If not, there will be a long line of local grandmothers and moms at Cindy Farrimond’s front door once they discover that her Spring City living room is often full of fairy dresses, ballet tutus and other sparkly wonders.

Cindy Farrimond has been sewing, fitting and touching up hundreds of costumes for Cinderella, Swan Lake, and every other Ballet West performance for 41 years. This month, her life is a whirlwind as she rushes through dozens of fittings each day making certain every well-trained ballet dancer looks their best for upcoming Christmas performances. A good share of Cindy’s delicate work is often secretly accomplished in her own sewing room, hidden away in her warm home on a quiet, rural street in Spring City

Her colleagues describe Cindy as the “company treasure” of Ballet West. As the manager of the important costume shop, she has been dyeing ballet slippers and straps, hand-sewing in jewels, dipping tutu mesh into the rarest of dyes for decades. All to create an unforgettable night for audiences of all ages as the curtain goes up.

Beginning Saturday, Dec. 5, the Christmas favorite, “The Nutcracker,” will open in Salt Lake City at the historic Capitol Theater. But before the stage lights fill the stage, Fairmond and her team will be trailing after eight principal dancers, 59 chorus dancers,and 300 children in four different casts. All of them carefully fitted into some 280 costumes with the love and skill of Cindy Farrimond and her team of seamstresses.

If you think ballet dancers sacrifice for their careers, you should consider Cindy’s schedule. Six years ago, the Farrimonds moved to Spring City because Cindy and her husband wanted to take care of their elderly parents. They returned to Spring City because it is the ancestral home of Cindy’s grandparents, David and Mary Sorenson. Cindy spent every weekend and every summer with her grandparents. Today, she and her husband live just a few blocks from her family’s ancestral home, and it is not unusual for a Ballet West costume to be completed in her own home sewing room.

Ever since making the move, Cindy has been commuting 90 minutes TWICE a day, traveling the Interstate 15 freeway in daylight and darkness, to get to The Capitol Theater. “Devotion,” whether to family or to the world of dance, is a word that defines costumer Cindy Farrimond.

Because of her unique talents and four decades of experience, Cindy is considered one of the most cherished costumers in American ballet. Thanks to the generosity of Ballet West donors, Utah’s world-class ballet company is one of the few which still maintains its own costume department. Because of Cindy Farrimond’s reputation, it is not unusual for her admired team to pack up their sewing machines and travel cross-country to assist other big city ballet companies.

Ironically, Cindy claims she failed sewing in home economics. (That should make us all feel a bit better about ourselves!) Cindy began sewing her own clothes at 10, and by 16 she was working in a sewing factory with her mother. Her talent and eye for perfection were developed on the job, where she started as a young seamstress and earned her way to the very trusted position today as the manager of Ballet West’s entire costume department.

There’s no question the work is fun and rewarding. Once in the basement costume department of Ballet West beneath its Capitol Theater stage, Cindy is surrounded by unlimited bolts of beautiful fabrics, golden trims, zippers, spools of ribbon and every kind of freshly sharpened scissors you can imagine. A dream for most aspiring Bernina sewing machine owners! The only hitch in her seemingly glamour-filled life? The hours.

Leading Ballet West’s costuming of dozens and dozens of beautiful dancers means a work week of at least 50 hours. During performances, even longer. So, if you were fired up about the prospect of getting into the costume business? Or perhaps pivoting towards a career in ballet?

Just keep in mind. Cindy Farrimond creates ballet costumes in only two sizes.

Size 2 and size 4.

But you can get your tickets and live vicariously! Enjoy Cindy’s remarkable work in person.

Ballet West’s “Nutcracker” is one of the best memories you can ever make with your children and grandchildren. Performances begin this Saturday in Ogden at Weber State College’s Browning Center, and begin Dec. 5, in Salt Lake City at The Capitol Theater through the end of the Christmas season.