Chapter 11 The master wants to take her as his apprentice!
Seeing that the old master's attitude had softened, Su Mengxue knew that things were getting better. She immediately smiled and said, "If you don't believe what I say, I'll cut out the pattern for you right now."
Zhou Weidong was old and really wanted to recruit talented people, so he didn't refuse again: "Then I'll trust you this time."
Just as Su Mengxue was about to walk towards the sewing machine, the female apprentice standing next to Zhou Weidong couldn't help but remind her, "Master, this machine is new. You haven't even let me touch it, so how can you let an outsider..."
Before she finished speaking, Zhou Weidong turned around and glared at her, then said in a deep voice, "Go get a stool and a spool of fine cotton thread."
The female apprentice glared at Su Mengxue unhappily. Although she was very unhappy, she still took the things as her master instructed. She wanted to see what new tricks this country bumpkin could come up with.
Su Mengxue sat in front of the sewing machine. She took the pattern and gently pinched the edge of the fabric with her fingertips and fed it into the presser foot. After a few minutes of practice, the rhythm of her foot pedaling became as steady as a drumbeat.
As the fabric skillfully turned half a circle in her palm, fine stitches like silk meandered out. Within five minutes, she handed the finished pattern to the master.
Zhou Weidong looked at the lifelike butterflies on the cloth and couldn't help but take a closer look at it. Then he quickly picked up the glasses cloth on the table and wiped the lenses repeatedly before raising the cloth in front of his eyes again.
He turned sideways towards the light, stroking the stitches with his fingertips for a long time, then looked up at Su Mengxue with a look of amazement: "You are so good at making patterns, how come I don't know you?"
Su Mengxue raised her eyebrows calmly, knowing that the old master's words were a recognition of her. She muttered to herself that she was a person who traveled through time from the modern era, so naturally the old master had never seen her before.
Her eyes inadvertently swept across the wall clock. The hour hand pointed to ten o'clock, and there were less than two hours left until the birthday party of the old man of the Gu family.
She knew very well that the most important thing at the moment was to race against time to make a beautiful dress.
She looked at the old master, her eyes slightly raised, and a bright smile spread out: "Master, I grew up in the countryside, so naturally you don't recognize me. Now that you have just seen my skills, I wonder if you would be willing to lend me this machine to make some clothes? Don't worry, I will pay for the labor."
Zhou Weidong narrowed his eyes. "Labor fees?" He had been guarding this old shop for decades without any children. He wasn't short of money, but he was short of a successor who could pass on his craft.
He had seen too many apprentices in his life who held scissors but had no talent, but this girl was the only one who could embroider the butterfly on her fingertips to look like it was about to fly. Of course, he wanted to see how much more she could do.
He sat down beside her and responded readily, "The labor fee is waived. You can use anything here. I want to see your craftsmanship."
Su Mengxue thanked him and took a piece of brown paper from the table. After much deliberation, she decided to make the same retro cheongsam she had worn at last year's Paris Fashion Week. She gently tapped the neckline curve onto the brown paper.
"Do you want a double-breasted or slanted-breasted lapel?" Zhou Weidong couldn't help but stand up and move closer.
Without even looking up, Su Mengxue marked the positions of the seven buttons on the pattern. "I want a modified pipa-style collar, with two pleats at the front." She extended her hand to indicate the waistline. "Pinch out four centimeters at the waist, and a three-inch slant slit at the hem."
As she spoke, the tip of the chalk dragged across the kraft paper, making a slight rustling sound. In a trance, she seemed to be back in the countless late nights when she used to draw designs in the office.
"Do you want to hem the cuffs?" Zhou Weidong asked again.
Su Mengxue suddenly stopped writing. She bit her lip and thought for a moment before drawing a trumpet-shaped arc at the cuff: "I want to try a double-layer ruffle, with a circle of pearls on the outer layer."
After Su Mengxue finished speaking, she saw that the old master was still silent. She looked up at him and found that a light was shining in his gray eyes.
Seeing that he didn't say anything, she didn't bother to think too much and continued to draw. After she finished the whole pattern, Zhou Weidong stared at her finished drawing and said in a trembling voice: "Girl, who did you learn this skill from?"
After a moment's silence, Su Mengxue smiled at him and said, "I learned it from the tailor in our village."
"Which tailor? What's his name?"
Su Mengxue didn't expect the master to question her. She thought for a moment and replied unnaturally, "He has passed away."
"That's a pity." Zhou Weidong sighed and said, "Then you can continue."
Su Mengxue nodded at him and sat in front of the sewing machine. She took the light blue Dacron that the salesperson had helped her cut and gently put it into the presser foot. She put her index finger on the edge of the fabric and quickly changed to a thin needle.
The moment you step on the pedal, the metal gears make a light "clicking" sound and the stitches penetrate into the satin.
Her rhythm was surprisingly steady, and soon the curve of the cuff gradually took shape under her presser foot. Just after she had been operating the sewing machine for twenty minutes, Zhou Weidong suddenly exclaimed, "The dart hasn't been sewn yet!"
Su Mengxue, without even looking up, quickly traced three dotted lines on the fabric with her fingertips. The sewing machine needle suddenly sped up, instantly creating a dense backstitch pattern at the designated location. The three darts quickly closed in, and the waistline immediately took on a curvature that perfectly fitted her figure.
This is the "positioning seam" in modern three-dimensional tailoring, which is faster and more accurate than traditional dart cutting.
"What are you doing..." Zhou Weidong leaned in front of her, his nose almost touching the fabric: "You can determine the lines without using powder?"
"By feel." Su Mengxue answered briefly, and with a slight turn of her wrist, the fabric had completed a 90-degree turn.
"Stop!" Zhou Weidong suddenly said, "The golden thread has gone astray by half a hair!"
Su Mengxue smiled and shook her head, continuing to push the cloth forward. After a while, she pinched the cloth and shook it gently. The gold thread automatically returned to its place between the folds, and the layering of the pine needles appeared more three-dimensional than when it was still.
Zhou Weidong's calloused fingers trembled as he stroked the embroidery. His Adam's apple rolled heavily several times before he squeezed out a few words from between his teeth: "It's alive... The stitches are as if they're alive!"
Su Mengxue sewed the last button, stood up, shook open the cheongsam and draped it over her body. The lake blue satin fell along her body, and the butterfly embroidery on the lapel fell just at the waistline. The whole cheongsam was indescribably stunning and beautiful.
"You actually spent only one hour to make a cheongsam?" Zhou Weidong glanced at the wall clock, his voice full of disbelief.
Su Mengxue glanced at the hands. It was exactly eleven o'clock. She remembered that she had once set a record in the studio by completing a haute couture dress in forty minutes. At this moment, she seemed much more restrained.
She chuckled as she folded her cheongsam into a brown paper bag and said modestly, "It went well today."
Before she finished speaking, she took out ten yuan from her pocket and put it on the table: "Master, excuse me for disturbing you."
After she finished speaking, she walked out. When she reached the door, she suddenly heard the old man's hoarse shout from behind her: "Little girl, wait a minute!"
Su Mengxue turned around and saw the master quickly chasing after her. He said excitedly, "Little girl, do you want to learn tailoring from me?"
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