The Beginner's Guide to Rhinestone Placement

How Rhinestone Placement Affects the Overall Design

​
​Using bling crystals to bedazzle is a fun, vibrant way to customize T-shirts with a unique, personalized design.  Moreover, DIYing can save you plenty of money. Yet, after gathering your supplies, you’re faced with deciding on the rhinestone placement. Below, we provide a few general guidelines to help you create the perfect blinged out shirt.
​

Rhinestone Placement - Spacing

Bedazzling takes many forms. Rhinestones can beautify tumblers, formal wear, shoes, pocketbooks, and clothing. Some of these bling projects involve covering the object in crystals. For example, crafters will glue the embellishments end to end with little spacing in between to bling tumblers.  Other projects, like stoning dance costumes or bedazzling T-shirts, require a more thoughtful process.

Ultimately, spacing, the area between each rhinestone, can greatly affect the overall effect of your design. In a fill pattern, closely placed crystals create a dense, sparkling effect. Moreover, spacing rhinestones closely together or end to end creates smoothly flowing lines.  However, spacing rhinestones slightly, like ¼ inch, will save you money by using fewer bling crystals. Furthermore, a small gap between stones allows the fabric to stretch.

Of course, many expensive, commercial rhinestone machines churn out designs easily and quickly. However, today we’ll be focusing on easy DIY solutions so you can create beautiful rhinestone patterns at home.
 

Rhinestone Stencils Help with Crystal Placement

When creating a specific design, rhinestone templates can be invaluable. This tool helps create uniform and cohesive patterns. You can make your own or download one of our free crystal templates.
​
To create your bedazzled shirt, you can use either flatback or hotfix rhinestones. For glueable rhinestones, center your template on your shirt. You can mark the rhinestone placement with a piece of chalk or lay the crystals inside the holes. After removing the stencil, you can make any necessary adjustments to your design. Then, simply glue the rhinestones into place.

Creating a hotfix transfer design requires the use of transfer paper. This tool has a clear sticky part and an opaque, nonadhesive piece. First, lay a piece of wax paper over your stencil. Place hotfix rhinestones on the wax paper, facet side up, following the design. Next, take the clear, sticky piece of the transfer paper.  Gently press it onto the top of the crystals, ensuring they all stick. Now, you are ready to attach your rhinestone design to your shirt.
​

​How to Center Your Rhinestone Transfer Design

​Rhinestone placement also involves centering your design for a professional look. Some handy tools to help with crystal design positioning are placement rulers.  These specialized measurement tools help you align transfer designs both vertically and horizontally. You can also use a simple ruler and mark your shirt with chalk or temporary fabric markers.

Typically, your neckline and side seams can help determine the position of your rhinestone design. Using the side seams, measure the width of the front. Divide this measurement by 2 to locate the front center, marking it with chalk. This is the location of the horizontal center of your design. Now, you need to determine the vertical position of the shirt. Typically, the position from the neckline will vary based on the type:

• V neck - position the transfer at the lowest part of the V, just below the seam
• Scoop neck - place the transfer at the 2-inch mark
• Crew - set the design 3 inches from the neckline

Sometimes, you may need to make some adjustments based on the measurement of your rhinestone design. For example, a taller vertical design may need to sit lower. Comparatively, a narrow horizontal one may require a higher position. While centering is important, remember that any variations of 1/4 or less won’t be noticeable.

Buying Rhinestones Online

As a family-owned rhinestone supplier, Rhinestones Etc. understand your needs. That’s why we have fast processing times, competitive pricing, and outstanding customer service. Furthermore, we offer flexible quantities, selling both single gross and bulk rhinestones.
​
If you’ve found this information valuable, please share this post with your friends.