A Mending Job, Before and After

For awhile now, I've been the go-to girl for all things that need mending. So when my mom approached me with a very nice evening gown with holes in its pure silk that she wanted to wear to an event, I put my head down and just...went. After much blood, sweat and tears (well, not really too much), here are the before and after photos.

The holes. Moth eaten? Mouse nibbled? I don't know. Note my fingertips for size. This is 100% pure black silk over a pink shell.

My arsenal. I decided that the holes were too large to just leave them be, so I bought some black sheer material. Although it didn't match perfectly, I was confident that the beading would cover up any irregularities. I matched the beads as closely as I could.

After tediously patching the largest hole. I unraveled a thread from the black sheer fabric, to use as thread. I felt like a little spider weaving a web. It was a little bit cute and inspiring. That wore off. Quickly.

Getting ready to patch the other three holes.

Patches complete.

A little blurry, but you can see the middle beading portion finished, (along with a smaller cluster of beads to cover another hole) in comparison with the original beadwork.

Finished! You can barely tell that it's different.

The moral of this story is, if you have anything that needs mending, send it my way, and for a small fee, you too can look fancy.