A Costume with Very Large Pockets

The amateur theatre group was preparing a comedy set in a railway station. Vera volunteered to make the conductor's coat because she enjoyed sewing. The actor, Colin, asked for very large pockets. He needed to hide a timetable, three letters and a sandwich during different moments of the play.

Vera followed his measurements carefully. At the first rehearsal with costumes, everything fitted inside the pockets, but Colin could not find the right object quickly. He pulled out the sandwich during a serious speech about a missing letter. Everyone laughed, although the director pointed out that this was not the planned joke.

Back at her sewing table, Vera added smaller sections inside each pocket. She marked them with different pieces of fabric that Colin could recognise by touch. She had assumed that making something large enough meant making it useful. Now she could see why a costume needed testing while the actor moved.

On opening night, every letter appeared at the right moment. The sandwich stayed hidden until its proper scene, where it earned an even bigger laugh. After the show, Colin thanked Vera for the invisible parts of her work. She kept the original pocket pattern, with a note beside it: space is not the same thing as order.