When Margo heard the size of the estimated bill, she actually paled. “My God! Why so much?”
Connie grinned. “Any guesses?”
Margo glanced at the half-finished garments strewn everywhere in Connie’s design studio. Computer-controlled sewing machines dominated two whole walls. “I have no idea.”
”The chain-stitch sewing machine was invented in 1830. The lock-stitch machine came even later. Before that, all clothing was assembled by hand.”
”But not all your costumes are this expensive. Not even close. What are you going to do? Hand spin the thread for this thing?”
Connie laughed. “No, although I’ve done that, too, on occasion, and spent hours at a loom hand weaving. Most costumes can be assembled by machine from the threads up. Even for pre-sewing-machine time periods, we can sometimes fudge. Take this.”
She snagged an extraordinary gown from a peg. In three parts, it consisted of a coat-like overdress, a wide, skirt-like affair, and a triangular piece that was evidently meant to go across the front of the bosom, tapering to a point at the waist.
”This is an eighteenth-century English gown. One of our smaller gates opens into colonial Virginia every five years or so. It’s due to open in about a month and a couple of researchers are going through for an extended sabbatical in Williamsburg.” She chuckled. “Goldie Morran always makes a killing, exporting China metal to Williamsburg through whoever’s going down time. The researchers carry the stuff through to help pay for their research trips.”