The Pentium Era - South to North

Zhang Chen returned home on his bicycle. He was sweating profusely and couldn't care less. After putting down his things, he took the washbasin and went downstairs to the pool. He put the flower cloth he just bought into the basin and soaked it for a while. , which he also learned from books, is called pre-shrinking. Many fabrics will shrink. Soak them first to allow the fabric to shrink first, and then cut and make the garment without deformation.

Zhang Chen hung the piece of cloth to dry on the railing of the corridor on the second floor, then went to the bathroom to take a shower, returned to the room, and started drawing in a sketchbook.

The body deformation of pregnant women mainly occurs below the breasts. Zhang Chen imagined that the waistline could be raised below the breasts like the ethnic skirts worn by North Korean women seen in movies. Here, a lace should be added horizontally to the waistline, and below the lace, Make the lower part of the skirt look like a pleated skirt by adding lots of pleats to cover the bulging belly.

The upper part is fitted. In order to make it easier to put on and take off, and to keep cool, Zhang Chen opened an inverted Ω opening in the front. Zhang Chen imagined adding a pair of buckles on the top so that the inverted Ω opening would not be open. .

After finishing the drawing in the sketchbook, Zhang Chen then took out Xiao Zhao's maternity skirt and shirt from the cabinet, measured the relevant dimensions with a soft ruler and recorded them. Then he looked at the drawing and used a pencil to mark it on a piece of kraft paper. , list all the large and small pieces needed for this maternity dress, mark the relevant sizes, and double-check that they are correct.

Zhang Chen spread the kraft paper on the table and opened the cutting book. He stood there with his eyes closed and went through what he remembered in his mind. Then he lowered his head to read and checked whether he had missed anything. Then he took a deep breath. Ready to start drawing board.

Zhang Chen himself laughed. He thought that when he was painting a scene measuring several meters by several meters, he was not so nervous. He just drew with a brush. How could he check it over and over again for fear of making a mistake? Are you confident?

It doesn't matter if this paper template is damaged. At worst, it will just be printed again. It's just a waste of a few pieces of kraft paper.

I thought so and smiled like this, but when I really wanted to do it, I still continued to be nervous. Zhang Chen thought to himself that this was probably because he wanted to succeed at once too much. This seemed to have become a test for himself.

It took Zhang Chen more than an hour to draw a simple pattern of a maternity skirt. He used scissors to cut out pieces of paper patterns, and then he realized that he still lacked a woman's stand, otherwise he could use a pin to insert the pattern into the pattern. Get on the stage and check the effect.

Zhang Chen checked the entire set of paper patterns, but still felt uneasy. After thinking about it, he picked up the paper patterns and walked out. He was ready to ask Xiao Zhao for help and see if there was anything wrong with his paper patterns.

When he reached the corridor outside, he used his hands to explore the flower cloth hanging on the railing. It was already dry, and he decided to come back and collect it again.

Zhang Chen walked to Sanbao Street and arrived at Xiao Zhao's tailor shop. The business of the tailor shop was light. Caidi was sleeping on the sewing machine table while Xiao Zhao was sitting in front of the cutting table, flipping through a magazine with colorful covers.

This kind of magazine would either write about some big gold theft, or some love-murder case that shocked the whole country, or someone's history of sudden wealth.

When Xiao Zhao saw Zhang Chen come in, he threw the magazine aside. It seemed that he had read the magazine countless times and was really bored, so he picked it up and flipped through it again.

Zhang Chen and Xiao Zhao explained their intention. Xiao Zhao patted the cutting table and said to Zhang Chen, come on, put it here.

Zhang Chen put the paper pattern on the cutting table, opened the sketchbook, and showed the picture he drew to Xiao Zhao.

Xiao Zhao asked: "Did you draw this?"

Zhang Chen said yes.

"How come it's better than the one in the book?"

Zhang Chen chuckled.

Caidi also woke up and came over after hearing their conversation. She looked at the picture and thought it was very good.

"I've never seen maternity clothes like this before. It's more like fashion. Did you design it for Xiao Zhao?" Caidi asked.

Zhang Chen said yes, aren’t we selling clothes? I’ve seen a lot of them, and I wanted to try painting myself.

"Do you want to be a designer?" Caidi asked.

"Just like this, can I be a designer?" Zhang Chen asked back.

"Of course, you can draw better than the designers in our previous factory. He deals with designers every day. Just ask him." Caidi pointed at Xiao Zhao and said to Zhang Chen.

"Yes, they are not as good as you." Xiao Zhao said, "Many times they don't know what to do with the ghost pictures they draw. I suspect they are all copied."

Xiao Zhao looked at the picture, put the paper patterns together piece by piece, and after measuring all the dimensions with a ruler, he raised his head and asked Zhang Chen: "Is this your first time making a pattern?"

Zhang Chen is right.

"It's really amazing. I hit everything right."

Zhang Chen breathed a sigh of relief and said quickly: "Thank you, thank you, I'm not sure at all. I want you to take a look at everything."

"You're welcome, we have nothing to do anyway."

"By the way, when you put this pattern on the fabric, how many seams should be left?" Zhang Chen asked, "One centimeter?"

"do it yourself?"

Zhang Chen nodded.

"If you do it yourself, leave two centimeters first, and you will cut off a little when you copy the edges. If you don't have good hand control."

Zhang Chen said yes.

"Bring over Xiao Zhao's clothes and I'll give her a car." Caidi interrupted, "I won't charge you."

Zhang Chen said thank you. It’s not a matter of money. I just want to try it myself.

Xiao Zhao rolled his eyes at Caidi and said to her, "What do you know? This is a gift of love!"

Zhang Chen couldn't help but laugh after such sour words came out. Damn it, have you read too many colorful magazines like this?

Zhang Chen asked Caidi with a smile: "Did he give you any gifts of love?"

"Him?" Caidi curled her lips and said, "Yes, I used to be a team leader in the factory, but he abducted me into this miserable place and I almost didn't have anything to eat. Is this a gift of love? "

Caidi asked Xiao Zhao, who blushed when she asked, and Zhang Chen laughed.

Zhang Chen then asked Caidi, do you know how to do pan buckle?

"What color do you want it to be?"

Zhang Chen saw a bag of scraps of cloth on the cutting table, and there was a piece of emerald green cotton in it, so he said he wanted this color.

Caidi took out the scrap of cloth and told Zhang Chen that you should first pay attention to the grain of the cloth and cut it diagonally like this.

While Caidi was talking, she cut a piece of cloth about a foot long and about an inch wide from the scrap of cloth. She folded it in half and put it under the presser foot of the sewing machine. With a click, the machine passed a line and took it out. Get up and say to Zhang Chen:

"If you want the buttons to be fuller and firmer, don't trim the seam allowance. Let it be wrapped in. If you want it to be deflated and softer, trim the seam allowance."

Zhang Chen looked at it and kept nodding.

Caidi opened the small drawer next to the sewing machine and took out a bicycle spoke. The head of the spoke was ground thin and bent into a small hook. She put the spoke through the finished strip of cloth. Thread it out, hook the edge of the fabric with a curved hook, pull it back and inward, and turn the entire strip of cloth over, turning it into a round strip of cloth as thick as a sweater needle.

She cut off a section with scissors and told Zhang Chen to keep this as a buckle.

Then fold the other section in half and place it on the index finger of your left hand. Use your right hand to pick up the right line segment and twist it to form a coil. Place it under your left thumb and hold it. Then pick up the left line and pass it through the coil pressed above. Then take off the coiled thread from your left hand.

Finally, use your right hand to pick up one end of the thread, insert it into the middle, then hold the other end with your left hand, and hold the other end that passed through the front with your right hand, pull it out with both hands, and a button bead is ready.

It only took a few seconds. Before Zhang Chen could see clearly, Caidi had already finished. She was worthy of being born as a team leader of a clothing factory. Zhang Chen had seen the power of a team leader in that clothing factory.

Caidi asked Zhang Chen how many more he wanted, and Zhang Chen said one was enough. Caidi asked Zhang Chen to do it by himself. She gave instructions, starting from cutting the cloth strips, to putting on the sewing machine to step on the line, and no matter how to turn it over. Zhang Chen learned how to make a cloth rope and finally make buckles and beads. He was very happy. He didn't think it was a job for women at all, but found it very interesting.

Zhang Chen picked up the paper pattern and the buckle and thanked Xiao Zhao and Caidi. Zhang Chen said to Xiao Zhao that I would come often in the future and learn tailoring from you. Xiao Zhao said yes, then I will learn painting from you.

Caidi and Zhang Chen said, what is there to learn from tailoring? Once you learn how to do it, you won’t have to eat anymore, and you will be better at painting.

Zhang Chen said, what’s so good about painting? You see, I’m not here to sell clothes.

Xiao Zhao and Caidi both laughed.

Zhang Chen went out, walked for a while and looked back. He felt that although he had only come to this tailor shop for the second time today, he felt like he was an old acquaintance with them.

Zhang Chen returned home and put the floral cloth in. Because it was not made of cotton, the floral cloth was not wrinkled, otherwise he would have to find a way to iron it flat first.

He put away the things on the table, spread the cloth on the table, pressed the paper pattern on the cloth, and drew on the cloth with powder powder two centimeters outside the edge of the paper pattern.

The paper pattern he cut out this time was a clean pattern without any seams. Xiao Zhao reminded him that next time he could draw a clean pattern first and then use a grading ruler to place the seams before cutting. That kind of paper pattern would be more standard. Zhang Chen remembered it.

This Singer sewing machine is multi-functional and can be hemmed. After Zhang Chen cut the pieces of clothing, he began to hem them one by one. After finishing copying, he looked up at the vegetable field in the distance. There were already vegetable farmers carrying manure buckets. Zhang Chen was shocked when he came to water the vegetables in the vegetable field. He looked at his watch and saw that it was already 6:10.

Oh no, no, no, no, the market has closed at six o'clock. I promised to pick up Xiao Zhao at five thirty, but why did I forget the time as soon as I started doing this work.

Zhang Chen quickly got up and went downstairs, pedaling hard on his bicycle. When he was approaching the market, he saw from a distance that the market was closed. Xiao Zhao stood under the eaves next to the gate, looking in this direction.

Zhang Chen rode up to him and jumped out of the car, his head and body covered with sweat. Xiao Zhao complained: "Why are you riding so fast? There are so many cars on the road now, it's so unsafe."

Zhang Chen said: "I'm afraid you'll be impatient."

"Humph, are you going to forget about me while you are doing this?"

Zhang Chen chuckled.

Xiao Zhao also laughed, and she asked: "You are so fascinated, have you already started?"

"Yeah." Zhang Chen nodded quickly and said, I went to worship two masters in the afternoon.

"Master, what kind of master do you want to be?" Xiao Zhao asked curiously.

Zhang Chen told Xiao Zhao about his visit to Xiao Zhao and Caidi's tailor shop, and then Xiao Zhao understood.