Sewing in Circles (2 page)

During lunch in school the next day, Zoey floated the idea of the gift fair to her friends.

“What do you think?” she asked. “I like the idea, but I'm worried about all the money I'd have to lay out in advance for the booth. What happens if I don't sell enough to cover it?”

“I think it's a fashiontastic idea! It'll be like a real clothing store!” Priti Holbrooke said. “Why haven't you done something like this before?”

“She's sold her clothes on Etsy,” Kate Mackey pointed out.

“And Allie and I did the pop-up store on Etsy, too,” Zoey said.

“But this would be the first time people could see your clothes in person,” Priti countered.

The girls considered this as they ate their lunches.

“I guess that's true. Shopping's more fun when you can really see what you're getting,” Libby Flynn said. “
Especially
when it comes to clothes.”

“But what if I don't make back the money I have to pay for the booth?” Zoey worried. “Also, I'm jumping the gun. You have to apply to be selected.”

“You took a risk with Doggie Duds, and that worked out,” Kate reminded her.

Zoey thought back on all the risky projects she'd attempted in the last year or so. They certainly hadn't been without their nail-biting moments, but they'd always turned out okay in the end.

“Why wouldn't they select you for the gift fair?” Priti argued. “You've been on
Fashion Showdown
! Bryn Allen was on the cover of
Celebrity
magazine, wearing one of your designs. I mean, you're practically . . .
world famous
!”

Zoey burst out laughing.

“Stop, Priti! You're making me blush!” she said. “I'm hardly world famous.”

Zoey reached into her backpack. “Speaking of gift fairs, I've got some gifts for you guys.”

She handed each of her friends unique versions of the fabric bracelet she'd previously copied for Ivy Wallace when Emily Gooding was nagging Ivy to buy one. The bracelets were all the rage after having been featured in a recent issue of
Très Chic
magazine.

Libby's was made of two different fabrics—one
printed with little candies and the other with little carrots—to remind her of how hard she'd worked for the local food pantry for her Bat Mitzvah project. Kate's fabric was covered in daisies, because those were her favorite flowers. Zoey figured a flowery bracelet was a subtle way for Kate to bring florals into her look. And Zoey had made Priti's bracelet with a fabric printed with stars, to signify her friend's love of being in the spotlight.

“Wow!” Libby said. “I love it! I've been wanting one of these bracelets ever since I saw them in
Très Chic
!”

“These are just like the ones Emily brags about all the time,” Kate, who was more into reading about sports than fashion, said.

“I love mine!” Priti said. “It's so me!”

“I'm touched you remembered daisies are my favorite flowers, Zoey,” Kate said. “But . . . why did you buy us presents when it's not anyone's birthday?”

“I didn't buy them,” Zoey explained. “I made them.”

Priti and Libby stared at her, shocked.

“I knew I hadn't seen these fabric patterns before, but I thought you had some kind of special connection or something,” Libby said. “Like, maybe you got them before the general public could.”

“No,” Zoey said. “I just made them myself, inspired by the ones in
Très Chic
and, well, everywhere.”

“Are you allowed to do that?” Priti asked.

“Why not?” Zoey said.

Priti shrugged. “I don't know. Never mind.” She put on her bracelet and held out her arm. “I love the design, though.”

“Oh! Now I get the design on mine,” Libby said. “It's about my mitzvah project, right?”

“That's right!” Zoey said. “The candy is for the sweets theme, and the carrots are because you grew vegetables and raised the money for the new fridge for the food pantry.”

“That's so cool!” Libby said. “Although I have to admit that I'm glad my Bat Mitzvah is over—well, except for writing all the thank-you notes. That's taking
forever
.”

“You must have hundreds to write,” Priti said.

“I haven't counted, but it's a lot!” Libby said. “I'm pacing myself. I try to do a few every night and then some on the weekends, when I'm not volunteering at the food pantry, just so I can get them over with.” She looked over at Kate. “That reminds me . . . I haven't seen you and Tyler at the food pantry lately.”

“That's because we're not going out anymore,” Kate said.

“Wait, what?!” Priti exclaimed. “When did that happen? And why?”

“We decided about a week ago,” Kate said.

“And you didn't tell us?” Priti said.

Kate shrugged.

“But why did you break up?” Zoey asked.

“Don't get me wrong—Tyler's a nice guy and all. But it's not like we spent that much time together,” Kate explained. “And then we fought at Libby's Bat Mitzvah—”

“But you worked that out, didn't you?” Zoey said.

“Kind of,” Kate said. “But in the end, we realized we were better off as friends.” She looked around
the table at the other girls' concerned faces. “It's the best thing. Really.”

“Are you sure?” Libby asked. “You guys seemed to have fun together at the food pantry.”

“We can still have fun, but as friends,” Kate said. She smiled. “I'm okay with it. Really, I am.”

Kate's smile was genuine, but Zoey couldn't help wondering if her friend seemed just a little . . .
too
okay. She resolved to investigate further.

Spot the Gifts

I'm thinking of doing a gift fair for the first time. Allie suggested it—she's the one who I did the Accessories from A to Z pop-up store with on Etsy. She's done it before and said it was worthwhile. You have to apply to get in. I'm worried about whether I'll get chosen,
but even more worried about whether I'll make back the money I'll have to pay to rent the booth. What do you think? Have any of you ever done a gift fair before? How'd it go?

My friends think it's a good idea. I mean, who doesn't like getting clothes as gifts? Well, I guess if you get something boring, like socks or a tie, it could be kind of a letdown—but I wouldn't sell those at my booth! I've designed these items because they're cute and easy to make in different sizes. I hope it'll be enough to display in a booth in an interesting and decorative way. Doing an Etsy store was so much easier! But it'll be good experience to meet my customers face-to-face, right? I sure hope so.

Zoey stood outside Mapleton Prep after school on Wednesday, waiting for Allie to pick her up. Allie had printed out the applications for the gift fair, and they were going to Poppa's Pastry Shop to work on them together, since Allie'd already taken part last year and knew what she was doing.

“Not taking the bus today, Zoey?” Ms. Austen,
the school principal, asked as she walked up to Zoey.

Zoey really liked Ms. Austen. Not only was she a great principal, but she also had a fabulous sense of style and really cared about Zoey and the other students.

“No, my friend Allie is picking me up,” Zoey said. “She's going to help me apply for a booth at the Mapleton Gift Fair.”

“That's a great gift fair!” Ms. Austen said. “I went last year and bought presents for my family.” Her brow wrinkled. “I don't remember seeing that many clothing booths, though. It was mostly gifts and accessories.”

“Oh,” Zoey said, crestfallen. “Hmm. I wonder if maybe it's just not a clothes kind of fair.”

“Not at all!” Ms. Austen said. “I probably just don't remember seeing the clothes, because I wasn't looking for them. Also, I like to try things on before I buy them, and that's the problem with a gift fair—there's no dressing room.”

“I never thought of that,” Zoey admitted.

Allie's car pulled into the parking lot.

Ms. Austen put her hand on Zoey's shoulder.
“Don't let me discourage you, Zoey. I'm sure your things would do really well. Your designs have that special something.”

“Thanks, Ms. Austen,” Zoey said, smiling as she opened Allie's car door. “See you tomorrow!”

Ms. Austen waved as they drove away.

“So, Zoey,” Allie said as they walked into Poppa's Pastry Shop. “Are you ready for some exciting paperwork?”

“Um . . .”

“Well, how about hot chocolate and not-so-exciting paperwork?” Allie amended.

“That sounds more like it,” Zoey said.

After getting their drinks, they found a big empty table, so they could spread out, and Allie got the applications out of her bag.

“Okay, so first you have to figure out what size booth you want, because they're all different prices,” Allie said.

“I don't know,” Zoey said. “What size did you get last year?”

“I got the smallest one, but I'm selling accessories,
which are small. You're selling clothes, which need more room to be displayed properly.”

“Oh. Yeah. I didn't even think about that,” Zoey said.

“What I did last year was sketch out a design of how I thought I wanted my booth to look, and that made it easier to figure out how big it should be,” Allie said. “Like, first figure out what you think you're going to want to sell there, then how you'd display it to attract customers.”

Zoey pulled out her sketchbook and pencils from her backpack. She had to determine which pieces she wanted to sell. She didn't want to choose too many items, because she'd have to make each one in a range of sizes.

Allie was busy filling in her application, but Zoey picked out a few design sketches to show her.

“What do you think of these for the gift fair?”

“I like the short-sleeve sweatshirt and the skirt,” Allie said. “Also, that dress is cute.”

“I picked things that are pretty easy to make,” Zoey said.

“Smart,” Allie said. “If you want, I can help you
figure out what size booth you need. But don't forget, you have to rent the display racks and tables and stuff, too.”

It wasn't just more complicated than Zoey thought. It was starting to sound more expensive, too. Zoey worried as she started working on the layout of her display.

When she had the basic idea down on paper, she showed it to Allie.

“That looks good,” Allie said. “Okay, every booth has a table, but you'll need racks and something to display a sign—maybe a stand? And some of the shelves and clothing rods that hook onto the walls of the booth—I'd get some extra of those since you have clothes. . . .”

Allie went down the list of display items and insisted that Zoey order a variety of options.

“But it's going to add up to so much money!” Zoey complained. “What if I don't make it back?”