Every girl has a story to tell and sharing those stories is by far my favorite part of blogging.  So when Cherie wrote me telling me she was making her own figure competition suit, something only crazy people do, I had to know more about her.  I’m glad I asked because I just love Cherie’s “can do” attitude and confidence!  I think you will too!!

“If she can do it, why can’t I?”

One day I was browsing the web looking for motivation to start working out again, (I just didn’t have the drive or desire to get started), when I came across a transformation that totally inspired me!!!! Her name was Danielle Reutter and she had entered a figure contest coming in 1st place.  She had also had a baby around the same time I gave birth to my little boy and she had done all this within a 4 month time period.  At first, it seemed totally impossible but then I thought- if she can do it, why can’t I? So a year after having my baby, I decided to compete in a figure competition.

I must say it felt like everything was going against me.  I was overweight, out of shape, had very little time or money to invest and did not know where to begin my figure competition research. I just knew that doing a competition would give me the motivation I needed to reach my goal of getting in the best shape possible after gaining over 70 pounds during my pregnancy.

The first thing I started to think about was a suit. I knew I needed one but, as I it turned out, I needed three suits for my particular competition. I started looking online and found out figure competition suits are priced anywhere from $100- $4000!!!! I was shocked.  I looked for someone who made these suits in my area—-NO ONE!!!   Since, I don’t use a credit card I knew ordering online wasn’t an option and I didn’t have near that much much to spend, anyway. Durnig my internet search I came across Girl-Heroes and read Jenn’s story.  I found out Jenn had made her own figure competition suit and it turned out beautiful. (Thanks Cherie!) Again, I thought- if she can do it….why can’t I?

Once I decided I could make my own suit, I researched “the ideal figure competitor look” and decided  which parts of my body I needed to concentrate on.  I knew I needed to gain muscle and lose body fat but there was something missing from the equation….THE GYM!!!  Recently, I had moved to a rural area without renewing my license so I  had NO ACCESS to a gym (crazy eh?)! SO how the heck was I going to get the body of a figure competitor?? Well, a few months before, I had purchased p90x but hadn’t stuck with it. Now I knew I had to get my butt in gear and follow through with the program if I wanted to get up onstage.  It seemed like the best choice for me to get some hard workouts in.

People always ask- How did you ever mange to make the time to workout when you have a new baby??? I MADE the time. I was very determined. I would get up at 6am (an hour before my baby wakes up) 6 days a week to do my morning cardio.  When my baby went down for a nap, I would do my weight training in my living room.  In the afternoon, I would take him on a 30 minute walk!

Now back to the suit. I found a suit pattern that was similar to the figure competition suits through Jenn’s how to make your own figure competition suit post.  I was able to alter the pattern a bit to make the suit fit right for the stage. I bought 1 yard of black velvet swimsuit material, 6 meters of 1/4 inch black elastic, some thread, and I was off! Once I finished making the suit, I went to Michaels Crafts, Walmart, and Atlantic Fabrics to buy gemstones to make the suit look all “fancy”. I looked at many suit designs and finally based my design of of one I liked. It took MANY MANY hours to finish the suit, as I had thousands of stones to glue on by hand. (Which by the way I used Gemtac adhesive to glue the stones on.)

Once I completed my two piece suit, I needed to start on my one piece. I could NOT find a pattern for this, so I  came up with my own design. This took many hours of trial and error but I eventually finished the suit and just needed to glue the stones on- which I worked on right up until the night of the competition.  I also made my final suit. Just a plain black pre-judging suit (which was a breeze compared to the other suits), as I used the same pattern as my stoned 2 piece, but I did not need to glue any gemstones…THANK GOODNESS!!!

About 3 weeks before the competition, I met with a posing coach to make sure I had the poses correct. He critiqued me and it really helped just to meet with him for an hour. It was also helpful to look on YouTube, and anywhere else on the web to find out how to pose correctly. I then wrote Danielle and told her my story.  She took the time to write up an individual diet for me to follow to maximize my results during my final week of training before the show.

I was so intimidated this entire time- even though I was training hard and had researched everything. I knew that my competitors were very experienced, had been doing this for years, and had an advantage- especially since most of them go to a gym…lol!! I was nervous also about being on stage or tripping in falling in my high heels!!! Actually, during the show I had an incident during pre-judging. I was putting on my suit and the hook snapped off !!!! Luckily, I had brought a needle, thread and an extra hook. I was able to sew the hook on in time but forgot to put my number back on before being called out again.  It was embarrassing, but I was able to pull it all off.

In the end, I competed against 14 other competitors and ended up coming 3rd place in my class!!! I was thrilled, especially knowing I had done this ALL on my own without a trainer, made all my own suits, and without a gym membership.  It just goes to show you that if you are determined enough, you can always find a way to reach your goals!  Don’t let anything stop you.

Thank you Cheri for sharing your story!!  You are an inspiration and have motivated me to kick up my own workouts a notch!!!    Congratulations on your accomplishment.  You are a Girl- Hero!!

What’s your story?  If you would like to be featured as  Girl Hero email me at jenn (at) girl-heroes (dot) com  or don’t be surprised if you hear from me.  

Hugs and High Fives,
Jenn

The post Girl Hero Cherie appeared first on Girl Heroes.

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!

The post How to make and/or stone your own figure competition suits. appeared first on Girl Heroes.