I want to add stones to a dress I bought recently. The bodice of the dress is covered with lace appliques, so I thought I would stone the flowers and leaves in the lace, perhaps by tracing the outline of flowers, leaves, etc. in one color and filling petals and leaves in with another color. I've never done any stoning and I'm not very "crafty," so any advice would be appreciated. In particular:

--what size stones are best to use? Because of the size of the lace pattern, the largest I could use to trace the petals, etc. would probably be 10ss or 12ss. Is that large enough to show on the dance floor at a comp?

--hot fix seems to the way to go for me. (I can just see myself dripping glue on the dress!) Any advice about equipment or application tips?

I'm sure there are other things I should ask, but don't know enough to! So tell me anything you think I should know before I go to work on my dress!

Thanks so much!

Caroline: In my opinion I would adhere to the axiom "Less is more". Use the smaller stones and outline the appliques only. There isnt really an esier way to add stones than to hand place them and with careful patience you wont splatter glue on the rest of the gown. Results are long lasting and beautiful. Owen