Stoning a dress - pattern?

[Abbyar]

I've purchased a used Sharene dress for dd that's pretty, but I'd like to add some stones. How do you decide a pattern/ size of stones? The technique doesn't seem too difficult, but I'm worried it would look silly/ out of balance once complete. Any tips!

[skategeek]

May be heading down this road myself, so I'm eager to see what folks have to say!

[Abbyar]

I liked this style from a dress I saw on ebay, but it was too large for dd and dh didn't like that it was generic.

The one I purchased is a v-neck though, so it wouldn't work. Maybe some stones on the skirt? With additional beading around he v-neck, sparsing out to the waist? I haven't found a similar style heavily stoned, I was hoping to find pictures similar to the one I purchased, but no luck yet.

[Loops]

This is something I'm curious about, too.  Hopefully someone with some experience will chime in to help.  Until then, this topic was touched upon in a discussion earlier this year:

http://skatingforums.com/index.php?topic=5755.msg65557;topicseen#msg65557

hope this helps!!!

fwiw, I think looking at other dresses and seeing how it's done is a great start!

[fsk8r]

I took advise here when I wanted to do it and then spent time looking at pictures of dress to get inspiration.
I then ordered stones in. And then realised, I'd failed to pay attention to the advised stone size and had bought too small but the on the positive side I've now got 3 gross of stones on a velvet skirt and it's not too heavy! (I'm just not sure it will stand out on the ice - but I'm happy with subtle).

The one thing I did learn in the whole process is that having bought the stones you can lay the pattern out on the dress in advance and start moving them around to get the look that you're after.

I also found a blog post by Sarahskates (I think it's the same one on the forum) which I found really really helpful as she'd photoed building up the density of stones. It meant that at most stages she could stop adding stones and the dress was still beautiful, while if you place a high density in one corner and then stop it looks odd having half a pattern.

[Abbyar]

I'm confused as to what size will work and if to get ones with an AB effect or not. So many choices....

[DressmakingMomma]

I use rhinestone guy out of Florida. He sells a chart that with examples of stone size plus all of the colors on a piece of acetate and I find that very helpful when trying to pick colors/sizes. I order AB because I'm using cheap stones instead of Swarovski as the AB has more flash. If I could afford Swarovski, then maybe I would play with some of the crystal and colors in non-AB.

I like to mix sizes and use 16ss for a subtle all over pattern on the dress and then use 30ss and 20ss mixed in with 16ss around the areas of the dress I want to highlight. The dresses I stone have at least 600 - 1,000 crystals because it takes so many to make an impact and really shine from the ice. I like the way Brad Griffies stones his dresses with multiple sizes and adds clusters of stones, so I usually take a good look at the pictures on his website before I start.

I use hot fix crystals and the method I've found seems to work for adhering the stones without having them fall off is to first glue with e6000 using toothpicks and then going over each stone with the heat tool. I found this method listed on a dance website and they called it double bonding. It is probably overkill, but I feel anxious over having stones drop off on the ice.

[Abbyar]

So, I think I've picked out the stones. The dress is ordered, although I think I'll wait for it to arrive first, as I got a used Sharene with almost no stones off ebay. It's a Sharene small, with a girth of 41-45. Dd is a 44/45 girth, so I hope it fits properly. XX

[TreSk8sAZ]

Definitely wait until you have the dress - it may change your mind once you see it and lend itself to a certain pattern, especially with the music she's skating to. A V-neck can actually be good because it's a good starting point for a pattern.

I very rarely use smaller than 20ss unless I'm accenting a larger design. I find anything less to be too small (it's not really visible other than some "shine"), they are harder to work with, and you need so many of them! The 20ss is still small but you can make a defined pattern with them. I often use 20ss and 30ss, with maybe a few small accents of 16ss. Sometimes larger than 30ss if I'm doing a feature (like a necklace pattern or belt buckle, etc). And be careful with putting too much on the skirt - you don't want to weigh it down so it doesn't move.

I get flatbacks and use e6000. I really don't lose stones. I'm terrified of hotfix as I'm a klutz and I know I'd burn something (especially mesh or the like).

As for AB or not, it depends on the color of the stone and the look I'm going for. Sometimes the colored stones when you get the AB version it changes it so it's not the base color you were expecting. I have a board that has all of the colors of stones on it (I got it from my rhinestone guy) so I can look at the fabric and stones together before I order.

[Abbyar]

Dress is in! And it fits! With about 1" to spare. Yay!

[Abbyar]

So after taking the dress to the craft store to match colors (I was worried about matching the red) and discussing appropriate size/amounts of bling with her coach (dd is skating pre-preliminary this year, so no need for huge amounts of bling, just to make it special for competition), I ordered several gross of Crystal AB, Light Rose, and Indian Pink SS16 and SS20. The v-neck is already lined with very big crystal stones (either SS34 or SS40) so I'll fill that in with the Indian Pink, do the Light Rose on the bodice and sleeves, and small Crystal ABs on the skirt. I plan on using E6000 bc I'm terrified of burning too and coach says it's good b/c it stretches.
This is definitely part of dd's birthday gift. Soooo much time!