Midnights Bodysuit
Here’s a complete guide to all my methods/materials for making Taylor Swift’s Midnight’s bodysuit! ✨
Project is still underway so bear with me as I finish up the back for a Toronto show :) follow me on TikTok so I can go live while working on the back!!
Materials:
This bodysuit takes a LOT of rhinestones/beads: here’s all my materials listed, and all the exact products I used are linked in the photos below
Capezio leotard
Zipper
Blue Gem Multipack
White rhinestones
Light blue rhinestones
Teardrop gems
Black Sequins
Japanese Seed Beads
Bugle Beads
Cylinder Beads
Crystal Beads
Sewing/Bead Needles
Bead Spinner
E6000 Glue
The Process:
First I sewed a zipper into the bodysuit- I definitely recommend putting a zipper in!! Once all the rhinestones and beads are on it will be very hard to get into without one.
I did this myself, but if you are unfamiliar with sewing you can take it to a seamstress or tailor and they’ll be able to put one in for you very easily!
This was my first time putting a zipper in so I made sure to practice on some scrap fabric before trying it out on the real thing.
Next I made myself a dress form out of duct tape, since wasn’t able to budget for one in the beginning. It looks terrifying but it got the job done! It’s super important to use SOMETHING to stretch the fabric out while you’re working on it! When the fabric is stretched out it helps the E6000 stick MUCH better and you won’t lose gems no matter how much dancing you do :)
It was relatively easy to make, I sacrificed an old bodysuit and pair of shorts, covered myself in duct tape, cut myself out, stuffed it with old tee shirts, and patched the cut with strips of tape. Alternatively, I’ve seen a lot of people use pillows in a pinch to help stretch the fabric.
Time to start placing gems! I started with the bodice… sewing every gem on by hand. In hindsight, this isn’t necessary. You can 100% glue down the main gems and then stitch the seed beads around it. I personally would stitch on 3 beads at a time and then go back through and secure them individually- this is super time consuming though, I think you could get away with just the initial stitch.
Using large circle beads from the gem multipack and 18x11mm teardrops, I placed pins to find where I wanted to sew them (again, in hindsight I recommend gluing gems instead, it’s way faster and just as secure).
Once the main gems were attached, I did the bead work around the gems by sewing down the seed beads three at a time. I have a video under the tutorials tab demonstrating how I sew down seed beads.
Next I placed the white small rhinestones (5mm) around the center gem, followed by stitching down the sequins lines and seed beads on top (in hindsight these can also be glued instead of sewn). Then I placed down the large white rhinestones (10mm) alternating with the light blue ones (5mm). Afterward, I stitched down the long seed bead lines by 10 beads at a time… this technique made it very hard to keep the line straight. Later in the process, I changed this technique and began stringing an entire line of beads the length I needed, tying it off, then sewing the ends on and tacking the line down with thread every 2 inches or so.
Next I added multiple rows of gems from the gem multipack, as well as sewing the bugle beads, and rows of cylinder beads by hand. It was here that I switched to the method of long strings of seed beads, and as you can see they sit nicer than the ones on top. Also- after taking a closer look at Taylor’s bodysuit, I went a few rows farther than hers does, so be wary of that if you want yours to be more accurate.
I finished off this section by sewing more bugles in between gems, as well as doing a seed bead outline around the diamonds placed from the gem pack. I used the same method as before, stitching on 3 seed beads at a time. However, this time I didn’t go back and stitch them down individually because I was running short on time :) Not sure they need to be stitched down individually- as they held up fine after a wear.
This is where I started the bottom section of the bodysuit- first starting with SS30 white rhinestones and a seed bead line. For this, I would strongly advise placing the rhinestones first, giving you a curve to help you find out how long the line of seed beads should be. Once I had the line of seed beads the right length, I tied it off, stitched the first bead on, pinned the last bead in place with a needle, then placed a stitch every two inches or so to keep the line in place. This will give you some freedom to move and ensure it won’t break.
Next I hand sewed a row of cylinder beads, a row of sequins with seed beads on top, and added the pattern of the white 8mm rhinestones and the light blue 5mm rhinestones. Then I blocked out the middle pattern using a large blue teardrop gem in the center, and small blue horse eye gems from the blue gem multipack in a half circle underneath it. Afterward, I added the center half circle of white and blue rhinestones beneath the center blue gem design.
I finished up the middle section by sewing seed beads around the gems, adding a few more rows of rhinestones, as well as two more rows of seed beads on a string. Then on both sides I added two rows of the white and blue rhinestone pattern, as well as a pattern I noticed on Taylor’s- alternating between the white and blue rhinestones with a blue gem in between. Once that was finished I went around the gems in the line with seed beads.
A bit in between progress pictures 😳 Here I mainly filled in the remaining space with whatever gems I had left, while trying to follow Taylor’s pattern to the best of my ability. In this step I added the sequins lattice on the sides, as well as more ss30 white rhinestones, the teardrops from the multipack alternating with smaller rhinestones, rectangles from the multipack alternating with cylinder beads, a row of bugle beads, and a row of the dark blue small teardrops with ss20 white rhinestones.
This is an example of the beaded tassels made for the skirt. We made 2 lengths, 9 inches and 7 inches. Most of the 9 inch tassels would end in a crystal teardrop like you see here. The 7 inch ones all ended in seed beads. The 9 inch tassels were made for the bottom two layers of the skirt, while the 7 inch tassels were made for the top and final layer. We made 150 7 inch tassels, and 250 9 inch tassels- totaling 400 beaded tassels for just the front of the skirt!!! I would HIGHLY recommend using a bead spinner to make these, if you’re crazy enough to made the beaded skirt 😉
First layer of the skirt :) I attached the tassels to the bodysuit by bringing the thread through the hole of the top seed bead in the tassel, then stitching it down for security directly between it and the seed bead underneath it. I started in the middle and worked my way outward trying to follow the design on Taylor’s. Her bodysuit has the tassels in the middle of the skirt being the lowest, and coming up higher as they come out to the hip. I believe I made my skirt longer than Taylor’s, but I wanted more coverage for concert day.
Second layer of the tassels :) Sadly this is my last progress picture of the bodysuit because I had to hop on a plane and finish it at our hotel 🥲 but I finished the current bodysuit as you see it above by stitching on all the 7 inch tassels following the line where the last row of gems end on the bodysuit end and filling in any blank spaces :)
