Every now and then tragedy strikes and one of our samples are damaged. We had a photoshoot a few years ago at a cafe, and after the shoot, we noticed some odd bleached sections on the back of our Dawn shorts sample. I almost cried. I love this sample and knew this fabric wasn’t available anymore. I washed them in the hopes it was just something white on the surface but to no avail. Our currently running theory is that when our model was perched on the edge of tables that there might have been leftover cleaning liquid? Who knows. But finally, I figured out a solution! I love my embroidered back pocket Dawn jeans, so I thought why not add some embroidery below the pocket to cover the stain! Today is the story of my Geraldton Wax embroidered Dawn shorts and covering stains with embroidery!
No post about fixing a stain/bleach mark would be complete without a photo of the damage! These are the two spots of damage we had on our sample, which though they look small here, stick out like a sore thumb in person.
Side note: Please excuse all colour differences in these images. I usually take all photos with my DSLR but I had left it at work, so all my progress photos are taken on my phone *cry*.
My favourite flowers are Geraldton Wax which are native to Western Australia. We have a lovely big bush in our garden which a few years ago I used flowers from to make a lovely flower crown.
I drew some rough sketches of Geraldton Wax sprigs and then sketched them out on my shorts in pencil. There are a lot of ways to mark your embroidery designs on your fabric, but I must admit that the humble pencil is actually my favourite!
Geraldton Wax are most commonly purple or white, and sometimes pink, but as the shorts are sewn with pink topstitch I took some creative license and made them a bit pinker and cream-toned to coordinate with the existing topstitching.
This project came at just the right time for me. I had been feeling really stressed and needed a way to decompress and relax, and this embroidery was the cure! I spent a whole weekend sitting on our patio embroidering with a cup of tea and was constantly surprised to look up and see how much time had passed.
I loved how these turned out so much that when we had our last photoshoot I took the opportunity to reshoot our Dawn jeans imagery so I could include them on our website.
The thing I found so pleasing about mending these jeans with embroidery is that it actually improved the garment. I think the embroidered shorts look better than the original shorts and it almost seems like it was meant to be.
I think that’s what I love so much about mending with embroidery – the fact that you’re taking something that is “ruined” or “damaged” and improving it. Putting time into it to make it better than before.
So often we consider our clothing ruined when it has a stain or a rip, but I believe so strongly in caring for our garments so that they last many years. Mending is a crucial part of the life cycle of a garment, and I love taking the opportunity to improve the garment and make it a bit more special.
Now, these Dawn jean shorts not only look extra cute – but they also tell a story! I really hope you enjoyed these Geraldton Wax Dawn shorts and my journey of covering stains with embroidery! If you’d like some practical tips for how to add embroidery to your jeans check out my post on Tips for Embroidery on Jeans.
