Lace, Chiffon, Small Child . . . [CLOSED]

[Kasatsu]

His arrival would have been sooner but had been delayed on the simple nonexistence of a sense of direction. After having asked a few very nice people he had finally been able to find it.

Knocking on the door he greeted the familiar female with a smile. "Hi! Sorry it took me so long to come, but I finally found it"

Upon entering the house he was mesmerized at all of the surroundings. Every empty space was covered or crammed with different types of fabric or other art supplies. Though messy it was obvious that someone had tried to put some order to the mess.

He had never seen so much fabric and lace in one place before -- except for a few of the larger craft shops in the Capital.

"It is a very nice place you have here," he said with a small 'wow' aspect in his voice. "Tea would be lovely."

[Bee]

The tea--sweetened, of course, the only way to have tea, though Mom sometimes preferred what Vishne called "tea as black and bitter as her heart," which was uncharitable of him--was ready a few minutes later, and Iphis brought it out to his guest in his nicest teacups. Should he have brought a snack? He did have those sweet little cakes...somewhere...Oh well, there was time enough for that later. This wasn't a proper tea party, after all, this was work!

"We should probably start with all your basic stitches," he said, thoughtfully, sipping at his tea. He was awfully glad everyone had hands, though Nik's had some bird claw in them. He could probably hold the needle just fine with a bit of deft maneuvering, though. "I imagine you've got the straight stitch down but we should make sure they're...straight...and then we can try to basting stitch which is how we make ruffles..."

[Kasatsu]

He thanked him for the tea, it smelled wonderful. Taking a sip he flinched a little at finding it too hot. Guess he would have to wait a few moments before really getting to taste the sweet drink.

Placing the tea down he grabbed up his current work in progress. Listing to what he said he nodded, "I have learned it but I can not really say that I can do it too well." He looked down sadly at the doll that was in his lap. It was obvious at just an eye's glance that the stitching was not perfect - though it was definitely an improvement from his other works.

Excited to learn everything he could from her, though the lace did not really appeal to him all that much though it might come in handy later, he bounced gently in his chair. "And you are willing to teach me? What joy!"

[Bee]

Iphis let them both finish their tea before grabbing his equipment--some bright pink cloth with dark purple thread so the stitches would stand out and he could get a better look at them.

He figured Nik already knew how to properly thread a needle, but it never hurt to make sure. He'd tried teaching Helena a few times, back in the day, but she'd jammed the needle into her own paws so many times that she'd burst into tears, and then he'd burst into tears because she had, and they had cried all over his damask before calling it quits while she still had paws left. It had been a tragic time for everyone involved and he didn't want his guest to lose a finger. Sewing, he knew, could be a dangerous art.

He showed him the simple straight stitch and let him repeat it.

[Kasatsu]

He leaned in as close as he could without blocking the light while he watched as Iphis showed him how to hold the needle properly and form the stitches.

Taking the needle from Iphis he only had to adjust his hold on it once. While hands were wonderful they were times that they loved to impede on tasks. Bending over the cloth, he bit his tongue gently as he focused on his task. He was not usually this self conscious about others watching him work but this someone was different; she was judging his work after all, even if it was in a good way.

After making about five of them he held the cloth back out to the albino. He was pretty pleased with them, they were definitely better than some of the ones he had done in the past. He really did hope they would pass Iphis' ruling.

[Bee]

"Very good!" he said, approvingly. He had him do a few more, just to make sure he could carry out a longer, straight line, but he seemed to acquit himself well at the task. Eager pupils! There was nothing better. He felt like a proud mommy teaching a valuable life skill. "Now I'm going to show you how to do a backstitch. It's really strong--just do a stitch and a space, and bring it back, and pull it through the same distance on the other side of the stitch--like this--and keep on doing it till you hit the end of the fabric, that'll be good practice..."

He hoped the practical demonstration was making up for whatever failings existed in the verbal instructions--he never really excelled at directing people, as such; he'd spent a lot of time telling things to his dolls growing up, but they were persistently unresponsive.

[Kasatsu]

Nik gave a happy chirp under the canine's praise. He still would need to do some practicing to make it a real good stitch but it was work he was willing to do. Following her directions he did a few more of the straight stitch under her observant eye.

After he had completed those to her approval he watched her carefully as she demonstrated the next stitch method. The backward stitch looked like it was going to be a bit tougher to accomplish.

When she handed it back to him, he bent over it trying to copy all of the moves that she had demonstrated. He was pretty sure he had messed up somewhere when his attempt ended up in a knot and not a stitch.

Frowning he looked up at her with a confused expression. After she had shown him where he had made a mistake he redid the stitch then slowly worked on copying those till he had made a while line of them.

[Bee]

The backstitch they practiced for a bit until Nik had it down. He figured if they did this again--and they would, for his teaching skills were above-par!--he could start the time off with repeating the basics and then going into more complicated maneuvers. Repetition was what made it stick, right? That's why Iphis had to repeat "I will never ask Mother for anything" so many times when he was a kid. Though really, that hadn't worked out so well.

"All right," he said, "I'll teach you the running stitch, which is quite easy! Then maybe I can get Zeev to help make some snacks and you can do some rows of three things we've learned. Now, the running works just like this--fasten it with a backstitch or two, then just pull it in and out across the fabric--just remember to keep everything evenly spaced."

[Kasatsu]

Hearing the word 'food' his wings perked up. Now that attention was brought to it, he was finding that he was very hungry indeed. He would have to work to do though, he reminded himself. He still had to complete the next stitch patten.

Sewing was turning out to be much more difficult than he had first ever thought it to be. Taking a deep sigh he tried to clear his mind - though not completely - to allow room for the next stitch's directions to take root. Following them closely he did his best to copy them on his own row.

Once he completed those he gave a sigh of relief while admiring his work thus far. Three new stitches, he was definitely making progress. Now it would just be up to the whole 'practice' part of the hobby. Though, considering how many plans he had for future dolls he was sure to put all of them to use.

[Bee]

He kept his eye on the stitches for a couple more minutes, gently correcting when he deemed it appropriate, before announcing the he was going to head to the kitchen and make them some snacks. What all did he have in here? He wanted his guest to be well-fed with deliciousness. He still had some little cakes baked, didn't he? And he could make some cute little sandwiches. Everything was better with tiny sandwich wedges.

He pulled out his lunch equipment and went to work, a little sad that he had to leave his guest without company while he made them food. If only Zeev would arrive home soon, he could ask him to prepare some food while he played hostess.

The door opened, then. Iphis smiled at the pickles. "See, pickles, this is why we're lucky to have Zeev. His timing is flawless!" He peeked out the kitchen. "Zeev! Welcome home! Say hi to Nik, he's our guest!"