How to Add Glitter to A Dance Costume

In this section, we are going to show you how to use glitter and paint together. It creates a striking effect at a very low cost. It is a great technique to use if you have a tight budget. There are actually a couple of different methods where you use glitter. We often add rhinestones to our look. Paint and glitter together will dramatically change the look of the fabric. It makes it look like there is a pattern to the fabric when it is just plain fabric.

Supplies:

Dance garment
Three dimensional paint like Puffy paint or
E6000 glue
Glitter
Paper plates
Rhinestones optional

Directions:

Choosing Your Materials
Choose the dance garment you want to embellish and then decide if you want to use the puffy paint, E6000 glue or both. Then, choose the glitter that you wish to use. Also, you will need to decide if you want to use rhinestones.

Adding Glitter
If you use a three-dimensional paint like puffy paint and then you sprinkle glitter on it, the glitter really stands out. For our demonstration, we are going to use going to create a pattern with white puffy paint on white fabric. Next, we are going to add a little silver glitter to the white on white so that you can see the glitter. If we were actually adding glitter to a garment like this, we would probably use iridescent glitter.

In our demonstration, we have drawn a random pattern, but it could be any kind of pattern at all. If you are a good artist, you could actually draw a simple picture. It is advisable to draw the pattern or picture on a piece of paper first so that you can see what it will look like. It will help you decide what kind of look you want. Do not worry how much glitter you use. You can be very generous with the glitter because it will only stick where there is actually paint. It is advisable to wait awhile after you have sprinkled the glitter to allow time for everything to dry before you shake the excess glitter off of the fabric. When you do shake the excess glitter off of the fabric, you should shake it over a paper plate. That way you can salvage the excess glitter and reuse it later. Even if you do not want to reuse the excess glitter, it makes it easier to clean up if you shake it off over a paper plate. Once the paint is totally dry, you can brush off any excess glitter still remaining. However, if you dry to brush off the last remaining bits of glitter and the paint is not totally dry, it will smear the paint.

Actually, you do not need to use paint for the glitter. You can also use E6000 glue in a syringe to draw simple, small designs. For instance, you could draw a little heart with the glue and then sprinkle the glitter on it. The E6000 glue in a syringe is not the easiest to control but once you are used to it, you can get smaller designs than with the E6000 in a tube or with the puffy paint. If you want to use this method, it would be advisable to practice with the syringe until you feel comfortable and can get the designs you want. Whether you use the paint or the glue, you will still want to wait until the glue is totally dry before you dispose of the excess glitter.

You could also use a combination of the paint and the glue, if you wish.

Next, we will show you another type of glitter which comes in a spray bottle. This gives an glitter all over effect. You need to shake the bottle up real good because the bottle sometimes gets clogged up. Spray the glitter lightly over the whole surface. When it dries, it looks like it has glitter all over. Since the glitter is part of the spray, there will be no excess glitter to clean up. This technique works really well with something like a mesh fabric.

This is an easy and inexpensive way to change up a costume. Think it out. Have fun with it.