IN STITCHES

Millie Pruitt works out of her home. Neva Kay Ross works in a retail store.

But both Cape Girardeau women find their jobs as seamstresses a good fit, taking pride in altering clothes.

It's a job that few people want to do these days, particularly young people. Pruitt is 55 years old. Ross is 64.

Ross does her sewing in a small room at the back of the men's department in the JCPenney store in Cape Girardeau. She has been working at the store for 19 years, altering everything from men's clothes to dresses.

She said she has been a seamstress for about 30 years. "I did it at home for a while, but it was very sporadic."

Natalie Mansell, who manages the men's department, said seamstresses are hard to find.

Few clothing stores have salaried seamstresses or devote space in their buildings for alterations to be made.

Pruitt, for example, works out of the basement of her home. She picks up clothing from Garber's Men's Wear and takes it home for alterations.

Ross likes working in the JCPenney store rather than at home. "I enjoy being around people. I enjoy what I do," she said.

She and the sales clerks do the fitting. She then makes the alterations. "We are here to make the people happy," she said.

But her sewing room is more than an alteration room. Ross readily talks to customers and fellow store employees.

"This is the crying room," Mansell said, noting that people readily tell Ross their troubles.

Ross finds time to listen. Over the years, she has been an informal counselor to many people who stop by the alteration room.

Over the years, she has altered everything from bridal gowns to suits. These days, she alters more men's clothes.

Growing up, Ross never figured she would become a seamstress. "I took sewing in high school and I hated it," she said. Her home economics teacher repeatedly made her rip out stitches.

Ross said altering clothes involves more than sewing. It involves getting clothes to fit the customer.

"It is rewarding. You see people walk out happy," said Ross.

Like Ross, Pruitt enjoys being a seamstress.

Pruitt has been working as a seamstress for 30 years. She began working as a seamstress to support herself and her son following a divorce.

She has worked for a number of men's stores that have gone out of business. At one time, she worked for Buckner-Ragsdale in downtown Cape Girardeau. The clothing store employed two full-time and three part-time seamstresses. The alterations were done upstairs in the store.

The store closed in 1982. After that, Pruitt held a succession of jobs with Cape Girardeau men's clothing stores that ultimately went out of business.

To get a job at one store, she had to fit and alter a suit for the store manager. She passed the test and was hired.

She has worked on and off for Garber's Men's Wear for the past 10 years. For the past year and a half, she has worked steadily for Garber's. "I do a lot of shirt sleeves," she said.

She also has altered clothes for many of her neighbors.

These days, she views her job as more of a hobby than a business. She gets paid for each piece she alters.

She does her work on two aging sewing machines that were once used at the Thorngate factory. Her work often draws the attention of her adopted cat, "Buddy."

The workload varies with the season. "You have a lot of things after Christmas," Pruitt said. Easter is also a busy time.

Pruitt grew up in Scott City and spent most of her life there. She has sewed most of her life. She learned as a child how to sew doll clothes.

As a seamstress, she has continued to sew and make alterations, but on a larger scale. "I discovered that people are big dollies. You measure them the same way," she said.

Like Ross, Pruitt said the biggest reward in being a seamstress is the satisfaction of making clothes fit the customer.

"I like what I do," said Pruitt. "I don't know if I will ever retire."