As some one who does a great deal of beadwork, several things come to mind. First, use the correct thread, not regular sewing thread. Beading thread comes in different thicknesses. Second, if there is an area of the fabric to which you are going to multiple stones, some sort of interfacing is advisable under the fabric. When I do large beaded areas, I use fairly heavy interfacing. A regular beading needle should work fine; there is also a very long, narrow awl-like tool with that is a diamond file for enlarging holes in beads and stones that works pretty well.
My cleaning experiences have not been good, so I never plan on having to dry-clean those garments. I spot-clean if necessary. Instead of trying to sew them directly on to hte dress, why not make a really over-the-top beaded collar with them? Yours in cosutming,Lisa A On Mon, 03 Oct 2011 15:13:09 -0700 Lavolta Press <f...@lavoltapress.com> writes: > I just received in a mail (from India) a large multiple strand of > little > citrines, pretty but almost certainly not of the highest gem > quality. > If nothing else the stringing is awful and I hate the clasp, so > they'd > need to be restrung. But, they are essentially beads, a teardrop > shape > with a hole pierced through across the narrow end. So I might be > able to > sew them to cloth assuming I can get a narrow enough needle. > > Problem: I am sure they will wash, being stones, but I am not sure > > they will dry clean. And I think they'd work best attached to a > medium > weight to heavy, dry-cleanable, rather fancy fabric. > > Has anyone tried using real stones for beading and dry cleaning > them? Or > should I just have them restrung into a better quality of necklace? > > Thanks for any info. > > Fran > Lavolta Press > Books of historic clothing patterns > www.lavoltapress.com > www.facebook.com/LavoltaPress > > > _______________________________________________ > 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
