The 3 or 4 1920s dresses I've had in my hands had the beads sewn on as Lisa said. They are sewn down by going through 2 or 3 or 4 beads then looped under the fabric back one or two beads then up through the fabric and into the last bead or two sewn and one or two more. You're always going through most of the beads twice. When I've Sewn beads down, I tend to knot off every 4" or so. That way, when I lose some beads, I' only losing a few at at time, not whole strings of beads. LynnD
On Tue, Jan 3, 2012 at 1:13 PM, <lis...@juno.com> wrote: > I can speak to your bead needs. I have a little experience with them. > > The first issue is that you want to couch them, AND that you want them to > be washable and dry-cleanable after having couched them on. At least > that's what I understood you wanted. > > Couching is fine, but you should not do it using the thread that the > beads are sold on, because that thread is not made to be used for that > nor is it durable. So.....what I would do, is re-string the beads on > bead thread or C-lon (which is pretty heavy thread that I use for bead > crochet) or buttonhole thread. Then you can couch it on using bead > thread or quilting thread. Even so, I personally would not trust any > garment so beaded to a dry cleaner. I would expect some beads to come > off. Unless it is a specialty dry-cleaner that does a lot of that sort > of thing., and has a good reputation. > > Any glass or crystal beads will be washable--in fact, the garment could > be carefully washed by hand with Woolite or any such cleaner, and laid > out to dry on towels or racks safely. > > Couching is not a favorite method of mine. I generally actually SEW the > beads to the fabric, 3 or 4 at a time. But that's me. > > Yours in cosutming,Lis AA > > > On Tue, 03 Jan 2012 12:00:11 -0800 Lavolta Press <f...@lavoltapress.com> > writes: > > I don't really like beading. Most of my experience is in restoring > > 1920s > > evening dresses. When I am working on one section, more sections are > > > > always coming apart. > > > > Having said that, I want to buy strands of (washable and dry > > cleanable) > > fine glass beads I can couch onto a project, meaning the thread for > > the > > strands has to be of permanent quality, not just beads strung > > together > > for sale. Where can I buy them? > > > > Fran > > Lavolta Press > > Books on historic clothing > > 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 > _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list h-costume@mail.indra.com http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
