The fifth method where you can add rhinestones to your dance costume is by making a fade pattern using multiple colors of rhinestones to actually change the color of the fabric underneath. Looking at our sample, you can see the original color on the left side of the bra and how it is changed by looking at the right side of the bra.
Supplies:
- Dance garment
- Rhinestones
- E6000 Glue in a Tube or
in a Syringe - Toothpicks
- Two paper plates
Directions:
Choosing Your Materials
You can use the dancewear item of your choice. The other thing you need to choose is the colors of the rhinestones you are going to use. We will be using a regular bra for our demonstration, so we will use four different colors. If we have a larger space to work with, we would either use more columns of each color, use more colors or both.
Preparation Prior to Gluing Down Rhinestones
Determine the center of the garment. Using seamstress chalk or a bar of soap, mark a line down the center for a guide line to remind yourself where to start laying the stones down. For our demonstration, we are going to use a bra and are going to fade the color from the center of the bra out just by using colored rhinestones. This can really dramatically change the color and the look of a costume or a bra by doing using this technique.
Gluing Down the Rhinestones
We picked four different colors of stones. First, we need to find the center line of the bra. Then we need to split the darkest colors in half. Half will go on the right side of the center line and the other half will go on the left side of the center line. Everybody has different preferences on how they apply rhinestones. Although we occasionally use the syringe, we prefer to use the E6000 in a tube rather than in the syringe. When using the tube, squirt out a small amount of the glue on a paper plate. Put a small amount of glue on the end of the toothpick. Tap the back of one of the stones with the glue, pick up the stone and flip the rhinestone over and put it in place on the bra.
You want to space the stones out when gluing them down for a couple of reasons. First, if the stones are real close together, it could affect the way that the dancewear moves and stretches. Secondly, you have to use a lot more stones to do that.
In our demonstration, we are putting a line of stones to the right of the previously marked center. Then, we do the same to the left of the center. After you have put the stones to left of the center, go back to the right and continue to glue the rhinestones down. Some people like to go back and forth from right to left. Others prefer to glue down all the stones on one side and then move to the other side and start gluing down stones on the other side. It is a personal preference as to which way you want to do it. We continued gluing down stones until we ran out of stones. As we progressed to the right, the height available becomes larger. We put a little more space between the stones and also glued down more stones to a column. When we got to the last column, we did not have enough of the stones that were designated for the right side so we staggered the stones in between the last finished column. We then continued to the next colored stones. We chose stones that were a different color but actually picked some that were AB stones because they were almost the same color but there was a slight variation in them. We split the quantity of these stones in half – one half for the right side and one half for the left side. We then started gluing the new color down to the right using the same pattern but just slightly off. We do not want to have an obvious line. We want the spacing in between them to look natural, not too cluttered. Next, we go to a lighter shade of stones and continue the pattern. We repeat the process with the third color. Then go the fourth color. There are enough of the fourth colored stones to cover the rest of the bra. Glue the stones down too close together and not in a real straight, obvious line. Overall, we have about four columns of the first color, about five of the second color, five or six of the third color and the fourth color covers the rest of the bra. Think about what color you are beginning with and what color you are ending with. When you move over to the left side, you want to keep the pattern about the same as on the right side so that it looks natural.
Remember, you can move the stones around a little with your finger but you do not want to move them too much because there will be excess glue around the stones. No one will see the stones up close but you still do not want to have big chunks of glue. If you have too much glue or strings of glue, clean it up with the clean end of the toothpick or with a new toothpick.
One warning – make sure you use the E6000 in a well ventilated room especially when you use a large quantity of stones like with the fade pattern or if you are working on a large number of garments.
