The Front Porch Swing

[perchie.girl]

I think this is a job you can handle very well, MM, and it's good idea! I didn't even think of that when I pitched a suit that I bought (yes, without trying it on first) for the hot tub. I got that puppy home and realized I could just as well be out there in my birthday suit. <sigh> Polyester shouldn't bleed, but having said that I've had one really dark colored piece that did just a little bit. It was like the color was put on instead of woven in or something. I'd use the machine if you're just attaching the piece to the straps. You can tack it down with a few hand stitches at the bottom edge, just under the bustline and that shouldn't be too noticeable.

Doesn't sound you are too comfortable doing this. I'll bet it would be less than 10 bucks to have a pro do them.

easy to do just like you said blooie... Another way to tack it in place is using bonding tape... then you can either sew by hand or by machine. If you sew by mashine ... Use a stretch stitch or if you dont have a stretch stitch use a zig zag... So you dont pop threads when you move around.

I used to sew lots when i was younger... (Laugh in ERa) Just about the time spandex came out and now you had to have all these stitches that needed to stretch with the fabric...

And Blooie is right a bout price i am sure. anyplace that does altering should be able to do it. Most dry cleaners offer altering and hemming services.

deb

 

[wyoDreamer]

You will need to hem the top of the inset, easy to do by folding it over a couple of times and then sewing down the folded edge with a stretch stitch. And fold the edges of the inset over before you sew it to the swimsuit. If you hand sew it you may be able to follow the stitches already in the suit. Definitely do-able, but personally I would contact a tailor and get a price.

Great idea for an alteration!

 

[Windy Bay Farm]

Welcome back @Windy Bay Farm
  its been busy here.... LOL.

deb

WINDY!  How the heckle are ya????  Grab a bucket - but watch out for the turtle.  He's smelling a little ripe under there!

Hello Perch and Blooie !! Hope all is well and that you are enjoying the summer so far ! Summer has finally arrived here in Nova Scotia and all is well Hope ya'll are doing well these days

 

[bruceha2000]

And look at those tail feathers already. I have only had them for 6 days!

Kids, they grow up so fast!

Here are mine yesterday at 8 days old, their wing feathers are really filling in. They flit up into the pen like it wasn't even a different level. Zorra is so intent on finding them food in the litter in the run (which is just litter I pulled out of the coop) that she sprays it all over the chicks and she stepped on one (no harm no foul). Not using her rear view mirrors I guess.

Yep, same here. It was actually a regular red lamp - don't know why it came out looking that way, unless it was the aluminum foil Ken put up to "keep drafts off the chicks."

Oh, foolish, foolish people!! It's a wonder they didn't start laying fried eggs!

Now THAT would be an invention that would make you rich!

 

[MistyMountain]

I think this is a job you can handle very well, MM, and it's good idea! I didn't even think of that when I pitched a suit that I bought (yes, without trying it on first) for the hot tub. I got that puppy home and realized I could just as well be out there in my birthday suit. Polyester shouldn't bleed, but having said that I've had one really dark colored piece that did just a little bit. It was like the color was put on instead of woven in or something. I'd use the machine if you're just attaching the piece to the straps. You can tack it down with a few hand stitches at the bottom edge, just under the bustline and that shouldn't be too noticeable. Doesn't sound you are too comfortable doing this. I'll bet it would be less than 10 bucks to have a pro do them.

Thank you, blooie! THe biggest thing that worries me is that I want to make sure it is done right, the first time. I really like these swimsuits. I tried them on in the store and I was a bit more confident there. Get home, get them on, and not so much. I've worn them out a couple of times and for many people I'm sure they are fine. I'm a bit more conservative, though. Going down water slides and chasing little boys has me worried that I will not stay covered appropriately. I might give a local place a quick call. I have a couple of motivations in doing it myself. First, I want it NOW! Swimming season is in full swing here, and I have drug my feet on this. Second…don't laugh… I kinda like hanging out in my little bubble. We have everything we need within 10 minutes. Dollar General, Groceries… it is an event if I have to travel into the city. I don't like to go past the interstate much. If I can't get it at either DG or groc store, and Amazon Prime doesn't have it, I don't need it!! Hah! This is pure laziness, or, maybe, more like not willing to devote a chunk of my precious time to dealing with big city stuff… stoplights, waiting in line, you know.

easy to do just like you said blooie... Another way to tack it in place is using bonding tape... then you can either sew by hand or by machine. If you sew by mashine ... Use a stretch stitch or if you dont have a stretch stitch use a zig zag... So you dont pop threads when you move around. I used to sew lots when i was younger... (Laugh in ERa) Just about the time spandex came out and now you had to have all these stitches that needed to stretch with the fabric... And Blooie is right a bout price i am sure. anyplace that does altering should be able to do it. Most dry cleaners offer altering and hemming services. deb

Uh oh… that may have exceeded my knowledge. I just know the straight stitch. I know the machine is capable of more, but I'm not quite there yet! Thanks for the info!!

You will need to hem the top of the inset, easy to do by folding it over a couple of times and then sewing down the folded edge with a stretch stitch. And fold the edges of the inset over before you sew it to the swimsuit. If you hand sew it you may be able to follow the stitches already in the suit. Definitely do-able, but personally I would contact a tailor and get a price. Great idea for an alteration!

Definitely going to give them a call. I do think this material will need to be doubled or it may be a bit sheer. I am going to attach a pic of the project. The fabric I got it not exact in color, but so close that for 1.50 a yard and not having to order online with no idea what real color I was going to get… I was sold (see above about me also not enjoying going into the city). Since we are talking about baby chicks as well, I'll attach a few of my newbies! Something about baby chicks… just makes me smile. Standby for pics… gotta log in with my phone to upload.

 

[bruceha2000]

Thank you, blooie! THe biggest thing that worries me is that I want to make sure it is done right, the first time. I really like these swimsuits. I tried them on in the store and I was a bit more confident there. Get home, get them on, and not so much. I've worn them out a couple of times and for many people I'm sure they are fine. I'm a bit more conservative, though. Going down water slides and chasing little boys has me worried that I will not stay covered appropriately. I might give a local place a quick call. I have a couple of motivations in doing it myself. First, I want it NOW! Swimming season is in full swing here, and I have drug my feet on this. Second…don't laugh… I kinda like hanging out in my little bubble. We have everything we need within 10 minutes. Dollar General, Groceries… it is an event if I have to travel into the city. I don't like to go past the interstate much. If I can't get it at either DG or groc store, and Amazon Prime doesn't have it, I don't need it!! Hah! This is pure laziness, or, maybe, more like not willing to devote a chunk of my precious time to dealing with big city stuff… stoplights, waiting in line, you know.
Uh oh… that may have exceeded my knowledge. I just know the straight stitch. I know the machine is capable of more, but I'm not quite there yet! Thanks for the info!!
Definitely going to give them a call. I do think this material will need to be doubled or it may be a bit sheer. I am going to attach a pic of the project. The fabric I got it not exact in color, but so close that for 1.50 a yard and not having to order online with no idea what real color I was going to get… I was sold (see above about me also not enjoying going into the city).

Since we are talking about baby chicks as well, I'll attach a few of my newbies! Something about baby chicks… just makes me smile. Standby for pics… gotta log in with my phone to upload.

TOO CUTE! Looks like you have quiet a variety there. BA surrogate mama?

I don't do the sewing thing but one place you can look is if there is a dance/skate shop nearby. If they make some of their own stuff, they can alter yours. They are very familiar with stretchy fabric.

 

[MistyMountain]

@Blooie I had posted them in our MHP thread, ha ha. I need to enable here also, right?

Any advice on getting my English Setter to behave around the chickens. He is so obsessed with looking at them right now. I am not sure if he is drooling because he is thinking about dinner or just too excited and over-heating. He gets so obsessive at times, about weird little things like a horse whinny or the neighbors door slam, so maybe he is a lost cause.

I hope he chills out for you! All bets are off with our Lilly and little peepers. I don't know what she would do with them. She is a past chicken killer that we worked with to turn around. Now she only chases the roosters to keep them away from us. She could care less about the hens, almost to a fault. I reaaaallly don't want them up on the deck looking in the window and pooping in front of the door.

She had all of those behaviors you describe. The uncontrollable shaking and drooling. When the chicks were about 3-4 weeks (and in the house, sigh) we would make her lay down and let them crawl on her, all while taking to her and calling her down when she would get too excited. Once the chicks got to be about 8-9 weeks we would take her on a leash into their little play pen area (a 10' circle of fencing) to see them. We started off holding the leash so we could correct her both with a tug and our voice. Later on, our voice was all we needed. We made it very clear that she was not to get excited about the chicks or lunge at them. She could look at and smell them, but we took care to stop her at just that moment before she got excited. We watched her body language. It seemed like she was more receptive to our commands that moment before she would get excited, so I think that is the key. Once she let go, her brain was elsewhere. I do think that for Lilly it was important that she was not asked to ignore the chickens entirely. We wanted to let her see them, smell them, familiarize herself with them. We didn't want to make them something totally off limits that she might sneak a bite of when we turned our backs. We wanted her to accept them into her pack, and in turn, protect them.

I should comment that I think the only reason all this worked for us is that Lilly truly wants to please and does not want to upset us. She has NO obedience training, minus sit and now, "leave it". She is overly submissive in that she will empty her bladder if anyone new talks to her or tries to pet her. She is a tough case. She came from the shelter at 4 months old and I have no doubt life was rough for her on the streets. When we lived in the city and went for walks, she would lose it in fear over trash cans. Her confidence has grown immensely since we have moved out to the country.

I don't know if that helps or not, but it has turned things around for our girl. She went from having killed 7 squirrels, one cat, and a chicken, to where she is now. It just took time and consistency on our end. It is amazing how they can turn around.

 

[MistyMountain]

TOO CUTE! Looks like you have quiet a variety there. BA surrogate mama?

I don't do the sewing thing but one place you can look is if there is a dance/skate shop nearby. If they make some of their own stuff, they can alter yours. They are very familiar with stretchy fabric.

Thank you! She's a blue cochin. The eggs are of my mixed flock of mostly EE, covered at that point by either a SLW, EE or EE mix rooster. The little blue in the front must have come from my splash cochin, but the leg feather gene got lost in there. I think one other could be from my Welsummer hen, and another from my SLW/White leghorn hen. I have found that I really kind-of enjoy hatching mixes. You never know what you are going to get! Many have cushion combs, a few have pea combs. Hopefully these will all find homes. I say "hopefully" because each time I look at them I like them even more! Little blue will stay if it is a pullet, though! I've already broken down on that one!

Good call on the dance/skate shop! We have one right down the road. I have to meet a lady today to deliver eggs who has a grand daughter in dance. I bet she would have some input! Thank you!

 

[LBejaran]

I thought I had updated this thread on the chicks. So here is their home.

Such cute chicks!!! I love that little coop you have for them. What a great way of letting them grow into their space!

Oops, I don't know why I didn't see this before...Duh, Diane!!

Is Pistol Pete worrying you a little bit? He's been around them before, hasn't he? Is it just this batch he's going all drooley over? I don't really have any good advice for you, I'm afraid. Molly got all quivery and pointy when we got last year's chicks too. But she had to share the office with them, and it was a small space, so the constant exposure without being able to get at them sorta of de-sensitized her to them even being there.

I know that with pretty much all my dogs, time and desensitization was what it took for them to leave the birds alone. At one point, they realize that attacking the birds will only mean being put on their back and the fun pretty much dies when the birds do, so they stopped. Even my sister's little chicken killer (who is getting kinda fat and lazy nowadays) is getting pretty calm around the birds now. He's always kenneled when the flock is free ranging, so he's too distracted on wanting to be out of the kennel to care much about the birds. I let him loose when I'm putting the birds away, though, so he's around them but not alone. I'm hoping that by next year I'll be able to let him loose without worrying too much.

 

[LBejaran]

Well, everyone, I have some pretty good news!

I'm finally in the my new bedroom! To be honest, it feels very freeing to be able to just plant myself in here for extended periods of time and I can just chill out or work (mostly work). Even my sleep is being positively affected. I've been having no crazy stress dreams (I'll elaborate on that later) and I wake up to the sound of birds chirping and the cats purring by my face. It's pretty amazing.


This is Feral Kitty (that's her name, she's not feral now but she was when we found her) trying to sneak a paw into my breakfast smoothie.

It feels like I'm living in a partially livable loft, which makes me feel a lot more independent. I'm not, technically, but it certainly gives me a bit of confidence in owning my space. It's not finished since we still have one huge box to go through and sort, but we got a lot done this past weekend. My bed is made up of about 6 pallets that I was saving outside for something else and I am using the slots in them to store some books. So it's dual purpose!

The work I'm doing now mostly is just time consuming (like fixing this dresser so it actually holds all of Mom's cross stitching materials and her quilting fabrics while not being an eyesore. So I'm sanding, priming and painting the drawers before I take care of the body of the dresser. I also still have to paint the wall behind the dresser, so, you know, there's some work left to do.

Because I normally keep my young birds in my bedroom, I moved my silkied Ameraucanas, my red golden pheasant chicks and my new black/lav Ameraucana chicks into the garage with me. I was worried that the cats would try and eat them, but they mostly just watch them through the clear-ish totes and poke lightly at the boxes. Then they jump all over my bed. Their parents were likely wonderful hunters of birds and rodents, but I've spoiled them into lazy garage cats. At least they kill the cockroaches that have pop up on occasion!

Black/Lav Split Silkied Ameraucanas

Black/Lav Split Straight-Feathered Ameraucana chick (from show quality lines)

So things are going pretty well. I can still sense a little tension in the house, but I know it's not from me! Teenagers are just full of all sorts of angsty stuff and I'm staying away from it and keeping busy. I don't need the nonsense. I'm even trying to keep this healthy mindset going by actually getting healthy. I'm drinking protein shakes or fruit smoothies (the actual healthy ones with fruit and yogurt) for breakfast and I'm getting my veggies in. I am still trying to clear out a space so I can set up a yoga mat and I have a punching bag set up so I can practice some self defense. I figure that gaining confidence on all levels will help me.

And since the garage is kinda plain, Mom mentioned putting up fabric on the garage door. I wasn't sure at first but she was right (obviously) so I'm also working on making the new "wall" look beautiful.


I'll probably end up making a couple scratching posts first, though. The cats will probably tear off the fabric once they realize their claws sink in pretty easily!

So, to cap it up, life is going pretty well. It's not great but it's getting easier. I think time and a little work can really make a difference.