The Bookmark with the Bent Edge
Chapter 1A Ribbon of Stitches
Mindy lifted her embroidered bookmark from the table.
One long side lay straight. The other curved inward, pulling the whole bookmark into a shallow bend.
She had stitched flowers on cloth for her sister's birthday.
Near the bottom, the stems crowded together.
Mindy laid the bookmark beneath a heavy book.
"That will straighten it," she said.
She waited until after supper.
When she lifted the book, the bookmark curled again.
Chapter 2More Weight
Her friend Suri visited the next afternoon to help fold the gift paper.
Mindy showed her the bookmark.
"I need a heavier book."
Suri looked at the row of flowers.
"Did the cloth bend before the stitches went in?"
"No."
"Then maybe the book isn't the part to change."
Mindy turned the bookmark over. The back had small tight stitches near one edge.
She remembered pulling hard whenever the thread seemed loose. She had wanted the stems to look perfectly even.
Chapter 3The Tight Row
Mindy brought the bookmark to Mommy, who wore her soft gray headscarf.
Mommy set her sewing basket aside and looked at both sides.
"These stitches draw the cloth together," she said, pointing near the lower flowers.
"Can I pull it straight and tie it?"
"That won't release the tight stitches. We can take out the crowded part and sew it again with a gentler pull."
Mindy looked at the flowers. Removing them felt like ruining work she had already finished.
Chapter 4Going Back
Mommy helped Mindy undo a few stitches with the right sewing tool. Suri folded gift paper.
Mindy watched one blue stem disappear.
Then another.
"It looks emptier."
Mommy rested the loosened section flat on the table.
It lay straighter already.
She worked slowly while Mommy stayed beside her. They removed the tight lower row, leaving the top flowers alone.
The cloth no longer gathered along that edge.
Chapter 5A Little Practice
Before sewing the flowers again, Mindy practiced on a scrap of the same cloth.
She pulled the thread until the stitch lay against the cloth, then stopped.
Mommy helped her find a comfortable pull that did not gather the scrap.
Mindy tried several more.
"I don't need to tug after it is lying in place," she said.
She returned to the bookmark and made one stem at a time.
After each small flower, she set the cloth flat to check it.
Chapter 6Less, but Finished
There was room for two fewer flowers now. Mindy had left more space between their stems.
She held the bookmark beside the straight edge of the table.
It lay flat without a heavy book on top.
Suri brought over the folded paper.
"Ready?"
Mindy checked the back once more with Mommy.
The thread ends were secured. The edge was straight. No needle stayed with the gift.
"Ready," she said.
Chapter 7Between the Pages
Her sister opened the paper and laid the bookmark across her palm.
"You made this for me?"
Mindy nodded.
"I had to sew part of it twice."
"It fits right here."
She put it between her book's pages.
Mindy smiled at the straight cloth tab. This time, the book was using her bookmark instead of sitting on it.
