Earlier this year, one of our loyal customers, and WWE enthusiast Annie, came to us looking for some serious sparkle to add to her Nikki Bella cosplay costume for the WWE fan meet event in May. We steered her towards the fantastic Luna range of rhinestones, which are ideal for crystallizing any performance outfit; from theatre, sports & dancewear, to drag, burlesque & cosplay costumes. With a high quality sparkle and affordable price, Luna rhinestones are the perfect budget friendly choice.
Annie wanted to replicate the Nikki Bella Royal Rumble 2025 comeback costume, so Crystal Parade came armed with Luna rhinestones to match her regal red 'Fearless' outfit.
Annie chose to adorn her costume with Lustre Red and Light Siam flatback non hotfix crystals, along with some Swarovski Jet Hematite to add a metallic shine to her visor. She attached the rhinestones to the PVC costume using E6000+ glue, which is one of the best glue for adhesive for rhinestones, especially for a stretch fabric that requires flexibility. After 50 hours of individually applying each of the 4,500 rhinestones by hand, Annie was ready to parade her stunning creation.
For her top, shorts and cap, Annie used the two shades of red in size ss20 (5mm), this is a good size to use when embellishing clothing as you can get good coverage without them being too heavy for the fabric.
Her main colour of choice was Luna Lustre Red, which has a gorgeous, deep salmon hue that is unique to the Luna brand, making it a sought after colour choice among designers. This shade of red in particular works well with lots of fabric colours, it seems to bring out the richness of whatever colour fabric it's paired with.
How to apply rhinestones to fabric
When it comes to attaching rhinestones to fabric, there are many different methods, and the first thing to think about is which type of application you prefer. You can go down the Hotfix application route, which requires a hotfix tool and hotfix crystals, which are more costly. Or you can choose the Non Hotfix application method which means gluing the rhinestones on by hand, requiring Gem Tac or E6000 glue and a pick up tool. This is a cheaper option, however it can take longer as you need to allow time for the glue to dry.
- We recommend using Gem Tac or E6000 glue to adhere your rhinestones, this is the best glue for attaching embellishments to most surfaces, including fabric.
- Apply the glue in tiny dots to your fabric using a precision syringe, this allows you to be neat and non-wasteful with your glue.
- Use a pick up tool, such as the Crystal Katana, to pick up and place the rhinestones onto the glue.
- Allow 24 hours for the glue to properly dry before handling the fabric.
We stock a fantastic range of tools, glues and accessories to make your blinging life easier, such as storage pots, flipper trays, stencils and various craft glues and rhinestone pickers.
