craftgrrl | A question about dyeing and a couple FOs

I inherited a some beautiful blouses and sweaters from my grandmother, but many of them have some nasty stains on them. All of them have at least 50% cotton, but whereas the sweaters are cotton/raimie blends, the other tops are cotton/polyester...

These are the cotton/raimie sweaters. I know the embellishments won't dye, so I'm thinking sort of a tea color for the one on the left and a rose color for the one on the right. Only thing I'm worried about is this stain:

What do you gals think?

My other concern with dyeing is with the poly blend tops. If I use a darker dye than the color I actually want, might that work? I haven't done a whole lot of dyeing of clothes since high school and all I really remember from that is that dyeing things black frequently doesn't work. Hehehe... I ended up with sooo many pairs of grey pants back then.

And now, the long awaited slippers, both the bears and the bunnies:

The boys LOVED them, which made it worth all the time and effort I put into them.
And now, much to my chagrin (I lost a bet and have to post it), the horrid duck that almost made me give up knitting altogether:

It's just so bad. I cried when I finished it and packed up all of my knitting supplies and started taking pictures of my stash to post for sale on ebay. I left it in the boys' playroom and was asked "What's that supposed to be?" Not a good knitting experience. Not a good ego experience. I told the elder boy that it was the Ugly Duckling as it was the only answer I could come up with. *sigh* Don't leave it where the kids can give an opinion of it if you don't want to hear the truth.

(edited to add:) Maybe I overreacted to the duck after my boyfriend said how ugly it was. You know, you look over to him for approval and he shoots you down so you question your own abilities? I love it here 'cause I get little but validation from you guys! Thank you!

Thanks in advance for your advice on the dyeing, ladies!