episode_0145

Ever since Emily took a day off, she’s been acting strange.

Her actions and speech are the same as usual, but her aura is weird.

I could strongly feel a mix of determination, solemnity, and an inexplicable pathos, so at first, I thought something had happened.

Even when I cautiously asked her what was wrong with a face full of worry, Emily cut me off firmly, saying, ‘Nothing happened.’ But the problem is, it 100% looks like something did happen.

If my mother were here, I would have run to her in a flash, but unfortunately, she wasn’t in the Imperial Capital this year due to my sister-in-law’s issue.

If my brother had seen results just a couple of months earlier, this wouldn’t have happened, but a child isn’t something that appears just because someone wants it, so I couldn’t blame anyone.

Normally, if I persistently pressed Emily, I could find out the reason along with her resentment, but this time, I felt a huge will from Emily that she wouldn’t talk.

It was just like that moment a few years ago when I asked, ‘How much do you weigh?’ and she looked at me like she was going to kill me while desperately keeping her mouth shut.

In the end, if I don’t get an answer even if I ask, and there’s no way for me to find out on my own, the only thing left to do is to watch Emily’s mood and wait.

So, even though it’s unsettling and bothersome, I have no choice but to focus on work as usual.

“Hoo…”

So, while trying to forget my anxiety about Emily, I picked up the top paper from the materials I had prepared for several days and looked at the person next to me.

“So, Elin, you’re fully prepared to learn tailoring, right?”

“Yes…! Oh, I can learn anytime…!”

“Good, excellent.”

Then Elin, who had moved her seat between me and Elizabeth in the past few days, nodded her head vigorously.

The first lesson since declaring she would become a tailor.

Perhaps because it was her first time, Elin was very nervous, but even so, she had an expression mixed with anticipation and passion, staring intently at the paper I was holding.

“Originally, you should learn about fabrics and threads first, but since you know most of that already, I’ll skip straight to drawing and cutting patterns, is that okay?”

“Yes…!”

“Then let’s lay the cotton on the workbench first. We’ll be practicing with cotton from now on, so unless I say otherwise, just lay the cotton down on your own.”

“Yes…”

Elin continued to answer with twice as much energy as usual, laying the cotton fabric on the workbench with precise movements.

It seemed like she was putting a lot of strength into her shoulders, but this would naturally go away after a few days, so it was okay.

Even if she doesn’t take it out herself, I’ll keep pushing her until it comes out.

“W-what should I do n-now…?”

Elin, who neatly spread the cloth on the workbench, looked up at me with sparkling eyes.

I held up one finger towards Elin and said.

“First of all, we’re going to make a tie, as our first garment.”

Tie.

A garment that is wrapped around the collar and tied in a knot, decorating the front of the shirt appropriately.

This essential element, which is never missing from modern suits, has a surprisingly long history compared to its simple shape.

It took quite a while for it to evolve from a scarf casually worn around the neck to a tie that is essential to suits.

The garment considered the ancestor of the modern tie started with the cravat, which was worn by Croatian soldiers in the early to mid-17th century to protect their necks.

Of course, if you look at its structure, it’s not much different from a scarf, so to put it simply, it’s a Croatian-style scarf, but it seems that Western Europeans found it quite stylish to tie a scarf well and wear it around their necks, so it spread like a trend.

But to be sure, it’s like an angel compared to the ruff or rebato that were popular before that.

A bib is 100 times prettier than a frilled-neck lizard.

A bib can be covered up elegantly if you arrange it well, but a frilled-neck lizard… ugh.

Thanks to that, or perhaps because it was less cumbersome than a ruff, people were satisfied with wearing this cravat, but they desperately wanted an improved version because the width of the cloth made the knot easily untied and it was difficult to arrange the knot nicely.

So, the things that were created while making a neck decoration that was easy and simple, didn’t untie easily, but was easy to arrange, were ties and bow ties.

If you tie a narrow and long piece of cloth in a dangling knot, it becomes a tie, if you make it into a bow shape, it becomes a bow tie, and if you make the bow shape a little more ribbon-like, it becomes a lavallière or a pussy bow, which is a women’s bow tie.

The good thing about this tie is that the shape is simple.

There’s no need to match the size strictly for each person, and you just need to adjust the width appropriately so that it’s not too big or too small.

However, the shape is not too simple like a rectangle, and there are slight bends or slopes, so it’s not a garment that can be made quickly just by adjusting the width.

In other words, it’s good for practicing as a first project.

So, in order to present it to His Majesty the Crown Prince on his upcoming birthday in a few weeks, for Elin’s practice garment, and to get rid of the annoying cravat, I brought it out from my memories.

A curriculum where I do some closed-door training with various widths and shapes of ties for a few days, and when I feel like my skills have improved a bit, I move on to shirts or dresses with some curves.

I don’t know what order actual tailors learn in, so I just arranged it in a way that I thought was good.

“A tie…? Is it s-something like a scarf…?”

Perhaps because she lost confidence in the name of the garment she was hearing for the first time, Elin’s face was filled with worry.

“It’s true that it’s worn around the neck, but it’s more similar to a cravat than a scarf. It’s a garment that is worn under the collar of a shirt and tied in a knot.”

“Ah…, I-I see…!”

But perhaps she imagined the shape roughly based on my explanation, the worry soon disappeared from her face and a smile appeared.

If I poke her like a grub, a reaction pops out right away, so the reaction is so delicious that the fun of explaining is rising up.

“B-but, how does a tie… look like…?”

“Like this.”

With a pleased smile on my face at Elin’s appearance of imagining it and then actively asking questions, I took out a sample I had made in advance and showed it to Elin.

Still not worn, so the long cloth is hanging down like a snake.

“It’s long…”

Perhaps because it was simpler than she had imagined, Elin’s expression brightened even more when she saw it.

“It’s a garment like a cravat, so you wear it under the shirt collar like this… and then… you tie the knot appropriately and put it well inside the jacket and vest, how is it?”

“It’s thinner than a cravat… and looks less stuffy…”

“That’s right, that’s a very important advantage of a tie.”

With an excellent review, I patted Elin’s head lightly and nodded.

It’s more comfortable than a cravat.

And the design is simple.

But the knot is strong.

These strengths of the tie were important factors that made the tie explosively popular in the 19th century, when suits were becoming increasingly simplified.

“The shape of a tie is simple, so if you match the starting point and angle well, you can draw it quickly. Here… if you look at the pattern I drew in advance, what are the shapes of each piece?”

“A pentagon… or a square…”

“That’s right, so if you think carefully about why you’re drawing it in this shape and draw the lines, you can make it easily.”

“Yes…”

“I’m going to have you practice with ties until you can draw patterns for ties of various widths without looking at the pattern, so let’s concentrate and follow along well, got it?”

“Yes…!”

“Okay, grab a pencil!”

“Yes…!”

_

Tailoring practice started with Elin’s energetic answer.

“W-William-nim…! I-I finished another one…!”

A little past 3 PM, Elin, who had presented her third result, held out the cut fabrics to me with trembling hands to see the evaluation of the shape and finish.

“Let’s see…”

I immediately put down what I was doing, took the cloth that Elin had cut, and narrowed my eyes to examine the cloth carefully, piece by piece.

“Hmm~ Good, your skills are improving quickly, you’re doing well.”

“Th-thank you…!”

Having examined the cloth closely as if disassembling and analyzing it, I gave a satisfactory smile and raised my thumb towards Elin.

Elin bowed her head deeply with a bright smile at my compliment.

Compared to what I had made, I could feel various mistakes and inexperience, but considering that today was her first day, her skills were very surprising.

Considering that you need to be able to read patterns well to do a good job of sewing, you might feel that it’s not that surprising, but there’s a big difference between seeing a picture and drawing it.

If this momentum continues, I had to change my thinking from ‘at the earliest’ next week to ‘at the latest’ next week to move on to the next stage, which I thought would take place.

“Today is excellent enough, so let’s rest a little and review well what I taught you today, and let’s make a better piece tomorrow, got it?”

“Yes…!”

There are still about 3 hours left, so she could make one more, but I was satisfied with the skill improvement that was close to being at the top of the class, beyond just passing, so I recommended Elin to take a break.

“Hehe…”

And I watched Elin return to her seat with a hearty smile.

She’s a disciple who has a lot of passion, is smart, and learns quickly, so I feel the fun of teaching her from beginning to end.

Ha~ Is this why you raise disciples?

I hope that even half of the people who come after seeing the advertisement I put in the newspaper resemble Elin.