[86] DIY Glamour Girl Sash

Silk Tricotine Sophia Gown, J.Crew

With the holiday season in full swing, I thought I'd share with you all my DIY version of a crystal-embellished party sash :)

My college hosts a black tie ball for junior women every February, and since I'm a junior next semester I get to dress up! I purchased a J.Crew wedding gown for the event last year from the sample sale ($20! I had to!) but it's rather plain, so I wanted to dress it up a bit with a jeweled sash - except all the sashes I loved were super expensive! I truly believe adding the words "bridal" or "wedding" to anything automatically makes it at least 3 times more expensive.

J.Crew, $265

Nordstrom, $300

Anyway, I decided to make my own sash (or try, at least). I went to a local craft supply store looking for ribbon, beads, sequins...nothing too cheap-looking, nothing too gaudy. I eventually came home with: a spool of 1" wide black satin ribbon, white fabric marking pencils, clear/silver seed beads, and clear adhesive beading glue. My initial idea had been to sew the seed beads on by hand, which probably would have looked more like the J.Crew sash (pictured above), either in a chevron pattern or just as a solid beaded rectangle. Fortunately, my inner lazy girl persuaded me to get the glue - I know it's winter break and I'm pretty much unemployed, but I still don't want to hand sew 1000 seed beads in crooked, awkward lines for 3 weeks.

The finished product

Thankfully, this glue didn’t “stain” the satin the way most glues do. I used a wide popsicle stick to spread the glue around – it’s super thick, so if you try this project be sure to grab a few popsicle sticks and work in small sections at a time. Since the glue is easiest to work with right out of the tube (and starts to get hard quickly), I did 1 – 2” sections at a time, laying down the glue then sprinkling the seed beads on top. Be sure to press the beads into the glue to help them set securely, ideally using a small piece of cardboard or very sturdy paper. Let the beading set in a well-ventilated area for 24 hours – if you’re lazy like me, you can even do half of the beading (7.5”) in one day, let it set, then come back and finish it up. After it dries, you should be good to go!

My total cost (glue, beads, ribbon, white pencils): $13