Hooting and Sewing Night Owl @,@

[kimsophia]

Hoot hoot! I'm having more coffee and am fired up to work on my strawberry farm sampler.

My friend decided to buy a local Chevy Lumina. He will pay it off tomorrow and get the keys. I'll be so glad not to have to drive him at night! I just can't see well at night. He has great vision, so I think he'll do well.

His zipper failed on his new Dickies work pants and I have been struggling to install a new one...there is no reason that zipper should fail. We just got those pants in November--I know because it was an early Christmas present to him from me. He always manages to wear holes in them, too. I'm going to have him try the Levi's pants or maybe those Vermont Trading Company fire hose pants. Anyone know of strong pants for physical labor?

So that was not fun sewing but I enjoy the cross stitching. How are things in your neck of the woods? Hoot!

[Judy, USMC]

Re: Hooting and Sewing Night Owl @,@

Slept most of the day away since I was up most of the night watching the Weather Chanel waiting to see where Tropical Storm Colin was headed. East Coast landfall was predicted to be in Wilmington, NC just 45 miles south of here. Then it was SUPPOSED to walk up the coast (over my house.) Well, instead it turned eastward and although we had rain throughout the night and early morning no major flooding. Did have fairly high winds that knocked over some potted plants, however.

Didn't see a night owl post last night - and too afraid to start one. Invariably I either start one in the wrong area or wind up posting at the same time someone else does.

Glad to hear about your friend's new car, Kim! Takes the night driving pressure off of you. I've never done any serious garment construction and never put in a zipper in my life. Too intimidating for me. I'm heading to check the DD and then off to bed ....

Y'all stay warm - hear the temps are going to drop in some areas tomorrow!

[stationarymom]

Re: Hooting and Sewing Night Owl @,@

Kim do you always drink coffee at night? I used to be able to but now even one cup keeps me awake for hours.I hope your friend takes his car to a mechanic for a check up,did it happen to come with any type of warranty?I'm pretty sure here if they don't pass inspection you can use the lemon law and try to get your money back.I would send Dickies an email to let them know and see what they have to say if anything.
Judy I hope you stay safe from the storm.Don't be afraid to start a post for the Owls,even if someone else starts one at the same time there's no harm done.We're supposed to be in the 60's tomorrow.I hope all the Owls have a good night tucked into their nest.

[kimsophia]

Re: Hooting and Sewing Night Owl @,@

Judy, if you ever want to try garment sewing, there are very good videos online. That's how I learned to install a zipper. Sometimes Jo-Ann has patterns on sale for 5 for $1. They even have a quilt pattern!

Don't be intimidated...the most threads the merrier!

I just remembered that I was going to give y'all my review of the magnifier I eventually chose. I got the Carson brand HF-66 magnifier which hangs around the neck by a black cord. It has two little LED lights which require three AAA batteries. Well, I do like it but it has taken a few days for me to get the neck cord adjusted to the most comfortable length. I like it a lot shorter than the lady in the photo on the package. And sometimes I get disoriented to see everything so big. But overall, I do liked it and think it will extend my years of hand sewing.

[Judy, USMC]

Re: Hooting and Sewing Night Owl @,@

Thanks for the review on the magnifier. Liked hearing it works well and is reasonably priced.

Fortunately I have so many quilting projects lined up (along with my other hobbies and travels) that I have no time to learn how to make garments. That's my story and I'm sticking to it! lol

[toggpine]

Re: Hooting and Sewing Night Owl @,@

It's Duluth Trading Company, and my husband has several of their Fire Hose products. They do wear well. My dryer ate the pull tab zipper off of his vest, but it ate a lot of things before I replaced it.

Their stuff isn't cheap, but it does wear. The material has been heavy duty, including a nice thick weight on their long-tailed T-shirts.

I got some more work done on the house today and had some questions answered by the accountant with the grocery store receipts. The other gal was making this way too hard! Hopefully I can have it all tallied before the PTA meeting tomorrow. Then I'll be done for the summer!
I need to catch some winks.
Hugs, Cathy

[kimsophia]

Re: Hooting and Sewing Night Owl @,@

Yes, I found out it was Duluth when I did a Google Shopping search. I bookmarked a couple of their pants. They may cost a little over twice what the Dickies pants do, but it is worth it to me to not have the aggravation of continued patching and zipper installation. This is the second zipper I've replaced. :P

My buddy found a monarch egg on the back of a milkweed plant in my yard so I have transferred that leaf to our monarch habitat netting cage. The monarch woman I spoke with said the eggs survive indoors twenty times better than outdoors. We grew one egg last year and it was very exciting. Man, is their molting creepy! Ick! And they immediately eat their old skin!

[Granny Judy]

Re: Hooting and Sewing Night Owl @,@

It's almost daylight outside my window.. just couldn't sleep any longer so I'm up ... I'm wide Awake and hankering for a cup of coffee. But I hate to go into the kitchen.. it still has last night's mess from supper.. spaghetti. Home made sauce makes a bigger mess. DD generally cleans up and puts away the left overs, but she was exhausted and just went to bed.

So now I'm working up the courage to face the mess. And I planned on making an Italian Beef Roast in the crock pot.... another mess.

I swear ya'll are so much more talented than I am...putting zippers in men's pants!! Brave is what I call it. Just down right inconceivable in my world. I was lucky to get thru the apron making in home ec.. and that was the extent of my garment making.

Well off to find the coffee pot.. so I can get this day started.

[kimsophia]

Re: Hooting and Sewing Night Owl @,@

Granny Judy, I *hated* home ec sewing! I swore I would never sew again after that class was over (for the project of sewing a pullover top, I sewed a sleeve to the neck hole!). I could not understand the instructions in a pattern at all, and the entire project spatially baffled me, plus "Why sew when the cute stuff was in stores?". So it is weird that I sew now. I hate shopping for clothes and have since I was little. But video tutorials have made things I couldn't understand understandable. This is the video that taught how to replace a broken zipper https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TuIy0Kepyo
It does require practice to get good at it, just like sewing a quarter inch seam has a learning curve. But it isn't impossible like it was before.

[Midge]

Re: Hooting and Sewing Night Owl @,@

Kimsophia, another brand of work wear for men is Carhartt. Their pants are made of duck type material and they seem to wear well. Like Duluth's clothes, not inexpensive, but he can gradually build up a supply of better clothes over time. Even the Dickies nurse's garb has gotten a lot cheaper and is now poorly made. They can't be doing well.