Sarah sighed as she toted the familiar heavy cloak back to the sewing chamber for yet another repair. The men of the community were particularly hard on their clothing due to the work demands; however, Vincent was especially rough on his. Since he wore his cloak more than any of his other garments, it was exposed to damage on a daily basis. And this time he had really done a number on this protective article of his going-Above armor.

The back of the cloak had an almost eight-inch diameter of shredded and missing material from the hemline near the left side and was torn all the way up to the waist. When she had asked him about the tear, he had simply shrugged and said something about getting it caught in an elevator cable sprocket. She shuddered to think how that may have occurred.

“Better keep that to yourself, Vincent, unless you want Father to have a snit,” she whispered under her breath as she turned to leave, forgetting his keen sense of hearing for the moment.

 “Yes, Sarah, this needs to be kept as our secret.” He winked an eye as she looked back at him and gave her a small smile as he left to resume his work duties for the

Sometimes she wanted to throttle the residents who never gave a second thought about how much work went into keeping them properly clothed. Everyone made their own contributions to the survival of the community, but some of those contributions required more talent than others. She was proud of her skill with the treadle machine and of her hand sewing expertise just as she was sure William was proud of his cooking aptitude. 

The sewing chamber was currently empty. It would take more than twenty minutes of a simple whip stitch to restore the cloak to its former glory. She needed to find the right kind of material to add a large patch, or the repair would be in vain. She laid the cloak on the large worktable that was surrounded by chairs where women and girls would gather for sewing.

She decided that she would use a heavy material like leather or suede to make a substantial patch to restore the integrity of the garment. It would have to be a dark material to help the camouflage effect from the back when Vincent was roaming the streets Above. She headed to the shelving system where salvaged clothing, cloth, and fabric scraps were stored. She had a particular bin in mind to source the material for the patch.

The tunnel community had a Helper who owned an upholstery shop. He was generous in his donations of heavy fabrics and leather. As Sarah found and opened the bin, she started pulling out scraps of various sizes to see what was usable for the task at hand. She found a large plate-sized piece of thick black leather that, with a little effort, could be modified to fill the damage along the missing hemline.

She needed another piece that was long enough to bridge the gap created by the tear to the waist. That bin did not contain a leather piece suitable for the tear, and she didn’t want to make more than one piece for that mend if she could help it. She opened a bin that contained grosgrain ribbon and she thought that it might work; however, there were only bright colors and that would not give the desired effect.

She gave a frustrated sigh as she replaced the bin and took down another that contained cloth upholstery fabric. She pulled out several scraps of fabric until she found a thick, heavily textured black wool strip about four inches wide and three feet long. This seemed to be the only possibility from the materials at hand. She would have to make this work.

She spread the cloak out on the table and positioned the damaged section with the outside surface upright so she could trim the patches to the proper dimensions. She debated as to where to attach the wool to the tear, and whether it would be more effective to affix the patch on either the inside or the outside of the cloak. She decided to put the patch on the outside to help hide the rough edges where the fabric was separated.

She trimmed the wool to the proper length and took it to the treadle sewing machine to hem the outer edges. When she had finished, she pulled out a drawer to grab the fabric glue and returned to the table. She executed her plan to glue the long patch to the outside surface of the tear and set it to dry as she went to the dining hall for lunch.

* * *

Sarah finished her lunch and was returning her tray to the kitchen for washing when Mouse came bounding through the kitchen as a shortcut and plowed into her. She shrieked from being startled as the tray crashed to the floor. He started groveling and apologizing as he picked up the tray and serving pieces. Fortunately, nothing had broken.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry.” He was contrite and sincere. “Didn’t see you, Sarah.”

“It’s all right, Mouse, but would you do me a favor?” She had caught her breath and looked at the young man. “Would you please bring a small collection of your fishing sinkers to the sewing room today when you get a chance?”

“Okay good, okay fine!” He nodded his head enthusiastically as he trotted off to the serving table.

When she arrived back at the sewing chamber, she assessed the glued-on patch and determined that it was dry enough to continue with the repair. She went to the bin that contained various types of thread, string, and spools of suede leather cording used for securing patches. She found a heavy gauge black thread for the cloth patch and selected a needle of an appropriate size.

She settled into a chair and with the cloak on her lap began the tedious task of whip stitching around the long strip to ensure that the patch edge was secure and would withstand additional wear and tear on the garment. She hummed a tune from her youth softly to herself to keep her focus. She tied the loose ends of the thread on the interior of the cloak.

Next, she splayed the cloak on the table to make the area with the shredded and torn hem section accessible. She debated as to whether she should remove the damaged material or simply apply the patch over it. She decided to glue the leather patch over the damaged material and then whip stitch the edge of the patch to the cloak to provide the most stable repair.

She trimmed the patch and used a leather punch to create small holes for the cording around the perimeter of the leather. Then she added glue to its underside.

She placed the outside of the cloak material onto the glue-covered patch when it was properly positioned. It would need time to set before she could finish the attachment.

Mouse burst into the chamber with his usual level of energy. “Got ‘em, Sarah. How many do you need?” He proceeded to dig into his pockets to empty two handfuls of lead sinkers onto the table. The sizes varied from one to ten ounces as identified with numerals etched in the lead.

“Thank you, Mouse. This is more than enough. I won’t know what I need until I finish the patch. I will let you know when you can return for the unused ones.” She smiled as the young man flew out the door on his way to his next project.

While she waited for the glue to set, she got some small scissors to split the bottom sausage side seam and remove some of the blue wool material stuffing. She thought back to the inception of this brilliant piece of garment engineering and smiled. Trial and error had preceded the final solution, but she was nothing if not persistent.

A garment with a heavy sleeve on one side and no sleeve on the other was… unbalanced. It was apparent when hung on the hanger, but even more apparent to the one who wore it. She had tried sewing drapery weights on the shoulder of the right sleeve, but Vincent said it didn’t feel right. Adding weights to the underside of the sleeve hole was also not accepted by the wearer.

Then she had the idea to hang a weighted tubular stuffed pouch from the neckline over the right shoulder to disperse the cloak weight evenly. It had taken a few tries to determine the correct length of the column to serve its purpose and to adjust the weights, but eventually the counterbalance addition yielded the intended result. It needed to be short enough to not interfere with Vincent’s right arm movement and long enough to effectively pull the left side of the garment across his shoulders.

The weights were placed at the bottom of the long tube to allow for less weight to be used, and the rest of the cloth cylinder was stuffed with wool to keep the weights in place. The tube was secured with ties around it that gave the addition the appearance of a string of sausages. It would never be high fashion, but it was certainly functional.

When she had finished whip-stitching the second patch with dark brown suede cording, she put the cloak on a sturdy wooden hanger and hung it on the garment rack. Just as she had anticipated, the garment pitched to the left side. She played with adding various combinations of the sinkers into the bottom sausage until the garment hung straight. She placed a piece of masking tape over the hole to secure it until she could have Vincent try it on for proper balance.

She walked to the Pipe Chamber and asked Pascal to have Vincent meet her in the sewing chamber before dinner. He told her he would send the message closer to dinner time. In the meantime, she decided to weigh the finished garment to determine just how heavy this cloak was with the repair.

She made her way into the empty hospital chamber and stepped onto the platform scale. She adjusted the weights to balance the arm. Then she tossed the cloak onto a nearby chair and moved the weights to determine her own weight. After quick arithmetic, she was dismayed to realize that the cloak now weighed seven pounds. Maybe Vincent wouldn’t notice, but that was probably wishful thinking.

* * *

Vincent arrived at the sewing chamber before dinner to find her sitting in a chair with her head resting on her arms that were folded on the table. She appeared to be asleep. He didn’t want to startle her, but he needed to get his cloak back because he was going Above to see Catherine that evening.

“Sarah?” The gentle, hoarse whisper did the trick.

“Hi, Vincent.” She looked sheepish.” I was sitting and got sleepy, so I decided to rest my eyes for a moment.”

He smiled. “There is nothing wrong with that.”

She hefted the cloak off the hanger and handed it to him. “Please try this on so we can adjust the weight.”

He swung the cloak around his shoulders with practiced arms and let it settle into place. “It’s heavier.” He sounded surprised.

“Well, every time we have to add material to the left side, we need to add weights to the sausages. Keep that in mind when you are wandering around.”  She couldn’t resist the lecture. “This cloak probably gained close to another pound, but you are a big guy who can handle it.”

“I understand, Sarah. I will try to be more careful in the future. Thank you for repairing my cloak once again.” He smiled. “The balance is perfect.”

He enfolded her in his brotherly hug, the kind that flooded the recipient with familial love. When he released her, he started to walk out the door, but she stopped him.

“Wait, Vincent. I need to restuff the bottom sausage with wool to secure the weights and then sew the seam shut. Then it will be ready for your rough and tumble adventures.” She smiled. “What are you going to tell Father when he notices the repair?”

Those crystal blue eyes twinkled. “I will simply ask him if he wants to play a game of chess.”

So if you’ve ever wondered why the cloak has “sausages”, now you know.