Niggly ballet tasks

[Fiz]

No, I didn't!

[Cara in NZ]

Costumes... I sewed individual sequins all over the floral bits on the leo/skirt combo DD wanted for her Barefoot solo. Then a work colleague asked me if I had 'beading needles'??? After investigating, I unpicked every single sequin and hand-sewed them on again with a bead anchoring them (for extra sparkle on-stage, you see). Then DD decided she didn't want to wear that outfit on stage any more and could I take the sequins off so she could wear it to class. Fhnggnnnm

[Waltzingmatilda]

ooh thank you flora and sara and yes i did have to retire to bed with a glass of prosecco to ponder the £££'s implication of pointe shoes departing to pointe shoe heaven..... It took me two months to get over the shock of coming out of dance shop £70 lighter with pointe shoes, 2 x types of ribbons as i didn't know which ones to get, weird suede type patches to sew on in 'cross stitch?' (at which point I nearly passed out as my sewing skills have only evolved as far as 'running' stitch), and a 'bloch' how to prepare? the shoes - I went quite pale and later that evening when I was placing shoes in the fridge? -yes the fridge? I poured another glass of wine at the thought of the task of 'sewing the ribbons'.  Decided to google 'how to sew ribbons on pointe shoes and oh dear - is it possible to have preparing the pointe shoe migraine symptoms.............AS for the 'cross stitch' I sent my husband out to the man cave with instructions to find industrial strenght glue but not to get any on the shoe or he may as well move to said man cave. 

[Piccolo]

Pointe shoe ribbons and migraines are a team, most definitely!

[Petalviolet]

Why WHY WHYYYYYYY can't it go like this?

 

Buy the pointe shoe.

Put the pointe shoe on.

 

Do the fouttay, planchay, arabesqay dancey thingy.

 

Take the pointe shoe off.

USE IT AGAIN.

[taxi4ballet]

Waltzingmatilda, the next pair won't cost so much, as usually the cost of the first pair includes such things as toe pads etc, (my dd is still using the same ones after 5 years thank goodness) and if you sew the ribbons on in such a way that they can be unpicked and re-used, that saves a pound or two as well.

 

And the shoes last longer if you can train your dancer to take the things out of their bag and let them hang up to dry between wears. Leaving them in the bag all sweaty and damp (yuk) shortens their lives quite a bit.

[Waltzingmatilda]

ooh what marvellous tips taxi4ballet.  i had forgotten with the shock of the£70 about the bizarre toe sponge thingies - I have just gone to dig out my DD's dance bag to make sure she still has them and they were in the pointe shoes still - I suspect they have been there since the first lesson in Sept - oh dear.  I feel a lecture coming on when DD returns from school re prolonging the life of the shoe/ribbons/spongey toe things etc. The first ribbons I put on only lasted two weeks as although they looked marvellous (all holey and invisible? apparently) they fell off after the 20 mins.  An amazing tutorial by Kathryn Morgan on sewing them on which resulted in me learning how to use the 'pause' button on you tube (an IT lesson as well)! so after a few mishaps with the needle and an hour and a half later (seriously 1 1/2!) and switching to my 'solid' pink ribbons and adding the elastic I got in the dance shop just because the lady in the shop said 'you can never have too much pink elastic' - triumph - they stay on and look reasonably normal!!   you make me laugh petalviolet as I only discovered 'convertibles' over the summer holidays as I had spotted some poor unfortunate souls with holes in their feet and was feeling very sorry for them until it was pointed out to me that they were meant to be like that.............maybe there are lots of other mysterious dancey helping 'thing's that we still have to discover I feel!

[2dancersmum]

Letting the pointe shoes air between times she wears them will certainly help them last longer but you just never know how long they will last.  The first few pairs my DDs had when they were only doing about 20 mins of pointe a week easily lasted 6 months.  Both DDs outgrew the first pair rather than wearing them out. As for how to tell when pointe shoes are dead - if it is the shank that goes then in simple terms the shoe becomes too bendy - usually one foot before the other and your DD would start finding pointe work difficult because the shoe would no longer support her foot on point.  If it is the box that dies/softens too much, then the first sign for your DD may be that toes start hurting or getting bruises or blisters that were previously ok.  For one of my DDs it was the big toe that bruised one lesson after having no problems previously.  There are products you can buy (like jet glue) to reharden the box if need be.  In the meantime, just keep your fingers crossed that you are one of the lucky ones whose DD does not wear out pointe shoes too quickly.

[Waltzingmatilda]

Thank you so much 2dancersmum.  So useful.  I am going to print your post so i can use it for future reference to help spot which part of the pointe shoes have died.  Oh my goodness.  The life cycle of pointe shoes is more complicated than how many layers would we like in tutu?  DD's first made to order tutu that her grandmas are getting for her birthday and christmas which I thought would be rather a simple task.  I now have to psyche myself up to google 'tutu's' and all that entails.  Still at least I know now what 'box' is as I have just researched that - ha.  My knowledge is astounding me.  I will tackle 'shank' next (sounds like a cut of meat) and then proceed to tutu layers and give myself a gold star smug in my ever increasing immergence into baffling world of dance. 

[Petalviolet]

Is there any way of predicting if your DD's feet are the type of feet to get through pointe shoes? This is a proper question by the way not my usual ramblings!

 

WaltzingM I hear shank I think horses?! I know as much about horses as Ballet. Oh and (see one of my previous threads) don't get me started on ballet belts as that's a whole world I certainly won't be getting involved in.

[Katymac]

My dad feels contact adhesive is best for the suede toe things & I'm a philistine as I use my machine to sew the ribbons on

 

I was doing a show (helping with costumes) & someone needed their ribbon sewing on - I did it on the machine & they were horrified, until I suggested they unpick it & then sew it themselves

[Waltzingmatilda]

Petalviolet - shanks and horses makes perfect sense to me or possibly car parts.  I am sure one of the 'galloping' movements DD does may possibly kill the shank although I think her dance teacher is trying to work on the art of 'walking' at the moment so galloping/trotting type movements may be a few years beyond us yet.  I shall have a look at ballet belts although it may possibly be a step too far in my developing repertoire having only just discovered the world of the pointe shoe and convertibles and the whole death of the pointe shoe still  to go through............  

[Waltzingmatilda]

katymac - i shall make sure we have some adhesive in man cave for the inevitable falling off of the suede things.  They are rather ugly I feel and a very odd colour and nice pink blend i stitching would be lovely (if someone else did it of course).  Marvellous advice though. Thank you.

[taxi4ballet]

Is there any way of predicting if your DD's feet are the type of feet to get through pointe shoes? This is a proper question by the way not my usual ramblings! 

Sadly no... there are too many factors that come into play, including how much use they get and the level the dancer is working at, the make of shoe, the shape of the dancer's feet (those with high arch/instep and/or very strong feet tend to kill them quickest) and whether the shoes are dried out between uses. It does help to have two pairs so that one can be drying out while the others are being worn. Remind your dd to take any padding out of them whilst drying as well. Ribbons last longer if you paint the cut ends with clear nail varnish, or run them quickly through a flame to seal them (weird but true).

[munchkin16]

You don't actually need to stick the ribbons in the flame. Hold the end close to it and it will melt nicely to stop them fraying but without the odd burnt colour. I learnt the hard way with nice black coloured ends to my ribbons...

[wildflowers]

Yes, we flame the ribbons too, I used to enjoy sewing their shoes but both of my dd's have done their own and sometimes each others, for many years now. They don't bother darning or using a suede patch as they don't last long enough to warrant it sadly! In terms of cost, one dd prefers Bloch, if I buy 2 pairs at a time from dance direct, then it is free p&p, I use Dance Directs own ribbon which is a snip of the price £1 per pair verses £4.50 for Bloch ribbon. Slightly different colour but dd says absolutely fine....so my last purchase was also £70 but for 2 pairs plus ribbon and elastic so was quite pleased with that....won't be so pleased if they don't last a half term!!????

[Cara in NZ]

Took me THREE hours to get the elastics and ribbons on DD's first pair of pointes. The nice shop lady told me the 'Elastorib' ribbons were better, but it's impossible to get the stretchy bit positioned across their Achilles tendon. You think you have it right, then they pull the ribbons tight and the stretchy bit immediately migrates round the side of their foot. There was unpicking, repeated trying on, and possibly bad language.

[Melody]

Yes, we flame the ribbons too, I used to enjoy sewing their shoes but both of my dd's have done their own and sometimes each others, for many years now. They don't bother darning or using a suede patch as they don't last long enough to warrant it sadly! In terms of cost, one dd prefers Bloch, if I buy 2 pairs at a time from dance direct, then it is free p&p, I use Dance Directs own ribbon which is a snip of the price £1 per pair verses £4.50 for Bloch ribbon. Slightly different colour but dd says absolutely fine....so my last purchase was also £70 but for 2 pairs plus ribbon and elastic so was quite pleased with that....won't be so pleased if they don't last a half term!!

Bloch charges £4.50 for ribbon? Is this stuff made with unicorn thread or something?

[ParentTaxi]

DD's still wearing her first pointe shoes, more than 1.5 years in (her feet don't grow, unlike the rest of her - she's probably 10cm+ taller than she was when she first got them). She only has a 45 min pointe class once a week, and clearly has the equivalent of fairy feet when it comes to pointe, as they're still (according both to her and her dance teacher) absolutely fine. I suspect that they may not survive the upcoming transition of her ballet solos to pointe, though.

 

I'm quite grateful - the circular chain stitch thingy that is the ONLY approved way of sorting the toes out (no stick on patches allowed) took HOURS...

[Karen]

Lovely Gaynor Minden shoes come with ready done toes and last very well because the box is made of synthetic material. However ribbons are much harder to attach and they are a bit more pricey. I quite miss chain stitching those tips....

[Picturesinthefirelight]

Merlet also come with ready done toes too.

 

Dd alternates between them & Gaynors. He bendy feet kill shoes & she prefers Merlet (talks about them as an extension of he feet) but Gaynors are more hard wearing.

[May H]

Bloch charges £4.50 for ribbon? Is this stuff made with unicorn thread or something?

I have to point out that Bloch ribbon is absolutely beautiful, perfectly matches pointe shoes and is always the right length with some left over, I sometimes recycle the ribbon from dead shoes to get my money's worth, and my teacher sells the Bloch ribbon for £2!

[Guest]

 

 

I'm quite grateful - the circular chain stitch thingy that is the ONLY approved way of sorting the toes out (no stick on patches allowed) took HOURS...

 

There are pointe shoe services that will darn them for you - worth considering if you are very pushed for time and have a modest consumption of shoes.

[TabbyCool]

Reading through these posts has really surprised me, do your teachers / kids' teachers not give advice on how to look after and prepare your pointe shoes?

 

After our fitting the teacher showed everyone how to sew on their ribbons, gave advice about fitting the elastic and told us how to darn the platform on the shoes. She also told us to keep them in a mesh bag so they can get some air, to take out the pouches and let them air too. We were also told not to bash, bend, stomp on, freeze, cook, blow dry or do anything else crazy to the shoes as they'll break in the way our feet need them to and doing anything to try to speed up the process could risk destroying them completely.

 

After the first class wearing them some girls were shown how to soften the wings a little by gently massaging the shoe, some were told to bend the demipoint position a bit on the sole to allow more movement, but this was after walking around in the shoes and doing some basic exercises to see how they felt and what was needed to make them that bit more comfortable.

[TabbyCool]

Bloch charges £4.50 for ribbon? Is this stuff made with unicorn thread or something?

Its not just ribbon, it has elasticated sections to maintain the right tension and reduce strain on the Achilles' tendon. I found that with regular ribbon, if you tie it nice and snug when your feet are flat it becomes too tight when you go up en pointe, whereas if it's the right tension en pointe it gapes a bit when you come down.

[TabbyCool]

Took me THREE hours to get the elastics and ribbons on DD's first pair of pointes. The nice shop lady told me the 'Elastorib' ribbons were better, but it's impossible to get the stretchy bit positioned across their Achilles tendon. You think you have it right, then they pull the ribbons tight and the stretchy bit immediately migrates round the side of their foot. There was unpicking, repeated trying on, and possibly bad language.

I usually pin mine in place before I sew them, just to try them on and make sure they're in the right place, it saves the pain of having to do it again if it's not quite right! ????

Edited November 17, 2015 by TabbyCool

[Cara in NZ]

Ha, TabbyCool, I DID pin them, but a) DD squealed every time she got stabbed; and   pins aren't strong enough to be able to pull the ribbons tight. So there was a lot of pinning, trial and error, and persuading DD to come back and let me stab her again. She was only 11 at the time, but I intend to delegate this business to her asap. And no, we've had no tips after the first pair were checked, but we were told not to do any physical breaking in apart from what their feet do to the shoes.

 

(Edited to say that I typed 'b)' and it has been replaced with an interesting emoji, that looks a bit like me with no hair)

Edited November 17, 2015 by Cara in NZ

[TabbyCool]

Oh, I didn't put the pins in when they were on my feet, I pinned them, tried them on, then unpinned to adjust them before putting the shoe back on again! I'd squeal if I got stabbed too, it's bad enough stabbing myself in the fingers and thumbs, I'm not risking stabbing my feet, that would hurt!

 

As for the pins not being strong enough, there's a bit of a knack to it, you need to push them through so that each pin goes through the shoe in the middle as well as at the edges of the ribbon, kind of like sewing little stitches with the pin, if that makes sense! It's hard to explain without being able to post a picture. It does work though, and holds pretty securely, certainly enough to be able to test out the ribbon tension, though I wouldn't try springing up en pointe with them pinned, but that shouldn't really be necessary.

 

Hopefully next time your daughter will be brave enough to sew her own shoes, basic sewing is an important life skill, especially for a dancer! (Plus it saves you the job!)

[Huddsballetmum]

I have had to stick gems on my daughters first pair of pointe shoes.  Thousands and thousands of tiny gems because she had seen some done by Tiffany and wanted to keep her first pair for posterity.  She has hung them by the ribbons in her bedroom and I have to say they look nice.  Much better covered in gemstones than they did at the end of their life!!  The things you have to do- nice Xmas stocking filler though.