Darning Your Pointe Shoes

Darning your pointe shoes will help to preserve the life of the satin on the platform and also help to make your shoes less slippery when dancing in them.

YouYube can be a great source of help in learning to darn your new shoes. There are lots of different methods of darning and there is no right or wrong so choose the one that works for you. Should you feel that your sewing skills aren’t up to darning then you could always take advantage of our darning service.

You’ll need a good strong needle (some people like to use a curved needle), some darning/crochet thread and possibly a thimble.

You need to cover the whole of the platform and a little bit on the pleats under the box.

Chain Stitch

Start at the edge of the platform and sew in circles until you have covered the whole of the platform.

To make the chain bring the needle through the fabric (A) then place the needle as close to A as possible but not in the same hole and pull the thread through (B) loop the thread under the tip and pull the needle through until the loop lies snugly against the thread but don’t pull too tight. For the next stitch, bring the needle through close to B bringing it out at C, looping the thread under the tip and pulling the thread through carefully as before. Repeat until the whole of the platform is covered and finish by taking the needle over the top of the last loop and pull it through as far away as possible from where your last stitch ended then trim the thread as close as possible to the shoe.


Blanket Stitch

Start at the lower edge of the platform and sew in straight lines slightly overlapping each line as you go.

Bring the needle and thread through at A. Take the needle back through at B and come through to the front at C, making sure the thread is under the tip of the needle. Pull the thread through gently being careful not to pull too tight. Take the needle through to the back of the fabric at D and come back to the front again at E, ensuring the thread is under the tip of the needle. Continue until the whole of the platform is covered. Finish by taking the needle over the last stitch to secure and then push the needle through to then come out as close to the sole as possible and trim the thread close to the satin.