Nov 13 2008
Attaching Harley’s Diamonds
I received a question about how to attach the diamonds on Harley’s costume. There are a couple of suggestions I would make. It’s really up to you how you want to do it, but there are several ways that I have seen/heard of.
- Stretch fabric glue
- Sewing the diamonds on by hand
- Sewing the diamonds on by machine
- Using stick-on felt
- Attaching snaps
The first time I did a Harley, I used fabric glue. I didn’t really do it right, and it was really hard to use, so obviously it didn’t work quite well. It began peeling up the first time I wore it for a length of time. Tha
t is what has been circled in the picture to the right. The second time I worked on my Harley costume, I used the same body suit, so I tore off the old diamonds and cut new ones to sew by hand (since I didn’t want to take the costume apart to use the machine). It worked really well, but it’s VERY hard to keep all the fabric from sliding around, so some parts of the diamonds didn’t straighten up well. That is noted on the picture to the left. I think the best tactic would be to sew the diamonds on by machine. Don’t forget to add seam allowances if you do it this way, so you don’t have raw edges hanging out. Make SURE you attach the diamonds before you assemble the suit if you want to use your machine!
Happy sewing!
How do you cope with cleaning your costumes once they’re beaded (especially if they’re glued on not sewn on)?
I thought I’d steer clear of the glued kind to be on the safe side, and i found some that have to be sewn on (slow, but more secure!). But then I realized they don’t have any washing instructions on them, and I’m wondering if the silvered backing will come off them when the costume is washed or dry cleaned.
Belly dance costumes get very sweaty so I don’t much like the idea of NOT washing them!
Anything that deals with Batman is good in my book. Great ideas here too.
That Harley looks awesome. Well done!