hemmed. It makes a difference in the quality,” he said, his crooked finger pointing to the bottom of the pants. “If they are charging you more than $1 a pair, they should be double-hemmed.”
Max pulled the trousers over and looked at the cuff. “They appear to be hemmed correctly.”
“This is a single hem,” he said, pointing to where the fabric was just folded once. “And you can see that the edges weren’t sewn so if the tacking fails, the pants leg will fray.” Her father sat down next to Max and picked up the pants. He flipped the fabric back and forth. “A double-hem is where they stitch along the edge of the fabric to prevent fraying. It is then folded over twice and tacked. You can’t see the edging and if something happens with the first fold, the second fold will keep the hem in place.”
“What are you doing, Father?” Cassie asked.
“Hal offered to take a look at the pants I just received. Your father knows quite a bit about the garment industry.”Hal? Max was calling her father by his Christian name.
“I can’t imagine,” Cassie said dryly.
“You know,” Hal offered. “We could help you fix these. Cassie is an excellent seamstress. It would bring you an extra twenty-five cents a pair.”
“I think there are several women in town that take in sewing,” Max commented.
“Perhaps. But you would have the ability to measure each customer and have them fixed right there on the spot. Is there a tailor in town?”
“No, there isn’t. Everything is shipped already made, apart from the fabric in the dry good stores.”
“Father is correct. I worked at one of the factories back home.” Max raised his eyebrow and looked at her.
“What did you do?” Max inquired.
“I finished the pants and jackets before they were ready to sell.”
“So, you understand notions?”
“Notions?”
“Threads and stuff, girlie. Like what you were doing back home.”
Cassie looked from her father back to Max. “Uh… yes, I do know about needles and thread quality.”
Max seemed to be giving careful thought to what her father was saying. “So, you think we can get an extra 25 cents per pair of pants if they are double hemmed?” Her father nodded. “How much would it cost me?”
“You pay what you think is fair. How about per pair of pants finished?” Hal offered.
Max nodded. “I think that is a fine idea. We can start Monday.”
“Why not today or tomorrow?”
“Today you need to rest and recover from your journey. Miss Cassie here,” he said pointing to her, “desperately needs to bathe, and so do you, Hal. Tomorrow is church. I rest on Sundays.”
Cassie stopped going to church when her mother died. Her father didn’t want to attend with her, and she didn’t want to go alone.
“I don’t do church.”
“Well then I hope you have the money to stay at the hotel because the boarding rooms are full and if you are under my roof, you go to church.”
Cassie gave a gasp. No one had dared stand up to her father.
“I guess I should make arrangements for us to go to the hotel,” Cassie said, standing.
