If rhinestones keep flying off your costume on stage, you’re not alone — I’ve been there too.

Turns out, it’s not just about adding sparkle… It’s about using the right stones, glue, and technique so they stay on through a series of shimmies and quick changes.

In this video, I’ll show you exactly how to rhinestone dance costumes the right way. Let’s get started!

2 Types of Rhinestones

So there are 2 types of rhinestones that are perfect for dance costumes.

Sew-on

The first one is sew-on rhinestones. These are the ones with flatback and holes. Applying these is super easy.  

Simply take a double-threaded needle and make a nice knot at the end. Place your rhinestone on fabric, and sew through the holes 2-3 times. Tie a knot on the wrong side, and that’s it!

Sew-on rhinestones are great for adding large sparkles to your dance costumes. It’s easy to sew on, but it does take time. What if you want lots more sparkles? 

Glue-on

That’s where these glue-on rhinestones come in. They are smaller and also have flatbacks. My favorite sizes for dance costumes are SS20-30. They are about 5-6.5mm (1/4in) or so, so they are not too small, and the sparkles are visible from a distance, too.

By the way, if you’re searching for flatback rhinestones, you might come across the term “hotfix.” These use heat to stick, but I don’t recommend them for dance costumes — heat can damage fabrics like spandex, and it’s really hard to apply them accurately on curved surfaces like bra tops.

So, for these glue-on rhinestones, I always like to keep the SS20 rhinestones in crystal AB on hand. AB stands for Aurora Borealis, and it has this beautiful rainbow shimmer that really catches the light. 

I almost never use sew-on rhinestones on their own. I like to scatter these SS20s around them to add that extra sparkle that moves with the light on stage.

Tools

So let’s talk about applying these glue-on rhinestones. You need a few tools.

• Rhinestone pickers – This can be as simple as this kind of a toothpick with a piece of wax or poster putty, or a rhinestone picker pencil
• Tray or plate to keep your rhinestones in
• Rhinestone glue 

Rhinestone Glue

So let’s talk about what glue to use. I think these 2 are the popular choices: E6000 (affiliate) and GemTac (affiliate). 

I’ve used them both, and they both work well with rhinestones and dry clear. But my personal preference is Gemtac. It’s got a nice texture and holds the rhinestones well. It’s white, so you can easily see where you applied the glue.

E6000 has a stringy texture, which can get messy, and the smell is strong. So I recommend GemTac. 

How to Use Glue Syringe

Let me tell you about another tool you might find useful, and that’s a glue syringe. It’s easy to use, and you can apply glue precisely to your garment.

So first, take a syringe, pull out the plunger, and screw on a tip.

Hold the syringe parallel to the floor, and insert the tip of the glue and squeeze out as much glue as you need for your project. You can add more later, so I recommend you start with a small amount.

Close the cap for your glue quickly.

Take the plunger and insert the tip.

Now hold the syringe vertically, so that the glue falls to the bottom and air goes up. This way, you don’t have to deal with air bubbles while working on your project.

Once the glue has come down, slowly push the plunger up until the glue reaches the tip.

Hold the syringe nice and sturdy like this, so your thumb is free to push the plunger.

Slowly push the plunger, and you can make small dots of glue on your project.

As you can see, glue like E6000 is thick and stringy, so it helps to push in the syringe into the fabric surface before you lift it off.

To pause, pull the plunger back a little so it stops oozing out.

Then simply place your rhinestones. You can purchase glue syringes in places like here and here (affiliate). 

2 Ways to Rhinestone Dance Costumes

So now let’s apply rhinestones to a dance costume. There are 2 ways to go about it.

Apply rhinestones directly to your costume

If you want to apply rhinestones directly to your costume, first check if your fabric has any stretch. If not, you can go ahead and start applying glue and rhinestones.

If your fabric has stretch, you need to stretch the fabric first to make sure the rhinestones won’t start flying off when you put on your costume. 

You can use a piece of cardboard a little larger than your garment, and wrap it like this with plastic wrap. Then insert it in your costume, so it’s stretched out. 

Then go ahead and apply rhinestones. It’s fun to use stencils like this one, too.

It’s nice to frame the edges of the outfit with rhinestones and add sparkles around appliques. This method is great for creating straight lines or placing stones randomly to add sparkles.

Make rhinestone appliques

If you want to create a more intricate design, try making an appliqué first. 

How to Make Rhinestone Appliques

It’s pretty simple. First, make a pattern with a piece of paper. For this one, I roughly traced the shape of the area that I wanted to cover with appliques on a piece of paper. And, also, I roughly planned out the size and feel of the design. I took a stone that I wanted to work off of to find the right location for it, and traced the stone on the paper as well.

Then at the desk, I just drew the design I liked. It helps to have some of the larger stones and rhinestone chains you want to incorporate in your motifs when you draw your design.

I just outlined the general shapes in this pattern and left the details to be figured out on the fabric.

When your design is ready, cut out each motif.

And simply place each motif on your fabric and trace it. I recommend you use felt or Lycra as the base fabric. I’m going to have this motif on either side of the neckline, so I flipped the pattern and traced it again.

Now have fun and apply rhinestones using rhinestone glue or by sewing according to your design.

I like to start with large pieces because I usually want larger pieces in specific areas.

Then I move on to follow the outline of the motif with a rhinestone chain. Creating a neat outline is very important to creating a beautiful appliqué, so I recommend you take your time here. And the neat outline gives you the boundaries and guidelines that you can work around.

I like to work on symmetrical pieces at the same time. It helps me make sure that the rhinestones are placed in the same manner. 

Then fill the rest with whatever pieces you like. For small rhinestones, I just used the Gem-Tac glue out of the original bottle, but if it’s hard to squeeze out a little bit at a time, you can use glue syringes.

Once you’re done, let the glue dry for 24 hours.

When the glue is dry, take a threaded needle, and stitch areas that you feel you could use extra hold, like the rhinestone chain and the large sew-on rhinestones. My appliqué is going on a belly dance dress, so I like to make sure all the stones and chains are secured well.

Then, take your scissors and cut around the motif. You can cut it very close to the stones, but be careful around the areas where you stitched, and don’t snip the threads by accident.

It might be easier to use small scissors for tight areas. Take your time and clean up the cutout areas.

And your rhinestone appliques are complete! Let’s apply them to the dress.

You’ll notice that after the glue is dry, the whole thing becomes stiffer. But you can gently mold it with your hands.

Place an appliqué on the dress and hold it with pins. Once you decide on a good placement, stitch around the appliqué by hand. There’s not much fabric at the very edges, so just go in between the stones. As long as the appliqué is secured well, it’s okay!

The great thing about using appliques is that you can remove them in the future. So if you want to change the embellishment of the dress or if you want to use the appliqué elsewhere in the future, you can easily snip the stitches and save the whole appliqué.

And that’s it! I did the same process for all of my appliques and glued on some more rhinestones around the appliques and the mesh cutouts of the dress, too.

Thanks to the appliques, the neckline design is beautifully symmetrical. And the motifs of the appliques appear more raised than the rest of the stones, which creates more depth to your rhinestone design and makes it look more sophisticated!

If you want to make these rhinestone appliques, you can download the free pattern from here.

How to Make Rhinestone Fringe

Or, if you like some sparkly movement pieces on your costume, try sparkly fabric fringe. It’s super easy!

First, cut your fabric into a rectangular panel like this. The width is your desired fringe length plus 1cm (3/8in). The length is how long you want the fringe to be.

Using a marker with disappearing ink or something that’s easy to erase, draw a horizontal line at 1cm (3/8in) from the top edge.

Then draw vertical lines. I’m using SS20 rhinestones here, which are about 5mm wide, so I’m making this fringe 8mm wide. It’s really up to your preference, but I like each strand to be just a little wider than the rhinestones. Also, thinner strands make a more delicate fringe.

Then glue on rhinestones on each strand. I placed my rhinestones about a few mm apart from each other. It looks nice when the stones are placed the same distance apart from each other.

Once the glue dries, take a pair of sharp scissors or a rotary blade, and cut according to the vertical lines. I recommend using a rotary blade for a clean finish. Take your time and cut these lines as neatly as possible. And do not cut through the top. Stop at the horizontal line, so the tops of the strands are all connected.

And your fabric fringe with rhinestones is complete! You can simply sew and apply the fringe tape on a bra top, belt, or skirt. It’s made of stretchy fabric, so you can attach it to a stretchy material, and you won’t have any problems!

You can hide the tape with appliques or more fringe, or other embellishments!

And if you’re excited to keep exploring ways to decorate your dance costumes, I’d love for you to check out the Sparkly Belly All-Access Membership.

You’ll get instant access to all my courses — that’s 19 (and counting!) — featuring over 32 stunning designs, including detailed appliques, beading techniques, and more.

Whether you want to create a costume from scratch or add your own signature sparkle, everything’s inside to help you bring your vision to life.

Curious? You can learn more here!

So give rhinestoning a try on your next costume — you’ll be amazed at how much sparkle and dimension it adds.

And if you found this helpful, the next post you’ll want to read is this one — it covers six smart fixes for rhinestone snagging, so your costumes stay gorgeous and dancer-friendly.

Thanks for reading, and keep sparkling!

P.S. Pin this image on your costume accessories idea board!

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