Whether you’re building a dress from scratch or embellishing a purchased costume, you’re likely thinking about rhinestones. Rhinestoning is a lot of fun, and it can also be a way for (older) dancers to help create their costume, even if they don’t sew. If you’re unsure where to start, we have you covered with some basic information!
Types of Stones
Flatbacks
These are the small round stones you might find on embroidery, scattered across lace sleeves or solid fabric areas. They come in many colors, so you’ll most likely be looking to match the color of the stones to the colors of embroidery or fabric on the dress. Most brands sell color sample cards, which you can lay over your fabric to find the best color match.
Flatbacks come in many sizes starting with the letters SS (which fittingly stands for Stone Size). SS30 (about 6mm) is the most common size used on Irish dance costumes. SS20 or even SS16 can be used for smaller embroidered shapes, or for a more delicate approach to stoning. Larger sizes like SS40 or SS48 are great for a bolder look, or for mixing with ss30 to fill a larger area.
Sew-On-Stones
These are larger stones that come in a variety of shapes. Pears/Drops being the most common, but Rivolis (large round), squares, diamonds, ovals, and more are available. Despite the name, you don’t need to sew them – they can also be glued (but they have small holes so they could be sewn. These often get worked into the design of the dress, and if you’re working with a purchased costume there may be embroidered outlines ready to be filled with these shapes.
Brands
There are so many brands of rhinestones. While Swarovski used to be the gold-standard, they have left the loose stone market. But that’s fine – there are plenty of great options out there!
Here are a few brands I recommend which span a range of quality and price points. Know that I am based in the US so I’m using what’s available to me! I link to the Flatbacks. You should be able to find the Pears etc, each of these sites will have a section for Sew on Stones.
- Preciosa or Dreamtime Creations – Excellent quality – many compare to Swarovski, but also the highest cost.
- Rhinestone Guy Premium – Good balance of sparkle to cost
- Yanruo or TopStone – Chinese crystals are quite cheap but the sparkle isn’t bad. Fine option if you want to save money, but be sure to look for “glass” in the product title. These retailers both sell on Ali Express which can take a few weeks to ship to the US.
In my opinion, the differences in quality are most noticeable in colored stones. Coated stones like Crystal AB all look the same, so that’s a good area to save yourself some money and go with the affordable option. Save your $$ for the colored ones if you feel like splurging! Looking at other discount brands? Make sure the stones are glass, rather than acrylic. Acrylic stones are very poor quality and won’t give you the sparkle you’re looking for.
I’m hoping to eventually publish a comparison of rhinestone brands – if you have spare stones at home, consider mailing me a couple for the good of science! I’m especially looking for brands available in Europe & Australia. More info here.
Hot-Fix vs. Non-Hot-Fix?
As soon as you start looking at stones, you’ll notice that most flatbacks come in a hot-fix or non-hotfix option. Hot-fix rhinestones have a coating on the back that becomes sticky when heated. They are applied to the garment with an electric applicator that heats them up before applying. Hotfix stones work fantastically on spandex leotards and fine applications where no glue is wanted, but they aren’t ideal for applying to the textured surface of embroidery as we mostly do in the Irish dance world. I’d recommend saving your money and gluing on regular stones – they will last better! Of course there’s nothing stopping you from buying hot-fix stones and still gluing them on instead.
The Eternal Glue Debate
Gem-Tac vs E-6000… a question as old as time. You will hear many people say that E-6000 is the only thing to use and that Gem-Tac doesn’t hold as well. In my experience they work equally well for flatback stones. I’m convinced that some folks just don’t know how to use Gem-Tac.
It has a thinner consistency, similar to school glue, and you need to use enough that it comes out from under the stone a little. See the white rings in the top-right photo (green stones)? The glue will dry clear and shrink as it dries, but the way it comes up around the sides helps it to “grip” the stone. Only having Gem-Tac on the bottom won’t cut it. Gem-Tac does take a few hours to dry completely. If you’re stoning a completed dress, you may need to do the front one day and the back another day to prevent stones from shifting.
When it comes to large sew-on stones like Pears, I do think that E-6000 works a little better. So I’d recommend Gem-Tac for the smaller stones, and E-6000 for the large shapes. Look for a bottle with a smaller opening, or else with disposable nozzles. This will help you be more precise!
The main reason I don’t use more E-6000 than I have to, is that it has a level of toxicity that shouldn’t be ignored. Have I sat through too many OSHA trainings? It’s possible. But I’m also not that old and value my lungs! When using E-6000, be sure to open a window at the very least. E-6000’s Safety Data Sheet states that we should all wear a chemical respirator, but most people don’t own one if they don’t regularly work with chemicals. I’ve heard people say that they can’t smell the fumes with an N-95 dust mask, but the reality is that an N-95 or similar isn’t designed to protect you from fumes, so even if they help with the smell there is no health benefit. Keep pets and small children away when using it to limit the exposure, and put a fan in the window to suck the fumes out of your house. Just another reason to use Gem-Tac for the flatbacks, especially if children are helping!
Since E-6000 dries much more quickly, it’s the glue I’d recommend using for emergency repairs at a competition. You can often find 4-packs of tiny tubes, which are super convenient to slip into a feis bag, and their size wastes less if it dries out before you need it again. Both of these glues have a shelf life and will dry out in time once they are opened. Better to look for smaller volumes if you aren’t stoning multiple dresses in the next few months.
Tools that will help you with gluing… For flatbacks+Gem-Tac, get one of these wax picker-uppers. They make it very easy to apply the flatbacks! You can also make one yourself by dipping the stick from a sucker candy into beeswax several times to create a wax lump. For larger stones, I like a long tweezers such as the type that comes with a serger.
How Many Stones?
How many stones do you need? Largely that’s up to you, your style, and preferences. Mostly we put the stones on the embroidery or other embellishment, but you may want them elsewhere too. Where will the costume be worn? If the dancer will wear it on a large stage such as at Oireachtas or other majors, you may want to go heavier on the sparkle. For smaller local feisanna you don’t need quite as bold of stage presence.
A great place to start may be tracing or printing out some of your embroidery on paper, and marking stones with a marker. Count how many you’ve “added” on one area and use that to extrapolate the number needed for the whole costume.
Here are some examples of what various quantities look like on 5 teen/adult dresses with similar amounts of embroidery (the amount listed includes what’s on the whole dress, front+back). You may want to zoom in!
When in the Construction Process Should I Stone?
Rhinestoning is always easiest on flat pieces, so I recommend doing as much as possible before you start sewing seams. Get your bodice and sleeve pieces compiled with the base+fashion fabrics and any embroidery, trims, or appliques. For skirt pieces, stone after the fronts and back panels have been completed, but before they are sewn to each other. Our 4th Edition solo dress pattern also mentions this at the appropriate steps.
When stoning pieces that will be sewn, steer clear of any areas that will be seamed (darts, side-seam, shoulders, etc) by 1-2 inches, and any areas that will be top-stitched (neck-edge to collar, dropped waist seam line, zipper, etc) by 1 inch. You don’t want the stones in the way of your presser foot. You can go back and finish stoning those areas after the dress is complete. Alternately, you can sew bodice darts before stoning so you have less areas to avoid. The piece won’t sit as flat, but for designs with a lot of stoning in that area (like this one) it might be worth it.
Do you have other questions about rhinestoning? Leave us a comment below!