I have sewn Indian garnets and (horrors!) thousands of 2nd grade rice pearls onto a forepart. The forepart was dry cleaned several times over a few years of wear and I had no problems with either; however, I used to have a very special dryclean company that has since gone the way of all good, family companies.
Both the people at Fire Mountain Beads and RIngs and Things suggest that testing be done to any beads or stones before sewing to garments because the dye may wash out and ruin your garment. Perhaps you can sew one of the stones to the inside hem of something you're about to dry clean and see if the color is stable. If you do sew them onto something, I suggest you make a knot between every 3-4 beads, so that if the stone shreds the thread, you only lose a few beads. LynnD On Mon, Oct 3, 2011 at 4:03 PM, Cin <cinbar...@gmail.com> wrote: > It depends on the stones. Diamonds & rubies are very hard to fracture. > Opals, pearls & emeralds very easy. I accidently laundered my tanzanite > ring when I left it in the pocket of a pair of jeans. It did color change > slightly. Worse, the setting got scratched. Check the Moh's hardness scale > for an idea, knowing whether your rocks are natural, synthetic or > synthesized stones will also help. > FWIW, Some rocks are still a bit rough thru the hole & might cut the thread > that sews them onto the gown. > In any case, I wouldnt launder or dryclean the dress. I have a vintage 50s > dress with clear quartz in individual settings that are sewn on. Still > dont > have any idea how to clean that dress. > Do let me know when you're rich enough to sew diamonds onto your dresses. > I'm going to be your very best friend. > --cin > Cynthia Barnes > cinbar...@gmail.com > > > On Mon, Oct 3, 2011 at 3:42 PM, cw15147-hcos...@yahoo.com < > cw15147-hcos...@yahoo.com> wrote: > > > I have not done what you're describing, but I just checked with a friend > > who is a jewelry maker. She says the stones would survive dry cleaning, > but > > the color may change. She said she wouldn't risk it. > > > > I've sewn beads (glass pearls) onto fabric with a standard beading > needle. > > > > Claudine > _______________________________________________ > h-costume mailing list > h-costume@mail.indra.com > http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume > _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
