Toms Rescue

A couple weeks ago I staged an intervention for my old pair of black Toms.  My toes had worn through at least 2 places on each shoe, and I really wasn't digging that homeless look.  Luckily, I had seen a great tutorial on covering up those holes and giving the shoes a new look.

First I took needle and thread and sewed together the holes.  I figure that will reinforce those spots well enough to wear the shoes at least another summer, if not another year.  Then I covered the front with Aleene's double sided fabric tape and stuck on some funky fabric.  The tape is durable, permanent, and doesn't need to be ironed or sewn, so I was basically done.

Some fabric trimming and a couple pieces of decorative trim later, and I was done!  Look at my pretty new Toms.  I've gotten several compliments on them while out and about.  And I LOVE when people ask "Did you make those?"

Ring Repair

BEFORE

A good friend of mine had a little mishap with her favorite ring.  It went down the garbage disposal.  (Need I say more?)  So she sent it to me for repairs.

AFTER

The ring is a sterling silver band shaped like a crown of thorns with black lowered areas accentuating the branches.  It was pretty beat up but made for an easy fix.  The first step was annealing the ring (heating it with a torch until glowing.)  This softened the ring enough to be able to hammer it back into shape on a ring mandrel.  After the ring was round again, it was a matter of filing away the majority of the nicks and scratches and sanding it to a smooth finish.  The last step was applying a patina to settle in the lower areas, and cleaning up the raised areas with a polishing cloth.

AFTER

Repairing jewelry can be tricky.  The presence of set stones complicates the process and limits what can be done without completely re-setting the stone.  "Mystery metals" complicate things as well.  Solder can easily be applied to silver, copper, and brass.  Many other metals (like pewter) melt at a much lower temperature.  Repairing jewelry made from "mystery metal" risks melting the piece entirely.  This ring was the best case scenario when it comes to repairing jewelry.  A plain silver band that just needed some TLC.