Brand New Bows!

A couple of years ago, for Christmas, I received a cute pair of black, satin slippers, with little bows on them.

A few months ago, on of those bows fell off, and I lost it.

So, I made new bows for my slippers.

I used scissors, a needle and thread, and 2 equal lengths of black satin ribbon.

The one slipper had already lost it's bow, but I had to take the bow off of the other.  

I tied ribbons into bows, and adjusted them until they looked the way I wanted them to; nice and full, and even.

Then, I sewed from the inside of the slipper, out,

I stuck the needle through the centre of the bow,

And I sewed the bow down with about 3 or 4 stitches, until I was satisfied that it was secure.

Then I did the same with the second slipper.

And VOILA!  I actually like these bows much better than the bows that the slippers came with.  These are much bigger and more feminine.

Beautifying Blemishes

A stain is to a garment as a really bad pimple is to a face.  It's obvious, distracting, and sometimes just gross.

But, unlike pimples, not all stains go away.

Such was the case with one of my favourite summer dresses.

You can't really tell from this photo, but this dress has (had?) a few fairly visible ink stains on the skirt and the bodice.

Stains 1, 2, and 3, respectively.

I tried every different tip I could find on how to remove ink from fabric but the stains had dried and weren't going to budge. 

Then, I came across a tip, in a magazine at school, that suggested fixing holes and rips by covering them with embroidery.  I though that would work perfectly to cover up stains, as well!

So, sketched out some floral motifs; 

And finally decided on two that I liked.

Keep in mind, as I tell you about my project; 

So, I spread part of the skirt over my embroidery hoop, with the stain sitting dead in the centre.  I drew one of the motifs over top, and I began.

First, the stems and leaves, in a dark, olive green.

Then, some princess-pink blossoms.

And a white french knot in the centre.

I also started putting flowers elsewhere on the skirt.

For the bodice I decided I'd use multiple, tiny french knots.  So far, I've done three.

But the entire bodice WILL be covered in little dots. It WILL be!

This is how the dress looks now.

Not a HUGE difference, I know. I only added three tiny dots and a few small  flowers. And one of those flowers is hidden behind a pleat. But this is a work in progress. I plan on doing about an hour of embroidery each night and I should have it all ready in time for when the warm weather returns.