A Tangled Thread Read online

  CHAPTER 1

  Brand-New News!!!

  The great thing about fashion is that there’s always something NEW happening, right? Well, my life’s like that too. I earned enough money from my Doggie Duds campaign to do some serious shopping for brand-new fabric, including the really pricey kind that I usually drool over from afar. I can’t WAIT to get started on some new projects!

  And speaking of new projects—drumroll, please—I’m also superthrilled to announce my next venture! Actually, it’s a team thing. I’m going to be launching a collaboration Etsy store with another young designer, Allie Lovallo (with our parents monitoring, of course). Some of you might know her from our feature together on TresChic.com, or from her blog, Always Allie Accessories. The store will be called Accessories from A to Z, and—you guessed it!—we’re going to be focusing on accessories! It’s a pop-up shop that will be online for a limited time only, so get ’em while they’re hot!

  When we came up with the idea, I was going to sew clothes and she was going to make accessories, and we were going to call it Fashion from A to Z. The thing is, sizing clothes is complicated, while accessories are usually one-size-fits-most. So we decided to have an accessories store with some Allie stuff (Allie’s the A) and some Zoey stuff (I’m the Z). It’s going to be A for “awesome.” As you can see from my sketch of some of the things I’m offering, I’ve already been hard at work. But I want to hear from you, readers. Let me know what else you’d like to see in our store!

  We’re launching the site as soon as we can, so this weekend I’ll be doing all the last-minute work to get it ready. Tonight, though, I have a very important movie date— with two of my best friends! TGIF!

  “More chocolate chips,” Priti Holbrooke insisted. “Really, we need more.”

  Zoey Webber and Libby Flynn eyed each other skeptically, but then Zoey shrugged and went ahead and shook the entire bag of chocolate chips into the bowl. Priti grabbed a wooden spoon to fold them into the batter.

  It was Friday night, and the three friends were at Libby’s house, baking cookies and watching a movie, but they were barely paying attention to the screen. There was just too much to talk about! And too many chocolate chips to eat.

  “We’re going to have to rename these cookies chocolate chocolate-chip cookies,” Libby said, laughing. “I’ve never used two whole bags of chips before!”

  Priti smiled confidently as she folded melted chocolate into the batter. It went from a light tan color, to chocolate striped, to a deep chocolate brown. “My sisters and I always make them this way. Trust me.”

  Zoey spread out cookie sheets on the counter, and the three girls began dropping balls of dough onto them. As their hands moved back and forth, Zoey noticed that everyone was wearing their friendship bracelets. They had made the bracelets with a pattern using four different colors of metallic beads to represent each of the four best friends. There was rose gold for Priti, silver for Zoey, copper for Libby, and classic gold for their fourth BFF, Kate Mackey, who was at soccer practice that night. Kate was Zoey’s oldest friend in the world, and Zoey couldn’t help feeling like there was something missing without her there.

  “Kate would love these,” Libby said.

  “Yeah, she would,” Zoey agreed. “When we were little we called her the Cookie Monster. Too bad she couldn’t be here.”

  “Well, state championships are in a few weeks,” Priti said. “And when it’s over—and she scores the winning goal—she’ll have more time to hang out! And eat cookies.”

  Zoey nodded. “True.”

  “You guys!” Priti shouted suddenly. Her hand flew to her mouth. “I can’t believe I forgot to tell you!”

  “Tell us what?” Libby asked. She slid the loaded cookie sheets into the oven, set the timer, and turned back toward Priti in one graceful move.

  “I’m going to India!” Priti squealed. “Finally. For real.”

  “What? When?” Libby and Zoey both shouted.

  Priti’s eyes glowed. “My cousin is getting married in a few weeks, and we haven’t seen most of our family in forever since they live all over the world. So all the relatives—from England, Canada, everywhere—are traveling to India for the wedding! It’s going to be huge. Plus we’re going to Delhi and the Taj Mahal.”

  Immediately, Zoey began picturing a big Indian wedding, with beautiful music and colors and food. “Oh, Priti, that sounds so cool!”

  “I haven’t been to a wedding since I was a flower girl in my uncle’s wedding,” Libby said. “You’re going to have so much fun!”

  “I know!” Priti said gleefully. “It’ll be my first big traditional Indian wedding. My mom said the groom rides in on a white horse, and the bride and groom exchange garlands to show they accept each other as spouses. The celebration goes on for days. And everyone wears the most amaaaaazing saris. . . .”

  Priti dug around in her bag to pull out her phone. She typed in a search term and held out the phone so Zoey and Libby could see as she scrolled through the pictures of Indian saris. Despite the distracting smell of cookies baking in the oven, Zoey’s mind immediately went into fashion overdrive.

  “Oh my gosh, Priti!” she said, grabbing the phone so she could get a better look. “These are amazing! Look at the colors!”

  Zoey kept shuffling through the pictures, completely entranced by the bright, jewel-tone colors; metallic embellishments; and sumptuousness of the fabrics. Her mind was already buzzing with ideas. How had she never noticed before that saris were the most beautiful dresses on Earth?

  “They look complicated to put on,” Libby said, studying one picture over Zoey’s shoulder. “Are they one piece?”

  “Some are, some aren’t,” Priti explained. “Some have a little top that’s separate, and some just fold over one shoulder. It’s, like, nine different steps to wrap one properly. My mom knows how, and my sisters, but I don’t. There’s a lot of tucking and pleating, and it takes a lot of patience!”

  Zoey was barely listening. Already an idea was forming in her mind of how she’d design a sari, using one of those beautiful, beautiful fabrics, but making the style a bit more contemporary.

  “My mom would never let me wear one like that,” Libby said, pointing. All the girls looked at one picture, which showed a woman in a sari with a bit of midriff showing on the side. “She’d say it’s too risqué.”

  Priti laughed. “Things are different in India. My grandmother wears a sari like that! It looks great, actually.”

  They all laughed before the ding of the kitchen timer interrupted them. Libby grabbed an oven mitt to take the cookies out to cool.

  “Well, your grandmother may wear one,” Libby said, “but my mom would probably make me put a cardigan over it!”

  The girls giggled again, and Zoey noticed Libby’s dog, Chester, coming into the kitchen. He was wearing the Doggie Duds clothes she’d made for him, an outfit with a little tie sewn on it, and he looked very spiffy. His nose was twitching fiercely, and he tried to stand up on his back legs to see where the delicious smell was coming from.

  “He’s wearing his outfit!” Zoey said, pleased. There was nothing more flattering to a designer than seeing someone wearing the clothes she’d made for them.

  Libby nodded. “He wears it all the time. My mom says when she takes him to the dog park, people stop her constantly to say how cute it is.”

  Zoey blushed. She still wasn’t used to compliments about her work, even though she got them pretty often now. “Thanks! I really had fun with the Doggie Duds campaign—but I’m glad it’s over! I’m ready for something new to sink my teeth into. Starting with that cookie.”

  As Zoey reached for a hot cookie, Libby playfully rapped Zoey’s fingers with a plastic spatula. “Not yet!” she said. �
�They’re really hot.”

  “You want something new?” Priti asked Zoey, clutching her arm. “I have the perfect idea!”

  “What?” asked Libby.

  “What?” echoed Zoey.

  “I need something to wear for my cousin’s wedding! And who could design a better sari than you, Zoey! Right? Would you?”

  Zoey didn’t have to think for long. Design a modern-day sari for one of her best friends to wear to a gorgeous wedding in India? It was a fashion designer’s dream come true!

  “Yes!” Zoey yelled. “I’d love to! I’ve already got a million ideas. The hard part will be choosing one. We could do so many different things. . . .”

  Libby clapped her hands. “Yay! It’s settled. That’ll be so great!”

  Priti frowned suddenly. “Well, mostly settled. I just want to double-check with my mom that it’ll be okay. Since it’s a traditional ceremony and all. I’m sure it’ll be fine, but I’ll ask her right away. Okay?”

  “Okay!” Zoey agreed. The two girls hugged, and Libby presented them with a plate piled high with cookies.

  “Time to eat!” she declared.

  They moved over to the couch where the movie was still playing. They each dug themselves into a comfortable nook on the big sectional and munched on cookies. Priti was right—the cookies were awesome.

  “Priti, these are the best cookies in the entire world! Have you ever thought about starting a baking blog to go with your mom’s cooking blog? You could call it KarmaKid instead of KarmaMama!” Zoey suggested as she took her third cookie in three minutes.

  “Well, I do know a lot about chocolate chips,” Priti said. “Mostly that they’re really yummy. But I think one cooking blogger in the family is enough.”

  “Actually, speaking of blogs,” Zoey began, “Allie and I are doing the final work for our Etsy store tomorrow, before it launches. Would you guys mind taking a look at the page? Dad helped me, but I want to make sure it’s just right, you know?”

  “Would I mind?” Priti joked after rushing to swallow a bite of cookie. “I’d love to!”

  “I’ll help too!” Libby said. “And would you let me know when the shop is up and running? I want to tell my aunt about it.”

  Zoey hesitated a moment. Libby’s aunt was a buyer for one of the biggest and best department stores in the country—H. Cashin’s. In the past, Libby had been reluctant to involve her aunt in Zoey’s fashion-related endeavors, in case it seemed like Zoey was using her for her aunt’s connections. While they had worked it out, Zoey didn’t want there to be any awkwardness.

  “I will,” Zoey said cautiously, “but only tell her if you want to. Okay? Don’t feel like you have to.”

  Libby nodded. “I know. I feel much better about . . . all that . . . since the sewing contest thing. She was so impressed with you, she told me specifically to let her know whenever you had news. I even told her about your Doggie Duds campaign!”

  “Aw, thanks, Libby.” Zoey blushed again. She felt like the luckiest girl in the world sometimes, having friends as nice as Priti and Libby and Kate. And now on top of everything, she was going to design a sari that would travel to India!

  CHAPTER 2

  Not Sari at All!

  I am in love. LOVE. No, really, I am! And I’m not ashamed of it. But it’s not with a person—I’m in love with SARIS! You know, those beautiful dresses that Indian women wear? Apparently, the word “sari” means “strip of cloth” (I looked it up!), and they come in an amazing rainbow of shiny jewel tones with gold or silver thread accents. But the coolest part, I think, is that there are so many ways to wear them. It seems like most wear a matching fitted top and wrap the long piece of sari fabric around their waist to make a skirt . . . then throw the end of the fabric over their shoulder in a dramatic swoop. I uploaded a sketch of a traditional one here to show you.

  Anyway, I’m completely obsessed and keep looking them up online. Why would anyone EVER wear jeans when there are saris in the world? Seriously! I’m already working on an idea for a modern sari that I’m hoping my friend Priti will get to wear to her cousin’s wedding in India in a few weeks. Stay tuned for details and a sketch. I can’t upload it now because I’m getting ready to launch Accessories from A to Z! I loved the ideas you sent in for accessories to add—I think I’m going to add the fabric necklaces and bracelets!

  Zoey and Allie sat in Zoey’s living room, surrounded by an enormous mess. There were stacks of accessories everywhere, along with notes about each product, Zoey’s laptop, a few bottles of water, and two bags of gummy bears that the girls were snacking on as they tried to organize everything. Zoey had been a little nervous about Allie coming over to help, since she didn’t really know her that well. Plus, Allie was sixteen and in high school. But when Allie had shown up holding two bags of gummy bears—wearing a black zebra-striped tee, fuchsia jean shorts, and handmade bangle bracelets—Zoey felt certain the day would go smoothly.

  The week before, Allie had explained to Zoey how to take well-lit pictures of each item so that customers looking at the pictures online could get a really clear idea of what they were buying. Zoey’s older brother, Marcus, had helped Zoey take the pictures, since he liked fooling around with photo and video editing.

  Today, Allie and Zoey decided to start by editing the descriptions of each item Zoey had already uploaded to the site’s content management system. Zoey and Allie huddled around Zoey’s laptop on the coffee table.

  “So the most important thing to remember when you’re writing your descriptions,” Allie was saying, “is to make sure to include dimensions, materials, special features, and things like that. These already look good, but I think we can make them more fun.”

  Zoey nodded, taking mental notes as Allie reviewed the descriptions.

  “On my Always Allie store page, I’ve noticed it helps to mention something I think the accessory would go particularly well with, to help the customer imagine how and where they might wear it,” Allie said. “For example, for this clutch we could say ‘This vibrant clutch would spice up a black shift dress or a pair of jeans.’ Sound okay?”

  “Sounds great,” Zoey said. “Wow, you really know your stuff.”

  “Well, thanks,” Allie said. “But I’ve had a little more practice than you.”

  The girls went through the rest of the descriptions together and tried to make each one more customer-focused.

  Allie saved the changes to the site, then flopped back onto the sofa to fish around in the bag of gummies for another handful. For a moment, she looked deep in thought, slowly chewing one gummy at a time.

  “You know, I can’t believe we’re really doing this!” Allie said. “I mean, working together, like real business partners.”

  “Definitely!” Zoey giggled. “Working together” sounded so grown-up, like she was an adult with an office job and coworkers. But she and Allie were working together, and Zoey felt very lucky. Allie seemed pretty grown up. She was a junior and planned to attend Parsons The New School for Design in New York City after she graduated.

  “Is there anything else I should be doing to get ready for the launch?” Zoey asked.

  “Wellll, I usually keep a stack of packing materials and labels handy, so I can send off orders as soon as I get them,” Allie said. “Because if you let them pile up, you’ll get overwhelmed, and your inventory count can get messed up. And customers appreciate it when their orders arrive quickly.”

  Zoey was already a little overwhelmed.

  “Hey, Zoey, what’s all this stuff—” Marcus stopped midsentence as he walked into the living room, which was covered with headbands, purses, necklaces, and envelopes. He was carrying his drumsticks, which he was playing in the air as he walked in. “Oh, whoops.” The drumsticks froze as he noticed Allie on the couch. “Hey. I’m . . . um . . . Marcus,” he said.

  “This is Allie,” said Zoey. “You know, my Etsy store partner.” Zoey giggled again as she said the word “partner.” All those business-y words seemed way
too grown-up. “Allie, this is my brother.”

  Allie didn’t giggle. But her cheeks turned slightly red as she said hello to Marcus.

  “You guys look, uh, busy,” he said, gesturing at all the products. “Are you going to be ready for your launch?”

  Allie nodded, running one hand through her long mane of brown curls to smooth it. “We’ll be ready tomorrow,” she said, smiling. “I think.” Suddenly, she turned to Zoey. “That reminds me,” she said excitedly. “I e-mailed TresChic.com to tell them about the launch of Accessories from A to Z, and I asked them to link to it at the end of their feature about us and the other young designers. They were game, so now anyone who reads the article will be directed right to our online store!”

  “Wow!” Zoey squealed. She never would have thought of that. “What a great idea!”

  “Nice work,” Marcus said, looking impressed. He was still standing at the edge of the mess, holding his drumsticks in the air. “You guys might really sell some stuff. Do you need any help?”

  “No, thanks,” Zoey said quickly, anxious for her and Allie to get back to work. They still had a lot to do. “But you can take some gummy bears if you want.”

  Marcus stepped forward, nearly tripping over some scarves, and took a handful of gummies. Zoey noticed that his cheeks were bright red. He stepped back and stood awkwardly for a second before giving the girls a sort of half wave and heading out of the room.

  Zoey and Allie worked hard for the next two hours, checking the spelling of the text on the site, getting Zoey’s dad’s final approval to launch, and then organizing all of Zoey’s merchandise and packing materials in the dining room so that when orders started coming in, she’d be ready. When the living room was finally cleaned up, Allie and Zoey sat on the couch, the laptop resting on Zoey’s lap.

  “Are we ready?” Allie asked. “Launch time?”

  “Yes! Time to lift off!” Zoey replied. Her knees jiggled the laptop. She couldn’t believe how excited she was. The Doggie Duds campaign on Myfundmaker had been great, but those outfits had been given as gifts in return for people’s donations to her campaign. This would be her first time really trying to sell her designs. Would it work? Would anyone buy anything?