He often had regrets.
"Come on, come on- speed it up! Faster, come on, you can do better!" The needle jumped so fast it was a blur. He shoved the fabric through and the stitches were approximately right. With more time it would be better, but she wanted him to be proficient. That was the word Vivienne used, and said eventually he'd get better, with the added benefit of speed. She told him she was a qualified dressmaker and in time he'd have all the skills. From that he could develop more and start doing men's clothes. Women's clothes are easier she told him.
The first lesson was in making a skirt. It was simple. He was slow and Vivienne was impatient. From skirts he progressed to dresses. Getting the pattern was difficult, he had to draft it. She showed him how. He made a lot of dresses for her, each different in some way. As Vivienne said, some one had to be the model and he had no one else he could take into his confidence.
Slowly his proficiency improved. The stitches were straighter and he was unpicking less. The dresses were becoming more sophisticated too. From frumpy sun dresses he progressed to doing little black dresses that molded to her body tightly. He learned how to put in the darts that accommodated her bust, and taper for her waist before flaring it out for her hips. Vivienne tried them all on and showed him where he'd failed in the craftsmanship and the elements of design. It was frustrating.
Often, he wondered why he'd bought the sewing machine. He'd been shopping and wanted clear, crisp, cheerful colors, not clothes that, even in the stores, looked like they needed a good wash and could inspire a suicide. They were all so drab and uninteresting. Extremely frustrated, he drove home with nothing. On the way he passed a sewing machine shop, did a u turn and an hour later had his own sewing machine. It was fully electronic and portable- it wasn't the cheapest. He also paid for a course of lessons so he could use it.
Unfortunately, there were no courses in making men's clothes, He hoped he could adapt after learning dressmaking. It all seemed so easy. Until he started. He was the only one in his class. Vivienne gave him so much attention he was embarrassed. She had many other students in other classes, but none were beginners like him. He was determined and took a lot of work home.
It took a while for him to be comfortable with the lessons. Her constant attention and the warm press of her breasts on his back, as she showed him things, became familiar and welcome. His last dress was a little one. When she returned to the room wearing it, Vivienne was delighted and pirouetted in front of him.
"Beautiful!" she told him and as she paraded before him she felt the fit and surveyed it for faults. She stopped and with a quick movement pulled her panties down and off.
"It doesn't need panty lines!" she explained and continued to show him how he'd got the dress's architecture right. She bent forward and back and explored how right the fit was. When she squatted they both saw the dress ride up her thighs. She giggled.
"Very sexy. I think it's important I keep my legs together," and in front of him Vivienne spread them. The little red dress rode further up her thighs, For a moment there was a flash of pink and manicured hair. "Very sexy," she said again and laughed, "A girl can easily show what she's got and it's so accidental."
For the rest of the two hours she kept the dress on and her panties off. She teased and was provocative while they went into the elements of jacket and coat design. With a jacket in her lap she showed him glimpses of more than how the jacket was lined.
As ever, the essence of style is tight measurements and she talked of how to add space for the clothes under the jacket. It was difficult concentrating on the prosaics while Vivienne sat in front and her legs opened and closed. It was apparent she shaved her labia and left a carefully managed thatch above. He had a feeling he was being tested. Dressmaking is very much about propriety and managing indiscretions.
Jackets and coats are difficult. They can easily look frumpy. The elegance of a tight cut is limited by practicality. Padding is added sensitively. A woman looks wonderful with her shoulders squared a little but excessive padding looks terrible. No woman wants to look like a soldier. Elegant is the word and the dressmaker's endeavor, he was told. Coats are also expensive to make because the fabric costs a fortune. He was pleased to achieve proficiency and be able to move on.
The contrast of dressmaking with his masculine, working world of shoveling sand and cement into a mixer and carting hods* of cement to the bricky was enormous.
The ambience of the lessons was awkwardly comforting. It was never a bloody needle or the fucking thread and there was always a "duck on the pond"*. At his dressmaker's lessons he couldn't fart roof lifters or belch the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". It required constant vigilance. His fingers had become a lot more nimble. His work mates saw him using hand cream along with gloves and were polite but concerned.
His interest in dressmaking increased. The lessons and challenges of them were consuming. He had the constant thought of her long black hair tickling the back of his neck while her breasts moved across his back. She often showed him techniques. He shivered with the recollection. Her encouraging voice and generous smile were always with him. Her lithe body demonstrating the proficiency of his skill was enduring. She always told him, "It's not ours- it's yours. You made it." Thoughts of her generosity, honesty and dignity rolled around in his head continually. She often laughed and was frequently tough. She was beautiful. He loved the culture. It was a long way out of his league as a brick layer's laborer.
Making trousers was challenging. He'd never thought so many things had to be considered. As with dresses the drop of the fabric had to be considered. Areas of reinforcement were important to provide sufficient wear from the item. He was interested in pockets and ensured the fabric for them was strong. As Vivienne demonstrated, their placement was important. She stood in front of him in her panties as he measured. He made many pairs of trousers and pants. For every pair he used the cloth tape measure and she showed him the manners of using the end with the long metal piece to measure her inner leg. She ensured he became familiar with the process.
The panties she wore became increasingly brief and transparent. He never deviated from the tasks and methodology of dressmaking. She showed him the elements of cut, how elegance was important along with the freedom to be able to move while wearing it. Too often, she explained, trousers made it uncomfortable to do many things. One certainly wouldn't squat. He learned how to make a sturdy belt too that was appropriate for the pants. Vivienne was pleased with his progress and proficiency. After a few months she felt sufficiently secure in moving to the next challenge.
When the bra making lessons started, Vivienne wanted to know how he would make one. He told her he'd get a pattern. She said, as a dressmaker, he should be able to draft his own. He sat as her fingers undid buttons and he watched as her shirt fell from her shoulders. She looked back at him and challenged him to look at the bra she was wearing.
"This is a very good bra," she told him, and then went through the reasons as to why. Vivienne showed him how the cups were smooth and rounded without puckering, of how they hid her nipples and enhanced the shape of her breasts. For some time she talked about the cut, the engineering and so many things. She removed her bra and they looked at the inner surface of the cups. She showed him how to find pressure points by looking for the indents on her breasts.
They worked on bras for a long time. They're difficult to make. Initially, Vivienne insisted he show her how he'd make one. He was embarrassed and shy. She laughed and helped when he put her breasts, one at a time, in a full bucket of water so the displaced water was caught in a bowl. From that they measured the volume and substituted the water with modeling clay to shape it appropriately. They stretched fabric over, pinned it into place and with a marking pen worked out where the seams were to be.
She said it was the most comprehensive plan she'd seen and the finished bra was the best any student had made. He was very flattered with the praise. Vivienne also said she'd never had so much fun making a bra. When she tried it on she said it was almost perfect. Later, she removed it and they both carefully checked her breasts for pressure points.
Then she showed him the correct way. He didn't like it as much and understood his method more. Vivienne thought it funny and said perhaps he should continue with it. They made many bras and her generosity in being his model was greatly appreciated. She once said, with a wry smile, her breasts had never been handled so much. He was embarrassed by the observation.
The course was coming to an end and he wanted some way to show her his appreciation. He decided to make a complete outfit for her. It was challenging to decide what to make.