A blue plastic sewing box sat open next to her plate, full of silver safety pins and an old wooden spool of black thread.

“If I pin the shoulders up two inches, the top won’t sag,” she said without looking up.

She bent over the table, forcing a heavy safety pin through three layers of thick polyester seam.

Her hands were cold, and her fingers shook a little as she pushed against the stiff fabric.

“Let me get the pliers off the porch,” I said.

“That fabric is too thick for safety pins.”