What do you do when you are working on something, putting your heart into what you are making, and then, something goes wrong?
I was really sad and oh, so disappointed. The hours I spent knitting and embroidering this sweater flashed through my mind as I looked at the stains that a new strand of beads had left behind around the buttonholes. I tried dabbing the worst stain out with water, then tried a tiny bit of Shout, the one stain didn’t budge, so I didn’t even try with the others.
Well, how bad are the stains? Not too bad, in my opinion, but the sweater is not perfect now. 😞 I know that I don’t have it in me to remake this sweater and the stains are very faint, so the sweater isn’t ruined. I removed the offending beads and replaced them with glass beads. If the sweater is buttoned, the stains are totally covered up. And, (ha ha) unbuttoned in a darkened room they are unnoticeable. Hey, I gotta laugh or I’d cry!
But seriously, see not too bad.
Here is the sweater with the new glass beads sewn on and the sweater buttoned up.
And, here is Talyssa during the photo shoot when everything was going perfectly, or so I thought. I liked Gina’s “Ivy and Holly” ensemble so much that I decided to make Talyssa one of her own.
Now, for the learning part and in case you were wondering about these beads. These beads were labeled as “Dyed Bamboo Coral”. I wanted to better understand how this happened and how I could test beads , so I took the strand and rubbed it on an old wool sweater and sure enough there was a faint pink stain left on the wool. Needless to say, I will be staying away from dyed beads.
Talyssa’s “Holiday Darling” ensemble is available (at a special price) on my “Shop What’s New” page at cindyricedesigns.com.
Cindy Rice Designs 
Awwwww…. Cindy, so sorry this happened with those beads ! I LOVE beads, and am always incorporating them into ribbon embroidery and such. Luckily for me, I never tried the dyed beads you speak of, and sure appreciate you sharing this. Now I know what can happen with them !
Thanks, Shelly. I’m sure not all dyed beads do this, but probably red and black are the worst just like red and black poly fabrics.
There’s always tomorrow!! It will be better. I thought the beads were glass. What an eye opener! I can see the dyed bamboo. Not. and the coral. Which is dyed a lot. So, guess I’ll be washing any thing I might want to use for beading/necklaces prior to see if it stains. Perhaps what makes the difference is from from where one buys? and where they are made? No reflection on you. Maybe others can share their good sources.
Thank you so much for the heads up.
And so very sorry for your discovery. Good for us though.
Hi Joy,
Glad I could help, it’s a shame for this to happen to others. I would recommend using glass or undyed natural when working with red and black, those are the worst colors. I won’t even use red thread when I make red socks and tights (don’t make too much in black). The polyester in it will leach into the soft vinyl dolls, cotton fabric is fine though. Do you remember Elementary Riley? Her shoulders got stained from the black poly fabric, guess it could have been the thread too.
I just never thought about the thread. Thought when it said “colorfast” that it was. I always wash my fabrics by hand prior to using. If they are leaching color, out they go. Whoa, guess I’m going to have a lot of naked dollies laying around. Poor things.
Still beautiful…..
Thanks so much, Virginia, nice of you to say!
Don’t worry, the stain is very discrete and do not harm the beauty of the vest!
We can also think that it’s done intentionally!
Have a nice day!
Catherine
Awww, Catherine! You are so sweet. That makes me feel better. The staining IS very light and hard to see. I’m glad you think so too. It is dark and wet here, but that is okay. It is a nice day to get a lot of work done. Hope you are having a nice Tuesday.
Such a lovely outfit..I can’t see the stain so it must be very light. I love the fabric for Talyssa’s dress also.
Hi Regina,
Thank you so much. The stains are light. I took some portraits of her today and they don’t even show up, so all is not lost.