How to make and/or stone your own figure competition suits.
If you decide to compete in a figure competition you will need a sparkly figure competition suit or two depending on the federation. You have a few choices. The most sane (and pricey) choice is to buy a new custom figure competition suit made just for you. You can also buy a used suit, rent a suit, borrow a suit, buy a simple suit and add stones, or (the least sane choice) make and stone your own figure competition suit. Of course, I went with the least sane choice because I like to nurture my craziness and I’m a cheapo. This is how I did it. I’m not an expert. It was more of a fly-by-your-pants and hope- for-the-best project. Luckily it worked out and my suit didn’t split while I was doing my t-walk.
Before you stone a suit you need a suit. So I dug through a box of old fabric in my garage and found some royal blue stretch velvet (Yeah I’m the kind of person who has stretch velvet in the garage) that I thought would work and called my mom because I can’t even sew a straight line to hem a curtain panel. My mom used the KWIK SEW Pattern 3239, pieces C and G. C worked great for the top but we needed to alter G, the bottoms, to fit more like a posing suit. I brought over a bunch of figure girl pictures who have butts that I only dream of having and we did our best to alter the pattern. Basically, what we did was narrow the back and front, put a “v” in the front and back waist band, and make the legs more high cut. Think 1980s. Then we sewed two little swimsuit hooks on the back so I could cross and attach the straps to the bottoms. We also used elastic in all the edges on the bottoms (not the cups) and in the straps to give it A LOT of stretch. Oh and we lined it with swimsuit lining and I put little slits in the the liner at the top of the triangle cups so I could put (a lot of) padding inside.
We thought about making the one piece but after careful consideration I decided I didn’t want to go back to therapy so I had Amy from Posing Wear make my one piece. She was really nice, affordable, and helpful. I highly recommend her. (On a side not I’ve heard one federation has axed the one piece division so check with your federation before shelling out cash for a one piece. If anyone has the detail feel free to elaborate in the comment section.)
Once I had two suits, it was time to glue on some bling or sparkles. First I needed to decided on a design. I spent a lot of time looking at pictures online of suits. I decided I wanted a swirly design on my one piece so I went on dreamstime.com and found a swirly christmas tree graphic that I though would work for the body of my one piece if I turned it upside down. I hope that doesn’t make me a heretic. I printed it out and laid my rhinestones out on the pattern. For the cups I drew a few different swirl designs on paper until I made one that worked. Then stretched and pinned my suit to a sturdy piece of cardboard and I sketched the design on the suit with Crayola chalk. I looked at the pattern I had made on the paper and glued one rhinestone at a time to the fabric matching the pattern. While I was doing this I found it more helpful to pay attention to the placement of the rhinestones in comparison to each other and the pattern I had laid out on the paper instead of following the chalk lines. The chalk lines were just rough guidelines. In other words, I’d glue on one rhinestone in the middle then glue one or two on the right side of the design and then make sure the rhinestones on the left side mirrored the ones on the right. So for hours I’d go back and forth from the one side to the other being super careful that the rhinestones on each side were being laid at the exact same angles mirroring each other on both sides. In the beginning, I started out using a pair of tweezers made for rhinestones but quickly realized that my angled tweezers that I use for my baby mustache eyebrows worked better. I held the tube of glue in one hand and my tweezers in the other. I’d dip my rhinestones in the glue directly from the tube. Every so often I’d have to clean the glue buildup off the tube. Also I kept a few toothpicks nearby to push the rhinestones into the exact spot I wanted them and press them down into the glue. Toothpicks are also handy to wipe up little pieces of glue that string out on the fabric. And this is what I did for hours and hours.
For my two piece I was a little more precarious. I put my two piece top on a sewing mannequin. I had found a leaf pattern I liked in Oxygen magazine so I used chalk and sketched it onto the fabric. I didn’t bother laying the design out on a paper pattern first which may account for my my leaves looked more like flames. That’s also probably why I ran out of rhinestones and had to order more. I just took my time going from one cup to the other laying one to three rhinestones at a time making sure they were in the exact same position on each cup. It’s not perfectly symmetrical but you can’t tell unless you look really close.
Chalk lines.
Half Stoned
Close Up
So if you are still crazy enough to stone your own suit here are the materials you’ll need.
To make the suit
-Stretchy fabric. A yard was plenty.
-Thin elastic. I think it was a 1/4 inch. You’ll need quite a bit. It’s really cheap so get at least 4 yards
-Thread
-Swimsuit liner
-Padding (optional for some…not for me!)
-A pattern (depending on your sewing skills)
-Two swimsuit hooks
To do the bling
-Rhinestones. I like the swaroski crystals but there are lots of cool crystals out there.
-Tweezers
-E6000 Glue
-Toothpicks
-Old wash cloths (to clean toothpicks and dripping glue from the bottle)
-Firm piece of cardboard or sewing mannequin
-Pins to keep your suit on the cardboard
-Chalk
Websites
Suit By Amy (she made one of my suits)
Passion Fruit Designs (Suits)
Merry Christine Bodywear (Suits)
Jagwear (Suits)
Lydia Conti-Bodywear (Suits)
Vandella Costumes (Suits)
Bikini Guru (Suits)
Fit Wear Designs (Suits)
Cynthia James (Suits)
Dream Wear (Suits)
Cherry Bombs (Suits)
Competitive Edge (Suits)
Nina’s Competition Suits (Suits)
Tremblay Designs (Suits)
Diva Exchange (Used Suits and Stuff)
Lydia Haskell’s Pro Consignment (Used Suits)
Shoes (There are some real doozies on this site)
Tami’s Place (Rhinestones and glue. I thought she had the best prices. HUGE Selection. Fantastic customer service. She even sends them in scented fabric pouches.)
Stretch House (HUGE selection of stretchy fabrics of all kinds!)
Spandex World
Some other tips
– Someone recommended NOT using any stones smaller than 20ss. GREAT ADVICE!
-Don’t wait until the last minute.
-Take your time.
–Don’t sweat small mistakes because you won’t notice them when you are done. (Pictures of the finished suits)
-Draw or print out your design on paper and draw stones on it so you can get a rough idea of how many to order. You can print out the actual sizes of the stones from the website that sells them.
-Hang a punching bag next to your workspace so you can take out your frustration on it instead of your family.
(That’s my FBFF (feline best friend forever) Sunny Life on my lap.)
Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn
Keep up with my kettlebell workouts, real food recipes, and more in one of three ways! 1. Sign up to have posts emailed to your inbox. 2. Subscribe to the RSS Feed or 3. “like” Girl Heroes on Facebook. Simple dimple!
Journey with our family on the road at New School Nomads as we travel fulltime in RV through the United States!
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This is my (almost) sane quest for insane health. Let's 
I want to see how your one piece came out.
hi, i am wanting to stone a leopard print costume and was looking for advice? x
I’m not a professional so this post is all the advice I have! Maybe you can email a professional suit designer? Thanks for stopping by!
My one piece is here
http://www.girl-heroes.com/2008/11/15/life-one-rhinestone-at-a-time/
Not sure how to hyperlink in the comments.
What a great post. Fabulous resources. Especially for those of us who can sew and can actually make our own suits! Thank you!
You’re very welcome. How cool you can sew your own suit!!!
actually i just finished my suites,.. thanks for your help jenn…..
Pau – Wooohooo!!! I want to see your suits!!!! Send me a picture!!
THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH for this information…..I will be doing my first show in 9 days and in thinking of doing another show, I’d love to have my own suit made..so once again…thank you!!!!! Blessings…Jill
You are very welcome Jill. Thanks for stopping by!!!!
awesome blog. great advice. I’m using it!!!
Hi Amanda. Glad you found the post helpful. Thanks for stopping by!!!
Hi,
You have no idea how helpful i found your posts to be!! I found it by accident through google but thank goodness for this accident!!! You’ve been very helpful in giving ways to achieve things i used to think as impossible!!!
You Rock My Socks!!! (and suits!!)
p.s. you can start your own business now…it shall be called Jennicat Posing Suits!
Alex
heyy jenn.. Tomorrow is my competition…. hope to send u pictures soon, I did my suits again!!! wait for pics.. I´ve been so busy so streesed so tired… was not able to even open my email…
now with my carb load i am just full of energy and full of hope!!
Wish me luck girls.. wish me luck Jenn,,
Xoxo
Pau!!!! WISHING YOU THE BEST!!!! You will rock that stage girl. Your beautiful!!! Send me pictures!!!!
Hi there Jennicat!
Just want to thank you for all the great and useful links you have gathered here about competition suites and accessories… Wish you all the best
You’re welcome!! My pleasure.
thank you so much….. i made all my suits this year ( 5) 2 of one piece and 3 of 2 pieces.. they are lovely!!!!
Thanks for this great tutorial! Did you all end up using a serger or a regular sewing machine to construct your bikini? Any help would be much appreciated!
Hi Anna. Thanks for stopping by!! We used a regular sewing machine. Hope this helps!
Im so glad i found this Im competing for the first time next year, and Im definitely going to make my suits.
Hope it’s helpful and thanks for stopping by. Good luck on your upcoming competition!!!!
Hi lady – thanks for this article! Just got my posing suit in the mail; now I get to start stoning it. Would never have considered this until I read your story. However: have you got any insight on how to sew the hooks & loops once I cut my straps? Should I take my suit to a seamstress? Afraid to do it by hand & I don’t own a sewing machine. Thanks…JEN
Hi Jen! Sorry about my slow reply I’ve been out of town. Hmmmm? You know in all honesty I’m not sure. To sew the loops my mom, who did most (okay all) of the sewing, looped it over and sewed across it 3 different places so I could adjust the tightness of it. Does that make sense? In other words we folded the strap over and horizontally across three times about a half an inch in between each section. The did that by machine. As far as the hooks go…I put on the suit and we marked where we thought they looked best and then hand sewed those on. If you are unsure you might just want to take it to a seamstress. Thanks so much for stopping by!!! Have fun at your show!!!
I’ve really enjoyed reading about your experience and now I am inspired to design my own suit. I’m curious about the “bling” portion though. Would one of those “bedazzler” tools from the infomercials work, or do they need to be hand glued. I would love to replicate a passionfuit design. :0 I was also curious about the dreamstime website. How exactly did you find images?
Thanks so much! Your suit came out awesome BTW.
Thank you very much! How fun you are thinking about designing your own suit. I really can’t give advice on the Bedazzler as I have never used one. I just looked at the website and I couldn’t tell how the the stones were sticking. My concern would be that the glue wouldn’t stick but I’ve never used one maybe it would be fine. The glue I used was super duper strong and I think I’ve only had one stone to come loose. If you decide to try the Bedazzler I would practice on a scrap piece of fabric first but you probably already planned on that!
Dreamstine – I knew I wanted a swirly looking design so found images by typing words like “swirly”, “baroque”, “vine pattern”, “fleur du lis” “victorian” and narrowing the search field to “illustrations”. When I saw the Christmas tree I thought it would work on my one piece if I turned it upside down. So I bought it and I simplified the pattern by getting rid of half the lines on the tree. For the cups of the suit, I started with a part of the tree for inspiration but then I ended up drawing my own design. I never found a design I could just copy right onto the suit. I had to modify it a bit. Thanks for stopping by!!!!
Hi ladies – no one seems to address this issue so I thought you might know. I am REALLY small-breasted now that I’m getting close to competition weight. Any ideas on breast pads, cutlets etc? Do I put the cutlets inside the liner of my top, or next to my skin? Wanted to get that out of the way before I started gluing the rhinestones.
Hey jennicat! You do awesome work! I too have been “blinging” my own suits for my competitions. I have a question, where can I find a web site that sells the crystal pin looking attachments that I’ve seen on the two piece tops between the two cups? Or, do you have any ideas on how to make them? I have a contest in April and want to start making my new suit asap! Thanks in advance!
Melanie
Hi Melanie! Thanks. Are these the sorts of pins you are talking about http://www.mrjewelry.net/SearchResult.aspx?CategoryID=106 I hope this helps. Thanks for stopping buy and good luck on your competition!
GORGEOUS!
I had NO idea it was even possible to make your own posing suit! Way to bust out the kraft glue!! It turned out beautifully!
I am trying to decorate a suit,, can you give me a ballpark on how many gross of stones you used on your suit?
Thanks for the info !
Hi,
I came across your website and I think it’s great. I would really like if you could add my link along with the order suit designer.
Thanks a lot and i appreciate your work.
Sylvia Tremblay
That’s the thnnkiig of a creative mind
how many rhinestones did you end up using
Want some tips for rhinestone sanity?
A faster way to glue the rhinestones is to get a plastic syringe for the glue, then put the drops of glue on the fabric (instead of to the back of the rhinestone). Also, if you go to RhinestonesU.com and check their How-To page, there’s an Estimating Guide for how many rhinestones you’ll need, plus info on glues that work with rhinestones. They only sell to businesses, but they have lots of info on their site.
Thank you for the tips and for the link to the web page. Wish I would have know about that sooner! I tried the the plastic syringe and about went MAD but I’m sure it works great for more patient people!
There are tons of differnet size stones. what size did you use?
Hi Tia. That’s a great questions! It’s been a while but I’m pretty sure I used the 20ss. I don’t think I would use anything smaller as they would be really hard to work with. Thanks for stopping by!
So how much $$$ did you end up saving by doing this yourself? What was the total cost of your two piece? And what was the total hands on time you spent? I’m highly considering doing my own and could use the advice. Thanks!
That’s a great question. Since I used a ton of stones and already had the fabric think I saved a few hundred dollars. It’s been a few years but the total cost of the 2 piece was (I think) about $80 for the stones. I probably spent over 20 hours sewing with my mom and stoning the suit. It wasn’t a quick job for sure.
Hi!! What pattern did you use for your suit? what is your method on sewing the elastic? this always screws me up!! i’d loooove to make my own. I can not afford to pay those extreme prices!! i love this font too on your site by the way!! ok, thanks !
My mom actually did most (all) of the sewing. We used the KWIK SEW Pattern 3239, pieces C and G. My mom wrapped fabric around the elastic and sewed it was it was semi-stretched.
wow those are gorgeous,id really love to make a posing suit but i dont no if i could do it without a pattern,iv looked over the net for one but cant find one anywhere,any advice?
The pattern I mention in the post is the one I used. Did you try googling that one? Like I said I modified the bottoms or rather my mom modified the bottoms. Good luck!!!!!
thanks yea i found it,im gonna try an give it a go this week.i love ur suit! i was dreading standing on stage with other competitors wearing the same thing at least if i make it its gonna be original.also reading your blogs for ur pre contest diet has given me a boost an now im excited the start,i probably wont be saying that by the end of week 12 haha,thanks
Thanks for this information, I had a suit made in a fairly new color (periwinkle) but have since been advised that the suit doesn’t accentuate my skin color (what?) and the cut was not a brazillian cut which would show more of my back end (like I really want that!) BUT anyway, I can hardly afford to hire another seamstress to make another suit and with minimal sewing skills I think I may venture to make my own this time. Again, thanks for the info. AND one more question…who did you do in the show? I was in Kentucky Northern this past weekend in Covington and didn’t place as well as I hoped but third times a charm right? Besides we all are “winning” just by being confident in ourselves to walk out on that stage and look as fabulous as we can despite what the judges think! Awaiting your response.
One more thing…..I went to another site of images of suits and the blue one shown above in the half finished stoning is on there. Just thought I’d let you know.
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