My gardening trousers went through at the other knee. The Systems Administrator remarked that they made me look like a Confederate soldier at the end of the American Civil War, but I queried whether they wore pink tee shirts. The SA said no, not my top half, but the southern troops had worn brown trousers which by the end of the fighting were that patched and worn. Fortunately Lands' End supplied the trousers on the basis that their customers might be over six feet tall, and so there was plenty of material left over to make another knee patch. I should really have chopped the bottoms of the trousers off before, instead of idly rolling them up, since grit and soil used to collect in the turn-ups and periodically fall out in little piles on the bedroom carpet when I was changing out of my gardening clothes.
Sewing knee patches on to my gardening trousers, I have practically run out of thick button thread. Ordinary sewing cotton is no use at all as it wears through after a few days of use. My first impulse was to turn to Amazon. Tap connectors, fishing line, electric rat zappers, cake tins, it seems there is no domestic requirement too mundane for Amazon to satisfy it. A search for button thread did indeed yield several suppliers. The top ranked would sell me a reel for the grand sum of £2.35 including delivery, and rated an average five star review. There are people out there who spend their spare time reviewing button thread on the internet? One of them lamented that haberdashery was so expensive nowadays. I mean, two of your earth pounds and thirty-five whole pence.
Then I noticed that the top ranking Amazon button thread vendor despatched from the United States, with an estimated delivery time sometime between 2nd and 22nd October. I thought that I needed to mend my trousers earlier than the end of next month, but the next button thread seller on the list was also US based. In fact, they all were. What is this global trade in button thread, and why can't anybody in the UK send me some?
I tried to think what bricks and mortar shops might stock button thread I could go to John Lewis while I was in London, on the other hand I wasn't planning to visit Oxford Street. John Lewis from The National Portrait Gallery is a bit of a step, and I was tired after my two exhibitions and wanted to go home, while for the cost of my Oyster journey to Oxford Circus I could have the thread sent from Charlestown, USA. The Co-Op in Colchester used to sell sewing thread, but is no more, while the closure of the useful remnant shop was announced a few weeks back, and I wasn't sure if it had already shut. Williams and Griffin, Colchester's premier department store and now part of the Fenwick Group, is being revamped and I couldn't remember if they had a haberdashery department or not. I checked the website of a UK based fabric company I've looked at in the past, though never bought anything, but it wasn't clear whether any of their sewing thread was the thick sort I needed.
In the end there was enough thread left on the old reel to sew the patch. Now the immediate rush is over I might as well send off to Charlestown, and save myself some running about. And who could resist the product description: coats clark dual duty xp heavy weight thread. this thread was designed to meet the needs of sewers when it came to denim double knits drapery fabric faux fur felt fleece leather and faux leather quilted fabrics sweater knits ticking twill upholstery canvas duck and sail cloth. recommended needles machine 14 90 16 100 or 18 110 hand sizes 1 to 6. this thread is ideal for bold topstitching cording and stitching hand worked buttonholes. obtain a smooth beautiful finish consistent tension balanced twist excellent stitch formation low breakage color fast and weather resistant with this unique polyester wrapped core spun thread produced using a new advanced spinning technology. spool features the dual trap system for a more secure storage without the spool unwinding. 125 yards 114 meters. imported.
All that for £2.35, delivered to your door. Maybe I'll have to pay customs duty, though.
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