So today I decided to try recreating one of Beyonce’s tour outfits from her collab with David Koma. That crazy sparkly bodysuit from the Renaissance tour? Yeah, that one.
First I hit the fabric store cause I remembered Koma uses lots of stretchy stuff with metal bits. Spent like two hours digging through glittery fabrics till I found this silver-spandex hybrid. Cost way more than I thought – $45 per yard! My wallet cried but I got three yards anyway.
Cutting stage was messy. Took my basic bodysuit pattern and tried modifying it on kraft paper. Measured wrong like three times. When I finally pinned it to the fabric, I realized the pattern pieces wouldn’t fit right. Had to start over with wider seam allowances. So much wasted fabric…
Then came the nightmare part: sewing all those crystal details. My home sewing machine kept jamming when I tried attaching rhinestones. Broke two needles immediately. Switched to hand-sewing but that took forever – stayed up till 3AM just doing the chest section. Hands were full of tiny needle pricks next morning.
Final fitting looked nothing like Beyonce’s version. The cut was awkward around the hips and the sparkles didn’t lay flat. Tried dancing in it and half the crystals fell off during my first spin. Such a fail!
Why do I even bother with impossible projects?
Takes me back to high school when I first tried making concert outfits. My cousin was singing in this local talent show and begged me to make her costume. Got dollar-store sequins that shed everywhere during her performance. She slipped on her own stage glitter and wiped out mid-chorus. Crowd went silent then burst out laughing. I still hear those laughs whenever I see sparkly fabric.
But hey – failure’s just practice in ugly clothes right? Might try this project again next month. Just ordered an industrial-strength sewing foot this time. Let’s see if that saves my sanity.
