I did burlesque for about two years back in the Midwest. I made all my own pasties (the nipple cover, not the food). They’re easy to make, fun to wear, and make a cute bachelorette gift!

Burlesque Pasties

You’ll need:

• stiff felt or cotton embroidery backing
• scissors
• a Sharpie
• Fabri-Tac glue (this stuff takes off your nail polish, so be careful!)
• baking powder tin to use as a stencil
• two bobby pins
• gems, sequins, and/or other embellishments
• to wear: I use liquid latex to adhere pasties to myself; some people like medical adhesive, or you could use electrical tape in a pinch.

First, make a circle on your felt with the Sharpie, using the baking powder tin as a stencil. Baking powder tins are the perfect size for making pasties. I used to use a paper pattern, but this is so much easier. Cut out the circle.

Next, cut out a little wedge in your circle. Cut to the center, then eyeball a pie-shaped wedge. It should look like Pac-Man.

Make another circle, then match up the edges so you can cut out an identical wedge from the second circle.

You should have two matching Pac-Men friends. Wokka wokka wokka.

Spread some Fabri-Tac on one edge of Pac-Man’s mouth. Bring the non-glued side over the glued side, making sure you match the circle’s edges. It’ll take some wiggling. Secure with a bobby pin.

Essentially, you are making little boob hats. This is what they look like from the side. When you make your second one, check the angle of the first one and make sure they match. You might need to readjust.

Let these dry for 10-15 minutes with the bobby pins on. You can get your embellishments ready while you’re waiting.

I got a tub of loose, assorted gems from the craft store, and then I picked out the ones I wanted to use. You can make pasties look like ANYTHING. I made a pair that look like cheeseburgers; I made a pair with dreidels instead of tassels; I made star-shaped ones. The only limit is your creativity!

To glue on the gems, spread a thin layer of glue on your pastie (start from the outer edge), and firmly place each gem on the glue. It is pretty time-consuming to make a pair of gem-covered pasties, but let me tell you: they have major stage impact. Also, they are really versatile. Super sparkly pasties can go with nearly any kind of music or dance style, so having a pair of these around is really smart. Again, they make great bachelorette gifts, too! For my friend’s bachelorette party, I actually led a pastie-making workshop. Super fun. These amazing ladies who had never even thought about wearing pasties before ended up making two or three pairs. Pasties make you feel powerful.

This photo doesn’t even do these pasties justice. They are gorgeous. Imagine stage lights hitting those gems during a sassy shimmy!