How to bedazzle a dress

More Than a Little Black Dress- DIY Rhinestones On A Dress

​My college daughter needed a dress for a solo in an upcoming concert. We headed over to Goodwill, where we found an elegant but plain black velvet floor-length gown (with the tags still on!) for $5. Of course, we would make it sparkle by adding rhinestones on the dress. After discussing several design ideas, we decided on a scatter pattern, accentuating the keyhole in the bodice.
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Gather Your Bedazzling Supplies

​For this project I used:

• Black dress
• 30ss Crystal Rhinestones flat back (approximately 15 pieces)
• 12ss Crystal Rhinestones flat back (approximately 5 gross)
• Gem-Tac rhinestone glue
• Wax tipped tool or tweezers

You can choose different rhinestone types: plastic, glass, or crystal with varying numbers of facets and price points. Although you don’t have to buy the most expensive brand, crystal rhinestones offer the greatest amount of sparkle.  ​
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Generally, I prefer Gem-Tac for gluing rhinestones to fabric due to its ease of use. However, you can pick several others:

• E6000
• Beacon’s Gem-Tac or Fabri-Tac
• Aleene’s Flexible Stretchable or Jewel it
• API Crafter’s Pick Jewel Bond
• Supertite

And while you can use a tweezer to pick up rhinestones, a wax tipped tool makes the job much easier.

Instructions for Adding Rhinestones on a Dress

Begin by washing the dress to remove any chemical finish. When dry, lay the dress as flat as possible on your workspace.  You can pre-lay the rhinestones on the dress to help to determine the crystal pattern. I began with outlining the keyhole and worked out from there.

Place a drop of glue on the dress about the same size as the rhinestone. Using your wax tipped tool, pick up a rhinestone and place it in the center of the glue drop, gently pressing down. The glue should seep out a little, covering the bottom sides of the rhinestone. Continue gluing in this manner until your pattern is complete. Allow to dry flat for 24 hours. 

From plain to spectacular, you too can change any dress into a sparkling extravaganza!  Feel free to send pictures of your rhinestones on a dress at [email protected]. I’d love to see them!

Moreover, when looking for quality rhinestones at competitive prices, choose Rhinestones Etc. We offer superfast processing times, so you get your bling supplies to you quickly. Our extensive inventory offers virtually every shade of color.
 Browse our online store to find the best rhinestones for your project.