Published: July 26, 2025
Two days after running a fever, the heat finally broke.
Altering the formal kimono was quite risky. At this rate, I’d probably get sick again by the time the alterations were finished. Thinking that, I got out of bed and looked for my mother.
In front of the hearth in the kitchen, a table was pushed close, and there were my mother and Tulli diligently doing handwork. Apparently, since I’d been ill, no alterations could be done on the formal kimono, so they had been focusing on handcrafting instead.
“Oh, Myne. Has your fever gone down?”
“Yeah.”
“Then, shall we continue with the alterations today?”
Mother reluctantly put away her handwork and began spreading out the formal kimono.
“What about Father? Is he on morning duty?”
“He’s on the afternoon shift, but since the snow is heavy, he’s already gone out.”
Soldiers were also drafted to shovel snow on the main road. I’d heard Father complain often over drinks that although they got extra pay for the snow shoveling, it was backbreaking labor that wasn’t worth it.
“Alright, Myne. Put on the formal kimono.”
Seeing the thin half-sleeved fabric spread out, my cheeks twitched involuntarily. If I wore it as mother said and stood near the hearth, I’d probably get sick again.
“Mother, can I wear a long-sleeved shirt underneath, even just one?”
“That won’t fit perfectly then.”
“That’s fine. I’ll grow by summer.”
Mother pressed her hand to her cheek, furrowing her brows in suspicion and tilting her head. After looking around as if recalling something, she sighed.
“…That might be difficult.”
I wished she had at least said she was hoping for it!
Not wanting to get sick again, I insisted on wearing a long-sleeved shirt beneath the formal kimono to get permission to continue the alterations.
“The shoulders are the biggest mismatch in size. What should we do about that?”
As Mother said, the most ill-fitting and sloppy part when wearing Tulli’s formal kimono was the shoulders. So, we gathered all the shoulder width tight together, which created draped off-shoulder dress-like folds.
“This will expose your shoulders.”
“Yeah. So, I’ll attach some sort of strap made from fabric or string near the neckline. If there’s any leftover cloth from when this kimono was made, that would work. If not, maybe some blue-colored cloth? It should match the embroidery and sash, so it’ll be fine.”
“There’s leftover fabric. This should be enough for the shoulder straps.”
Mother rummaged through the fabric box and brought out the scraps. After rolling the scraps into cords, she sewed them on as shoulder straps. The once sloppy dress that would slip off the shoulders was now an off-shoulder dress with camisole-like straps.
“Ah, this way your shoulders won’t slip.”
Mother nodded in satisfaction, then frowned and pointed to the side of the garment.
“Myne, this side fabric here is quite unsightly no matter what. What do we do about it?”
Because we gathered the shoulder fabric tight, the rippling cloth collected toward the sides. I pinched that part and tilted my head.
“Since we’re going to cinch the waist with a wide sash anyway, a little bunching at the sides shouldn’t be a problem, right?”
“No, it’s unsightly.”
“Really? How about folding it into pleats and sewing it properly like this? It’s more work, but it’ll look cute, right?”
I carefully folded the fabric in even intervals, making three tucks from the chest toward the sides. Sewing each one would be tedious, but it got rid of the excess fabric and decorated the chest nicely.
“…Alright, that sounds good.”
Mother, who had been hesitating, nodded and then reached out to me.
“You’ll have to take it off to sew this part.”
I took off the formal kimono and handed it to her. Then, piling on multiple layers of clothes, I sighed in relief. Honestly, it was cold. I’d probably get sick again by the time the kimono was finished.
“Wow, Myne, your formal kimono is turning out so gorgeous.”