Sewing patterns are designed for imaginary
people, based on average measurements
taken in the 1930s by the WPA
and adjusted over the decades by the Industry.
I sew a Misses 14, designed for a woman
5’5” to 5’6”, 36/28/38,
which is to say no one,
so I alter the pattern to fit a phantom of me
instead of a phantom of her.
She doesn’t need any more dresses.
Copyright © 2017 by Chase Twichell. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on May 19, 2017, by the Academy of American Poets.