Hand Embroidery and Modest Clothing

Been slowly working on "Mimi's Bloomers" but have run into a stem problem.  1/4 bias stems are too wide and 1/8 ones are too hard to make.

I've thought about doing some hand embroidery stitches but haven't tried it out.  It would be cool to find some shiny embroidery thread (not metallic) that is used for hand embroidery.  If you know of a place, let me know.  Variegated would be cool as well.


Cycling:


I did something to my knee..either by walking or the last time I rode my bike.  It just has this achy feeling..nothing sharp and painful.  Just this dull ache.

Not being able to cycle or walk is driving me nuts with the heat wave.  I want to get out and either walk or ride, but it's really not safe.  I'm wondering if I need to start doing something like weight lifting for days like this.  Probably a good thing my knee is sore.

If you are Mormon, how do you find modest exercise clothing like for walking?  You've also seen my picture, so I'm not exactly skinny either.  Sports manufacturers seem to think everyone is a size 3, wears  itty bitty shorts, tank tops and then want a fortune for it.

I would love this outfit for cycling:

The shorts:

The shorts alone are 85 dollars and I'm sure even their size XXL is too small.

As for as something for walking around the track, nothing seems even remotely close to being comfortable, modest, lightweight, fits and doesn't cost 85 dollars for just the shorts.