Hem of a Stranger's Wedding Dress

Lyrics

Lamplight on the cutting table
Pins between my lips
Ivory silk across my knees
And chalk on my fingertips
I don't know her name or her young man's name
Just the length of her, head to heel
But I know the way a heart lets out a breath
When the mirror tells her it's real

So I turn the hem, slow and even
One small stitch at a time

I am sewing someone else's morning
Into the edge of the dress
Every stitch a little blessing
That she will never guess
She'll dance, she'll turn, she'll laugh till late
And never see my hand
But the hem will hold the whole night long
Just the way I planned

Rain is on the window glass
The kettle's ticking low
The radio hums a slow old tune
From a long time ago
I stitched my own dress once by hand
Borrowed thread, a borrowed seam
Now I pass the gladness down the line
Like a quiet, patient dream

So I turn the hem, slow and even
One small stitch at a time

I am sewing someone else's morning
Into the edge of the dress
Every stitch a little blessing
That she will never guess
She'll dance, she'll turn, she'll laugh till late
And never see my hand
But the hem will hold the whole night long
Just the way I planned

Oh, the world will see the flowers
And the vows and the bright white train
Nobody sees the seamstress
Humming softly in the rain
But I don't mind, I don't mind at all
There's a kind of joy in this
To be the hidden thread that holds
A day together with a kiss

Now the last pin leaves the cushion
And the dress hangs, tall and still
Tissue paper, one soft ribbon
And the lamp light on the sill
Tomorrow someone says I do
In a room I'll never see
And a little bit of me goes down the aisle
In the hem, quietly

I am sewing someone else's morning
Into the edge of the dress
Every stitch a little blessing
That she will never guess
She'll dance, she'll turn, she'll laugh till late
And never see my hand
But the hem will hold the whole night long
Just the way I planned

One small stitch at a time
Just the way I planned