Andrea Zax, a Belchertown seamstress, and Margaret Harris, a U.S. soldier and bride-to-be stationed in Iraq, found each other through the wizardry of the Internet.

With the help of a Baghdad tailor named Mohammed, they're making the bridal dress Harris always dreamed of in time for a Hawaii wedding in August.

Zax, 49, who has made costumes for the Boston Ballet, Huntington Theater, Boston Children's Museum and Boston Conservatory, has been designing clothes since she got her first Barbie doll.

Since moving to Belchertown in 2004, she has focused on custom wedding dresses, advertising by word of mouth and through her Web site, studiosofandreazax.com.

Harris, 38, is technical inspector with the 129th Postal Company out of Fort Bragg, N.C. A career Army sergeant and the daughter of a chief master sergeant, she has been stationed at Camp Victory, in Baghdad, since November. She and fiancee Ronald Lee Brown, a retired sergeant major, planned to get married on her 39th birthday during a two-week leave in Hawaii.

Harris had found a picture of the 'mermaid'-style wedding dress she has always had in mind, after searching through nine bridal books. She just didn't know how to find a seamstress in Baghdad. She searched the Web and found Zax.

'I sent her a photo of my dress and ever since then, she and I have been a winning team!' Harris said in an email. 'Andrea is sooOOOOO sweet to have agreed to go through the trouble it takes to complete this project.'

The two have become fast Internet friends. Besides e-mailing to each other about the dress, Harris and Zax talk about their children. Zax has a daughter, Phoebe, 19; Harris has a daughter, Octavia, 18, and son, Samari, 11.

'I will have missed two of his (Samari's) birthdays and Lord have mercy, my daughter's last year being a teenager! I pray she forgives me,' Harris said. She is quick to stress, however, that her experience in Iraq has been 'absolutely awesome.'

'To think, me and my fellow soldiers are actually part of history and my children will always be able to tell their children that their 'grandmother' was a part of that history, right up front and personal,' Harris said.

She said she has been moved to tears by some of the hardworking Third Country Nationals she's met, who toil in 130-degree weather and in winter 'without the proper clothing or shoes,' she said. 'They're just about some of the most unbelievable people I've ever met in my entire life.'

The first time Harris called her, Zax cried afterward, because she found Harris to be such a sweet person and she was worried about her.

'I feel so close to her, and I fear for her life,' Zax said.

Harris has invited her to her wedding.

'I've made dresses for people I know and they don't even invite me to their wedding,' Zax said. She marvels at her connection to a soldier in Iraq. 'It's like exposure to someone I never would have had, because I'm such a pacifist.'

Making the dress for Harris is not so much different from what Zax does in more ordinary instances. A customer will show her a picture or describe the kind of dress she wants. Zax takes her measurements and does a fitting out of muslin. She or the customer will then choose the fabric; Zax will make the dress and fit the finished version again.

In Harris's case, Zax made the muslin dress based on Harris's measurements and mailed it to her to be fitted in Baghdad .

Enter Mohammed. A tailor who works with U.S. soldiers, he agreed to take Harris's measurements and make corrections to the muslin dress. His work has been impeccable, Zax said. 'It seems there is a common language of sewing.'

In an email, Harris said, 'Mohammed makes me feel like royalty, and it does my heart good. He has a bright smile on his face whenever he sees me approaching his shop.'

After the fittings, they have had a cup of tea together and talk, although neither is very adept in the other's language.

'This is our time to exchange verbs and laugh a lot because both languages are difficult for us. I'll miss Mohammed when I leave in November,' Harris said.

Harris is studying for a master's degree in special education. She wants to write about her experiences someday, and after that, she wants to write children's books.

But first, there's the wedding to think about. Brown, Harris's fiancee, is taking care of all the details, she said. But there were a few things that she 'had to have.'

There's the dress, of course. Then, there is the videographer and a photographer. Also, 'We have to get married at sunset on the beach,' Harris said. 'And finally we must dance to 'At Last,' by Etta James.'

Mary Carey can be reached at mcarey@gazettenet.com.