Dressmakers- Thoughts on Crystals

[Loops]

I'm making a dress for my first solo competition in 30  (gulp) years.

The stones just arrived (highly rated non-swarovski from AliExpress). 

I went with "dark siam" and the AB coating. The base color is a very good match, so I'm happy, but the AB coating really overpowers everything (perhaps because it's not Swarovski? Perhaps because they're small, ss20?) and it will change the color of the dress where the stones are.  I really wanted it to be burgundy sparkly, not multi-color sparkly.

I'm not returning the stones. They'll look good, and I'm the only one who'll know the difference, so this is a learning experience.

But now I'm curious- what are your collective thoughts on the AB coating- is it always so over-powering?  Are the stones without the AB just lacking in sparkle, especially for the ice? I don't have the non-AB coated to compare directly, and I've only used the Crystal color where the AB makes a huge difference. 

Also, what are your thoughts on Sequins?  Is the hand-sewing, one by one the deal breaker there? I bought and tried some. I can only get red, and it's too far off, but wow! the sequins I have already on the dress have perhaps even a better sparkle than the stones seemed to when I laid a few out to compare.

Eager to hear your thoughts....TIA!

[DressmakingMomma]

The AB coating often adds a bluish tint on Swarovski and Preciosa (I use these exclusively for commission work), and sometimes greenish if they are a generic crystal (I used these when I was just starting out and sometimes on my daughter's dresses).

I use both AB coated and non coated crystals, often mixed, depending on the design. If I want a crystal to blend in with the fabric but I still want the extra sparkle of the AB coating, then Swarovski's shimmer stones work really well. If I'm working on a light color fabric, I usually just go with crystal AB because the light colors with an AB coating tend to get lost and the AB coating blends really well into most pastels. That way I can keep a pretty large stock on hand for last minute projects. Over time, you end up finding your favorite combinations of stones on different colors.

Dark colored stones without an AB coating tend to suck in the light and not sparkle as much. You have to use a bigger stone in order to still reflect back some light when using dark colors or use a greater number of stones. Sometimes that soft sparkle is just perfect for the dress, other times you want something more and need to use an AB coating or pair the darker stones with lighter stones.

My favorite red is called Magma, which has a coating but different than the AB coating, so the red color underneath shines through better. I've found it looks really nice on most reds and burgundies. I believe it was discontinued, but I still seem to be able to find it.

Another color I use often on a true red is padparadscha AB by Swarovski, especially if I want an all-over sparkle without the crystal pattern standing out. The color is coral, but it has a lot of bling and blends in better with the fabric then a crystal AB or a darker red, both which can look polka dotted from a distance.

[aussieskater]

Agree that the AB coating can significantly change the cast of the base stone colour, especially when you're dealing with red-base stones.  The other issue is that the AB coated stones from one Chinese factory will look very different to the AB stones from another Chinese factory, which makes it hard to order blind.  I pretty much use the one aliexpress seller now, and have purchased their colour cards from them, as these have actual sample stones I can check.

If the fabric isn't too dark (navy, charcoal etc), then I'll often use a mix of uncoated coloured stones with unfoiled (transparent) AB stones, if I want the flash that the AB coating provides.  It seems that the unfoiled stones don't have as much of a problem "casting" the wrong colour.  If you want to go this route and have the time to wait for delivery, I'd strongly suggest to purchase a one-gross "mix sizes" sample pack of transparent AB stones from your chosen seller, to check them against your fabric before making a bulk order.

[Loops]

Thanks guys.  I'm taking notes. I'd love to do this someday for some of my friends at the rink (who order all their dresses even from AliExpress).

After doing some tests, I've decided I'm not happy after all with the stones- the blue/dark turquoise cast is worse than the sequins.  I have plenty of those, so I'm going to go to town that way.  I have one month at this point before the competition, so no time to order AND stone.

I may try these on the navy blue dress I'll wear for the pattern dances- up close you can still see the red, but maybe from a distance it'll be ok.  That will need to be tested on the ice directly though.

AussiSkater- Who do you order from?  These are Polari stones from the "Polari Rhinestone store".  I don't see an option for color cards..... To be honest though, they look exactly like the picture.  I had assumed that between screen unreliability and lighting, things would change.  Nope.


If I ever get good enough to do this "for real" and take commissions, then I'll move into the Swarovski/Preciosa zone.  But for myself, as a mid-ranking adult skater, I just don't feel the need!  These are deffo lower quality (not as clear, inconsistent cuts etc) but are 10 times better than what I can get at the local craft stores, and do have the bling.  More importantly they were a whopping 8 euros after shipping, so no guilt.  They arrived really fast, especially considering the holidays (no one in France/Europe would have done it).  Hopefully I'll either find another project for them, or unload them on someone else.

[aussieskater]

Hi Loops I make ice skating costumes and mostly use blinginbox/oleeya stones.  There are other good Chinese stonemakers out there too, you just have to road-test them, to sift them out from the junk makers (I wasn't happy with Billow Industrial stones for example).  I've found that costumes for dance require a different kind of "flash" than costumes for iceskating, because of the performance surface: ice is large and very white, and lit from above;  while a stage floor is smaller and generally dark, and often spotlit with coloured globes.

If you ever do get into making costumes for other people, suggest you have some large piece-samples to show them, one fully stoned with Swarovski, one with Preciosa and the last with your chosen nice-quality Chinese stones.  Stone each sample the same way, and price each one.  Your customer will nearly always go for the cheap version as the additional bling factor isn't as great as the additional cost.  You can also mix quality stones with cheaper stones, to get some additional bling for not too much additional cost.