Shiny Shimmy

Dyeing Your Own Silk Veil With Kool-Aid!

2011-02-17T18:41:00.001-07:00

Supplies that I used in this project:

UNDYED SILK VEIL
PACKETS/CONTAINERS OF KOOL-AID THAT REQUIRE THAT SUGAR BE ADDED- This is SOOO important. Do NOT use the sugar free Kool-Aid or Kool-Aid that already has the sugar added. You want the citric acid and color, not the sugar which would make a royal sticky mess.
SYNTHRAPOL
PLASTIC WRAP
MEASURING CUP
MICROWAVE
WASHING MACHINE
CLOTHING IRON

Rubber band fabric to separate areas of color if you're wanting clear demarcations between color shifts. I wanted a rainbow centered on my veil so I pinched the fabric at the center of the length, on one edge and placed a band at about 8" down, then continued banding down the length of the now sort of folded/pleated fabric. You could start at one end/corner instead of in the middle to create a horizontal gradient or a diagonal gradient. You can also experiment with sprinkling dye into place for a textured visual effect.
Soak silk in apple cider vinegar. For this step I filled a mop bucket with vinegar and tossed my fabric in, poked it down so it was all submerged and left it there while I prepared the rest of my stuff.
Cover counter with long piece of cling wrap. I used one LONG piece that was about 6-8' long. This kept most of the Kool-Aid off my counter and later trapped the moisture and dye with the fabric while steaming.
Wring out silk and lay out on top of cling wrap. You don't want the fabric to be so full of vinegar that it can't absorb the Kool-Aid mixture. Bone dry, and the dye can't travel, too wet and the dye can't be absorbed.
Mix first Kool-Aid color with water (cherry). The idea is to make a thick syrup consistency. You could mix them all at once in separate cups but I was using my one liquid measuring cup so I just rinsed between colors.
Pour from measuring cup over fabric section. Be sure the drink powder is well mixed so that the liquid is of equal dye strength.
Scrunch to distribute dye. I just kind of worked the dye in a bit with my gloved fingers.
Mix, pour, scrunch each additional color

Fold cling wrap around fabric like a burrito and coil up, leaving a vent at end of coil for steam

Microwave for 1 minute, let sit one minute (total 4 minutes of heating time)

Carry VERY HOT fabric/plastic to wash machine filled with cold water and 2 caps of synthrapol
Put untwisted end of plastic/fabric into machine, uncoil, and shake fabric gently from plastic into machine. The liquid dye will be pouring out with the fabric so the idea is to keep all the mess inside the wash machine to avoid awful cleanup chores ;)
Run normal cold water cycle
Air dry silk and then iron with steam on the silk setting. This should help set the dye.

Mord'Sith Hair Tutorial

2011-01-01T20:18:00.000-07:00

Well friends I have finally gotten up the courage to make my first how-to video :) I had a few friends who were asking me how I did my hair for my Halloween costume this year so I thought I'd share my method. Previous methods that I had read about required the use of two synthetic braids but this method only requires one. Wore it last night when I went out dancing and not a hair came out of place! Please feel free to ask questions, ask for more how-to's or leave constructive comments!

T-shirt to Choli Conversion How-To

2010-12-07T08:32:00.001-07:00

Don't ask me what the motivation was, I honestly don't know what planted the idea in my mind! I have a long torso and a growing collection of shirts that are just barely too short plus some that are just silly lounge arounds that I barely wear. I got it into my head to sort of re-build these into cropped tops for dance class because I always seem to have a shortage of good tops to wear at practice. It's relatively simple to do. Minimal supplies, not a lot of patterning or sewing know-how needed.

Materials:
1 T-shirt
matching/coordinating thread

Tools:
Rotary cutter and cutting mat (preferred)
sewing scissors
sewing machine
soap sliver or chalk

1.Put your shirt on and use a sliver of soap to mark how far under the bust you want to cut the shirt.

2. After marking, lay out your shirt on the ground as flat as possible. Try to match up seams and keep the sides from rippling because of twisted fabric.
3. Go ahead and even up your lines. Make sure the line is not lopsided. One side may be lower than the other because YOU are slightly asymmetrical. If that is the case, use the lowest line and draw across from there.

4. Use scissors/shears to cut along this newly smoothed out line. The line you drew on the front of the shirt should extend around the sides just enough that when you flip the shirt over, you can see the tail ends on each side. This will allow you to connect the tails with a straight line so you know where to cut along the back of your shirt.

**If your shirt is a blousey t-shirt, then you must remove some of the material from the sides and back to make it more fitted. If you don't, it will wrap around to the back and sort of bunch when you tie your rib cage straps. If you like that look, go for it. If not, then:
5. Cut little triangles of fabric off each side under the armhole. Wide bottom of the triangle down, point towards sleeve. If in doubt on amount to remove, slip your half-shirt on and pinch the fabric on either side of your ribs. It doesn't need to be super tight, but evenly distributed between the sides is good. Note how much fabric is pinched. For me this is usually about 2" to the fold on each side.

6. Here's where you have an opportunity to get creative. Simplest option: Make a 4" vertical slit along the center back of your t-shirt. This can be varied by making different types of keyholes instead. Keyholes are especially helpful if you need to remove a little more fabric from the width of your shirt to make it fit snugly. Your keyhole can be a triangle shape with a base and point aimed towards the neck of the shirt or it can be a circle or upside down tear drop shape. Fancier shapes like stars and hearts should be possible but they'll hang funny if they're not reinforced which I won't go into here- you want it fancy, you figure it out ;) If you're not good at free-handing shapes, use a round dish or print a shape from your computer (Microsoft Office software and some of the really basic art programs have shape art).

At this point, you may set aside the top portion of your shirt.

Making the rib cage strap from the bottom half of the shirt:
7. Make sure you have no wrinkles or folds in your lower t-shirt before marking and cutting.
8. Use a ruler or other straight edge and your rotary cutter to cut a perfectly straight line where your original chalk/soap line was drawn. (The idea is to cut off any jagged edges or curves)
9. Measure 4 inches down from your new straight edge and cut with the rotary cutter. You should have a tube of t-shirt material that is 4 inches high and the width of the shirt. Repeat this process one more time.

10. Cut the 2 circles of material to separate each into one long strip. Cut one of them in half to make 2 shorter strips. You now have 3 strips of fabric.

**Note, I also cut the sleeves on the white and blue tops pictured. This is another 'creative opportunity' :D

Sewing your new choli:
**Sew using a stretch stitch (looks like a lightening bolt) or a straight stitch set with a very slight zig zag (just barely moves side to side). This will prevent broken stitches when/if the shirt stretches while you wear it.
11. Sew a short strip on either end of your long strip to make your complete rib cage strap.
12. Sew the sides of your shirt if you cut off triangular pieces of material. If your shirt was fitted to begin with, you should have no side seam sewing to do.
13. Match up center front of the shirt with the middle of your rib cage strap that has been folded in half- it's still as long but now it's 2 inches tall instead of 4 inches. Pin at center front with right sides together and raw edges to the bottom.
**Here you get to decide how fussy you want to be about finishing. I'm not that fussy for this type of project- just an FYI. Knit fabrics don't fray so I'm not bothered by raw edges. There will be some.
14. Starting at center front, stitch rib cage strap to shirt around one side. Sew all the way to the edge of your keyhole opening. Repeat for the other side.

Viola! You now have a brand new dance top made from your favorite band t-shirt or funny slogan shirt :D If you try this out and share pictures somewhere, I'd love for you to leave a link to the pictures or your blog post on the experience in the comments!

Mini Top Hat How-To

2010-11-11T08:55:00.000-07:00

Almost a year ago now I created a mini top hat for a quirky dance performance. This morning I was rummaging through my collection of photographs and discovered step by step pictures of the process and thought I should share them already!

Materials:

4 pages of 8.5x11 cardstock

¼ yd fashion fabric

craft glue (I prefer FabriTac)

spray adhesive

paper and fabric scissors (one each, usually)

Printing Pattern:

Print two copies of the page with circular shapes and one copy of the rectangular shape page.

Cut out all pieces of cardstock with one exception. For the second large circle, do not cut out the center of the ‘doughnut’. This is your lower brim and will be left solid.

Glue the cardstock down to the back side of the fashion fabric using spray adhesive and then trim the pieces out. Leave yourself a little extra fabric around the edges of the long rectangular piece (the 'stove pipe').

Use hot glue or fabri-Tac to join the edges of the 'stovepipe' piece into a cylinder. Notch the extra fabric around the bottom and top edge as shown below.

Use an Xacto blade or scalpel to remove the extra fabric from the middle of the 'brim' piece.

Fold in the cardstock tabs on the top of the hat and glue them inside the top of the 'stovepipe'. This part will likely require an additional tool like a popsicle stick or butter knife to slide between the top of the hat and the wall of the 'stovepipe' to press the tabs securely to the 'stovepipe' piece.

Next, slide the fabric-and-brim piece over the top of the hat and glue to lower 'stovepipe' tabs of fabric and cardstock. You will be glueing the two 'brim' pieces together as well as you can here.

Glue down the fabric tabs at the top of the hat and cover with the fabric covered, tab-less top piece (remember, you have two of these?). Carefully trim the fabric that is hanging off the brim. Now would be a good time (while the glue is still super flexible) to start shaping the brim. I chose to finish the edges of my brim with some flexible ribbon stitched over the edge of the two brim pieces.

At this point you can consider your hat done or go on to add embellishments such as net veils, hat bands and feathers. The best way I've found to keep the little fascinator hat on is with little combed snap clips stitched or glued to the bottom of the hat.

Ahoy Matey!

2010-11-03T08:24:00.000-06:00

While working away on the Mord'Sith project for my halloween costume, I was also trying to put together a custom order for a good friend of mine. I was commissioned for the project ages ago but we were plagued by constant delays in obtaining materials so were left scrambling at the last minute. This is a modified version of one of my patterns. I had to change the shapes of the princess seams (and yes, they're called princess seams even in men's clothing) to reflect a masculine shape and the sleeves had to be redrafted and cuffs created. We stayed up til 1am the Thursday before Halloween weekend sewing and doing fittings. Then got up to finish buttonholes at 6am on Friday. The coat is 'coat weight' wool lined with dark sea green rayon lining material. We're probably going to revisit this project at a later date to add extra trim and such for further pirate foppery ;)

She's Only Smiling Because She's Dangerous

2010-10-31T19:58:00.000-06:00

Call in the Experts!

2010-10-26T06:33:00.000-06:00

Last night's progress on the Mord'Sith costume was all due to my friend Adam who worked at a leather shop some years ago and can often be induced to help out when I find myself in need of leather working. You don't get something for nothing of course. In exchange, I am sewing a fully lined wool pirate coat. Here you see the corset progress as of probably 8pm.

After pictures were taken more strap work was completed and I've drafted the thigh guard and holster for tonight's slaving... Incidentally, if anyone wants a copy of these patterns as a starting point, I'm happy to share. Let me know and I'll create you a listing over in my etsy store.

Where's a good Agiel when you need one?

2010-10-24T20:37:00.000-06:00

Well this has been a rough week for costume progress. My buckles were delivered on Friday in two different colors/metals and the boot laces that I custom ordered set in leather were set backwards and can't be used as planned. I was also double charged for shipping. I will be calling the company Monday morning to see if they'll make things right. To be fair, I did place 3 separate orders with them that they had to combine so it might have caused confusion in their systems.

Buckles, spray painted gold:

The gorget neck piece laced up and ready for snapped tabs as closure. Note, this is different from the TV version which has more boot hook quick laces on the side back piece. Those hooks are reported to snag the braid horribly not to mention how tricky it sounds to lace the piece on by myself with the hooks in back... I have chosen to make it look like the whole thing is laced on and have hidden snaps actually holding the piece together at the side front panel.

And here are the boot hooks/quick laces that I intended to sew to the corset piece. They followed my template for placement just fine.

But they faced the hooks towards each other, instead of away so I can't actually lace them when they're sewn in as intended.

I'll be setting rivets and adding buckles to straps next while hoping the company can quickly ship me replacement boot hooks. If not, then 1) I won't be using that company again and 2) I'll have to punch little holes along the slender edge so that I can hand stitch the hooks to the corset in the proper orientation. PIA. *sigh*

Yeah Straps!

2010-10-16T17:28:00.000-06:00

I've finally gotten a couple chunks of productive time and made quite a bit of progress on my Mord'Sith costume :D I am in danger of running out of things I can do until my buckles, boot hooks and rivets ship!

Here you see the corset with straps- it will need rivets and boot hooks to be wearable:

And here is a quick view from the inside in case you're unsure how the straps weave in and out of the corset. You can see the loose ends on the right where the straps will be anchored by rivets.

The Mord'Sith Costume Progress Report

2010-10-15T11:42:00.000-06:00

We're getting down to the wire and boy is it tense! The dark red lycra body suit has been received from China and the individual panels of the neck corset (gorget) have been cut and finished but await some new equipment and supplies to be laced together. This morning I ordered buckles, rivets and a leather punch along with quick laces/boot laces/boot hooks pre-set into strips of leather. I've drafted a preliminary pattern for some pleather knee high spats that has to be tested. Now that the buckles are ordered I can finally cut straps and glue layers together. Below you see the pieces that make up the neck protection cut out of heavy interfacing, glued to the wrong side of the pleather, trimmed out and finally with decorative stitching holding the pleather wrapped around the edges.

Halloween Returns and She's Not Playing Nice

2010-09-23T07:26:00.000-06:00

As it happens every year, I find myself buried in a heap of costuming projects. I am happily crafting away on a wool pirate coat, a toddler's My Little Pony costume, merchandise for vending at the Denver Witches' Ball the weekend before Halloween, performance costumes for my student troupe for that same event and the coup de grace- my loooong awaited Mord Sith costume. If you don't read fantasy literature or get into that sort of thing on TV then you most likely have no idea what I'm talking about. That's okay. Those who DO know are shuddering in fear and lust for you ;)

The costume for a Mord Sith is somewhat complex though not impossibly so. Typically the largest challenge (assuming you know how to pattern and do fitting) is procuring the bloody buckles. Not what I would have expected to come to as my ultimate hurdle. I'll be blogging periodically about my construction process for those who might be interested (those who aren't can take a leap into cyberspace).

Here you see the patterning process more or less completed with the exception of the thigh holster.

The waist cincher is asymmetrical. It is supposed to open/close by way of quick laces in the gap you see on your left. Straps weave in and out of the remainder, basket style. I will be making this piece from the heavy Pellon interfacing you see pinned to my form here sewn to a layer or three of denim with mottled red pleather on the outer surface. Despite at least a solid week of searching online and in tack shops I have still not been happy with my buckle finds. Either they cost a fortune or they're too plain. *sigh*

Oh, and you might note that I've only draped half of the neck protection (gorget). That's because you only NEED to pattern half of the darn thing so long as it's symmetrical on each side. This will also be constructed from layers of Pellon, denim and pleather.

Adrift in Wings

2010-07-08T12:54:00.000-06:00

For the last two months I have been feverishly producing merchandise for my very first festival merchant booth. All told I created about $2300 worth in merchandise in that time and I am so glad I got to finish up all that production with a fabulous vacation! Some of you may have seen my previous style of faerie wings that involved layers of cotton fabric on a metal frame with hand painted and glittered wings. They're gorgeous but the materials and labor put them at a rather high price point. I now have a new style of wing that has a very different look. The sails are translucent like a stained glass window and backed with iridescent cellophane that catches the light and changes color depending on what angle it is viewed from. Several steps of labor were eliminated and the material costs are less so now I can offer wings at a more accessible price point :D

The butterfly hair clips that I make have undergone a similar material change from fabric to acetate and cellophane. They have so much sparkle now!

I've also been experimenting a bit with some of the wild ideas that come to me while I dream. Here are two of my latest whacky creations:
My Book Monster Page Protector

and my Magical Mushroom Chair!

For more of my crazy crafting antics, come visit me at my etsy shop: http://NightLilyDesign.etsy.com

Spring Follows Winter

2010-04-28T08:00:00.000-06:00

About 10 years ago now when I was very new to belly dancing and gearing up for my very first student performance in the cabaret style of dance I made this costume:

The overall look has been well received by many and it's a costume that I've continued to wear for many years. As most first project attempts go it has been successful. However, there are some design issues that I've learned from. In the years since its creation the velvet has faded and become crushed and the soft bra cups used for the base don't have much support and frankly don't cover enough to make me feel safe whilst shoulder shimmying! It is time for this costume to have a renewal. The belt underwent some modifications a few years ago as no interfacing had been used and the velvet was 'slouching' with wear. I added buckram to the inside as well as some extra fabric and length at the sides. It wears a lot better now except that I never lined it. That leaves the scratchy buckram to rub raw spots and occasionally peak out at the top of the belt.

I'm hoping to double check the fit (due to weight loss) and add some lining to the belt. The bra must be entirely remade. I have begun by salvaging the cool colored glitter dot fabric from the old cups and cutting the embroidered-down leaves from the old bra as an applique. A new design has been drawn up and I'm ready to start getting down to business by cutting away straps from the new bra foundation and starting to cover this new bra in a style that more closely matches the remade belt. The vest will be done away with as it is too far gone for salvage. The beaded fringe will be moved to the bra and some velvet details similar to the belt will be included to contrast with the dragonfly glitter dot fabric. Some might argue that I should do away with the glitter dot all together but for some reason- maybe sentimentality- I just can't do it. I love that glitter dot. It shimmers in my favorite color!

Crow Moon Feather Neck Ruff

2010-03-22T13:32:00.002-06:00

Click to buy

I am part of a team of fantasy artists on Etsy (search FAEteam for awesome creations!) and part of what we do is challenge each other to keep the inspiration coming thick and fast. This year has a challenge theme according to names given to each month's moon. The moon for March has many names but the one that I jumped at was Crow Moon. I have started making some of these feather neck ruffs to sell in my Etsy shop. Of course, I'm finding that my biggest hold up to adding new product is not making the product itself but taking pictures that I feel show it off to advantage!

You can see my current Etsy listings at http://NightLilyDesign.etsy.com. Click here for the actual Feather Neck Ruff listing and more pictures!

The Green Monster is Back!

2010-02-18T11:26:00.000-07:00

Off and on over the last several months I have picked up this costume to work on as life and other projects have allowed. My half-hour lunch breaks at work have been filled with bead embroidery and now that I get to place the appliques that I worked so hard to build on the covered bra I feel so close to being done! Of course, I'm not really that close. I still have straps to build and attach, lining to sew in and the whole skirt to build and decorate! Here's what we've got so far:

Change, It's a Comin'!

2010-02-04T16:04:00.000-07:00

Over the last 6 or 8 months I have lost about 25lbs. This has had the result that I must alter EVERY LAST ONE of my costumes so they don't simply fall off. It's not very exciting work but it must be done. In the meantime, I've moved. Twice. That's twice in the last month and a half. I'm ready for stability and some order in the chaos. I'm also ready to tackle one of my #1 dance goals- zils. I have been incorporating zil drills into class for the last several weeks and in a week and a half I will be attending THREE Karim Nagi workshops :D *does little dance of excitement* One is on zils, one is a rhythm training workshop and one is folk dancing. I'm plotting where and how to tuck little micro cassette recorders in my dance gear so that I can get audio of all 3 classes. The idea being that I can focus on the moment instead of furiously trying to memorize (which I'm no good at). I don't think I actually know anyone else who's going. Hopefully I'll recognize someone while I'm there.

Finally Dancing on the Web!

2009-12-11T14:47:00.003-07:00

I have finally completed the unexpectedly epic struggle to get a video of one of my improvised performances up on the net. *whew* First I had to covert the iDVD movie my student graciously gave me into mp4 format with new software just for that purpose. Then I needed to split it in two so I could separate my performance from my student Vashti's drum solo. That meant going through 3 more pieces of software until finally using iMovie (with much struggle). If you should ever find yourself about to embark on this journey, learn from my efforts. YouTube has a handbook with all sorts of useful information about file size, format, camera angles, lighting, uploading, etc. IMovie works with iPhoto. Import your newly converted mp4 file into iPhoto and then you have easy access to it in iMovie. You can copy/paste the selected section of the clip that you want into a new project and then in the Share menu you can select a number of options including YouTube.

Reflection and Goal Setting

2009-12-04T16:07:00.003-07:00

I have been thinking quite a lot about my dance lately and about how I want to grow as a dancer. I haven't seen a lot of workshops come through my area lately and while I love teaching my students, I miss having a teacher of my own. When time and resources allow, I travel an hour to Denver to study with Eva Cernik. Her 7 week class on zils was a major challenge for me. I have a few goals that I can work on in the immediate future but that will likely be areas for growth for many years.
I stink at zils. Or at least, I think I do. I must find a practice routine that works for me and USE IT! I owe it to myself, to my audience, to the art and most of all to my students! So far they aren't good enough with them to have exceeded my ability to teach but that day will come and I feel it's my job to grow as a dancer so that they have more to continue learning from me. Part of my reluctance is that I don't like the sound... it hurts my ears *whine* If I ever find a pair of zils that have a low sound perhaps I will fall in love :)
I want to deepen the emotive quality of my dance. I'm already a fairly emotive dancer as far as it goes but I'm so used to dancing to live instrumental music that I haven't pushed myself to research song lyrics so that I could bring that new layer of understanding to my dance. I have begun looking up lyrics for my restaurant sets. We will see where it takes me...
My ability to choreograph and not just improvise... Well, I've made some strides there too but I must push myself further. I have found Garage Band to be remarkably helpful in noting the phrases within the music. I can also record additional tracks for counting and calling cues which makes for an excellent learning tool. Recently I have also rediscovered how much easier it is for me to build a choreography when I have a partner to help me visualize and bounce ideas. My near goal is to finish the veil poi choreography I started. Then perhaps at least one other new piece for our proposed student show in June 2010.
It's not all weakness and faltering. I am grateful for the strengths that I have already developed. My students have access to pretty extensive costuming and construction and I'm pretty good at organizing. We've got a Yoga for Belly Dancers workshop lined up for mid-January and a whole list of interesting workshop topics like bead embroidery, silk veil dyeing and others for skirts, harem pants and arm ornamentation.

Let the Steampunk Influences Creep In!

2009-12-01T09:11:00.005-07:00

The brown velvet Eman style costume is really starting to take on a life of its own! My students have decided that they want to try to put together little top hats for the Cirque du TribalTique show and I wanted to add something around the neck that filled the space better than a choker...

Eman Inspired Brown Velvet Belly Dance Costume

2009-11-19T12:15:00.002-07:00

As you know, my dance company has been invited to participate in a circus themed belly dance show. We aren't fusion dancers so my challenge was to come up with something theme appropriate that we could use again at other venues. Each of us chose a different color/combination of velvet and sheer sparkly knit. We'll all have the same basic shape but each will be ornamented differently. Here is my brown and red/gold costume.

Status Report- Aka, I'm still alive!

2009-11-02T16:42:00.002-07:00

Well, October is over and I'm still breathing :) I think I may have had a different costume for every weekend of the month! Let's see... First we had the Rock Star Party:

Then there was the Corn Maze Craziness:

The following weekend there was the Wild Goose Masquerade Ball where we dressed as Beauty and the Beast:

And for the last weekend of the month, there was our 1940's theme party where I wore my grandmother's evening gown and my boyfriend wore his grandfather's WWII uniform:

After all of that crazy wonderful costume goodness you'd think I'd be done for a little while but FAT CHANCE! Now my students and I must prepare for Cirque du TribalTique which happens in a month and a half. My costume is more than half-way done and the choreography is off to a good start. Barring disaster we should be on track for something fantismo! :D

Register on ArtFire.com

Cirque du Tribal Tique

2009-10-21T13:40:00.004-06:00

My student dance troupe has been selected to participate in Tribal Tique's annual Holiday Hafla which has a circus theme this year. Last night I finally pinned them down on a costume choice and we all went fabric shopping. Since then I've been working on my digital pattern (printable on letter sized paper, then pieced together). It's not quite where I want it yet. It needs a how to for construction, the tiled pages need to have numbers so you know how to tape them together, and I couldn't seem to get the crop marks to show on every page so you'd know where the overlap was. I'm thinking I'll print it out tonight and give it a test run. Stay tuned for construction stories!

Bead Embroidery Book Reviews

2009-09-23T13:00:00.007-06:00

This is by no means comprehensive but I have recently acquired 3 books on the subject of bead embroidery. It is my intent to put on a small bead embroidery workshop for some of my students and these books are research for that event. In no particular order they are:

Art of Bead Embroidery

Bead Embroidery

Designer Bead Embroidery

All three have excellent photos and illustrations. "The Art of Bead Embroidery" is geared towards beading jewelry for collars, pendants and bracelets. "Bead Embroidery" is like a sampler book with patterns to use while learning the effects of different stitch and bead types. It's great as a library of stitches and should prove very useful for technique instruction. "Designer Bead Embroidery" is written with clothing embellishment in mind. Because of that it takes into account laundering needs and durability for wear. Its designs have less 'wow' factor than those in "Art" but the functionality information makes it a more than worthwhile investment. So basically, I have three books with very different but equally great technique ideas, one that is huge for inspiration, one that is perfect for practice work and instruction and one that addresses the unique challenges one encounters with beaded dance costumes.

And the Green Monster Sparkles On...

2009-09-22T10:21:00.004-06:00

This is how the leaves start- micro suede, rhinestone strands and beaded whip stitches.

Then they get filled in with sead beads, bugles and sequins.

Here you see them against the Green Monster skirt fabric. There is a distressing lack of contrast between one super sparkly surface and the next. I will be debating options on bead choice for the stitches that will be used to attach the leaves to the finished skirt. I'll thread some beads up and lay them next to the two fabrics to decide. I'm thinking that clear iridescent beads might be bright enough as they'll look kind of white like the rhinestones in the center of the leaf. Once the leaves are mounted to the skirt, I plan to sew a dime sized AB crystal or slightly smaller blue button like the ones used in the center medallion to the point of the leaf. Then I will hang a few strands of fringe from it :)

Bead Hypnosis

2009-09-04T14:35:00.003-06:00

I've been beading up a storm lately. Something about the light reflecting off the varying surfaces entrances me. Leads me to just keep beading... It's a good thing too because man have I set myself up with a project. Above you see what I hope to make into the center medallion of a dance costume bra. I've since replaced the center copper piece with a very shiny rhinestone covered button since it goes better with the rest of what I'm doing. The bead diagram you see on the left is some plotting I was doing for bead looming. I want to loom some beads for the waist band, extra waist straps, halter strap and extra (asymmetrical) top straps. I'll scan my drawings and new bead progress for another post. Anyway, this costume is currently planned to have cutouts which intimidate the heck out of me, beaded palm leaf thingies and a beaded waist band and hip straps. I can only hope my interest lasts and so does my collection of beads... I'm having a ball but I'm notoriously short on attention span ;)

Vintage Vixen

2009-08-25T15:46:00.005-06:00

Ooh lala! Burdastyle.com has offered up a free pattern for a vintage style swimsuit that is EXACTLY what I've been looking for!

Luckily one of their members who is quite handy with sewing has taken the slim to none instructions and created her own step-by-s tep that is quite helpful. Per her advice I lengthened the torso by at least an inch and a half. Measured the hips and despite having followed the sizing guide, I had to add quite a lot to the hips. Partly to drop the leg down a bit so my rump wouldn't hang out and partly to accommodate the circumference of my hips. Let this be a lesson to any of you tempted to create your own suit (or anything I suppose). Measure the pattern and compare it to yourself!! This is especially important for armscyes, torso length and bust/waist/hip dimensions.

So far I have the pattern altered and cut from paper and all the fabric pieces cut out. The side seams are joined and the crotch assembled. Next up either leg binding or bodice insert. This one is made in dark royal or bright Navy (depending on perspective) spandex with a white bodice insert. I think I'll do something different with the little band that gathers the center front of the suit. Not sure what. Either rhinestones over the fabric or maybe some knotted cord to play up the nautical colors... Might just sew a charm to the fabric for that effect too... decisions, decisions...

Here are some examples of suits using this pattern or one very similar:

2009-08-18T09:42:00.002-06:00

Yes. I'm pretty sure we did have "Too Much Fun". My glitter scales did not get washed off before bed time and were cause for a big laundry day for all the sheets. Glitter head to foot on my boyfriend. Glitter on my dog. Glitter in the left over salmon that we grilled. After our party had wound down a small group of us headed over to a drumming and dancing party. Yeah, mermaids and pirates belly dancing together... freaking awesome!

Mermaids!

2009-08-14T20:49:00.004-06:00

My latest project :) This weekend my boyfriend and I are hosting a pirate party. I have enough costume bits to put together at least 6 pirate costumes but I just couldn't do it. Instead I will be a mermaid! I have a scaled mermaid skirt from Halloween a few years ago and I've been working on my shelled, trimmed and beaded top. At the moment, I have all the fringe and shells sewn on and I have one cup left to line. Victory will be mine!

Project: Costume Rescue has slowly begun

2009-07-22T10:49:00.007-06:00

I've got all the soiled pieces closed up in a guest bathroom so the cat can't revisit her handiwork... First I tried a costume that had metal medallions and relatively washable fabric. Put it in a lingerie bag on the 'handwash' machine cycle with a little OxyClean and some of our Seventh Generation detergent.

No rhinestones were lost and I couldn't smell the cat pee. I turned the spin cycle off of course so it was dripping wet. It's now placed on a special drying rack in the guest bathroom bathtub (again, kept away from the cat). We'll see how it fairs once dry. I think the bra should be fine but the belt may have lost most of its stiffness. If that's the case, I should be able to add a new layer of super stiff interfacing and a lining and it'll be good to go. That's one life saved!!

Next up, a few veils. They were all synthetic. One had beaded edges and one had sequin edges. The fabric fared fine, but the cat pee is still very noticeable. These were clearly peed on directly, possibly more than once. The sequins lost some of their color around the edges but the beads look ok. I'll have to wash them again- this time with vinegar I think...

The last thing I had time to try was a load this morning with a velvet vest/bra that had sequin trim, beaded fringe and hand embroidery. The velvet was already a bit worse for the wear because it's my oldest cabaret costume and needs to be rebuilt. So far the velvet doesn't look any worse than it did before (but again, it's still very wet) but the sequins lost all color.

Disaster Strikes!

2009-07-21T15:56:00.003-06:00

*Big sigh* I came home last night all excited because I'd just found the perfect plastic storage totes for my costumes. I've been keeping them in an under-the-bed storage tote but they were overflowing and the lid no longer fit. Not to mention they'd get all jumbled and tangled every time I took one out to wear.

A few months ago I moved in with my boyfriend- much to the jealous distress of his cat. At first I thought she'd be content with just hissing at me whenever we made eye contact. Then I found one of my undyed silk veils completely saturated with cat pee (long since dried). Thankfully, some very thorough rinsing seems to have done the trick for that. At this time my collection of dance costumes were being stored in the guest bedroom. Since the lid wouldn't fit, they were uncovered. Every time I'd make a fuss over the cat getting in the room with them, I was told not to worry.

Turns out I was right on the money. As I started to separate costumes from the under-bed-storage tote pile, I caught a whiff of bad smell. I've never had any of my cats pee inside, let alone on my things so it didn't click immediately.

Part or all of every single costume I have purchased or created is now crusty with vile cat pee. I now have ONE complete costume that I can wear and I have performances at least every other week. Some of these are beaded and embroidered velvet and I am at a complete loss as to how I'm going to get the cat pee out of them without ruining fabric or beading :(

I can't possibly be the only dancer who's had this happen... So I enlisted the help of my friends at Bhuz.com. The main consensus seems to be vinegar in cold water in the bathtub. Though some suggest Nature's Miracle (in addition to vinegar? Instead?) and one whole thread was devoted to those daredevil souls who have washed bedlah (bra and belt sets) and beladi (dresses) in the machine on the gentle cycle... Drying seems to involve gently rolling up the costume pieces in fluffy towels and then air drying (with various fruit acting as support devices for bra shaping...) before storing.

I'll document the resusitacion in the hopes that my efforts help someone else...

And She Soars!

2009-07-02T14:50:00.006-06:00

Well folks, my coin costume is born again and holy rollin'! I don't know exactly the difference but the new 'curved rectangle' pattern somehow manages to carry the weight of the coins at the bottom of the belt and DOES NOT give me muffin top!! Sorry, I'm a little excited about that... I put the last few stitches in the morning of the show I was producing. *whew* Just in time. This project has been a major success. No redo's, no construction regrets. My boyfriend introduced me to this freaking amazing Industrial Velcro that doesn't snag! I'm not kidding. I smooshed the 'rough' side against some polar fleece and it slid right off. Whoa... Anyway, fan-girl gushing aside it was actually strong enough to hold on my coin belt and lemme tell ya, that hummer is HEAVY! I just tried to find a link for you (it was already out of the box when I stole it from him) and so far nothing conclusive. A backpacking forum calles it Omni-tape and says that Joann Fabrics and Crafts calls it 'no snag Velcro', go figure. For more pictures you can visit the Student Show album on my facebook Fan Page.

Phoenix Rises- the update!

2009-06-22T14:26:00.002-06:00

I'm sooo close! The coins have been detached from the fragments of the original, flimsy bra and hand sewn one by one to the new sturdy bra that I covered with lycra. The gold braid is sewn in place, the straps are attached and ready for the tiny bit of machine sewing that will make them functional and the wild cotton batik lining is in. Now I just have to finish the straps- possibly by covering them with more gold braid trim and do the belt... I have the material and I know how I want to do it... Now I just have to manage the time. First I'll draft a new belt pattern with my dress form. I've made a 'curved rectangle' belt pattern before but it didn't seem to work quite right so I'm trying again. Once the pattern is drafted then I'll cut out lining fabric, stiff and thick fusible interfacing and more of the lycra. Then I'll machine sew the sides and top edges (right sides together!), turn, press, tuck under raw edges on bottom edge and press and then topstitch. At that poing I get to decide if I want to use gold braid along the top edge to match the bra and I get to hand stich through some of the split rings joining the coins of my belt. I don't think I'll have to take any of the links apart. I'm hoping that some industrial strength velcro backed by some skirt hooks will be suffcient to secure the belt. Dress rehersal is tomorrow and I've got a family dinner tonight so I'd better sew like the wind!! (pictures will be added shortly)

Ooh.... Sparkles... o.O

2009-06-18T12:13:00.008-06:00

I should never have followed the link from Bhuz... I've been wandering around Spandex World filling my cart so I can browse my preferred swatches at my leisure and I'm afraid I may never recover. I've found this green tiger striped holographic spandex that has me completely entranced... I can't decide if it's the most amazing material I've ever seen or the genesis of the world's ugliest belly dance costume.
I've been longing for a rich, dark green dance costume for years but never found just the right one. I've just about come to grips with the realization that I will have to build it myself. Bear in mind that I have the (posted below) teal coin costume in progress and the fixin's for an ivory crushed velvet costume with pearls and iridescent crystals that are just sitting there stewing in a bucket, waiting for their turn to be created... I don't NEED another project in my line-up. But this green tiger stripe... is it something amazing? Could I make it miraculous? Or will it just make it look like my costume is permanently wrinkled and my butt twice as wide? Help!! Opinions? If price is what sways you, this material is $14 a yard and I'll need at least 5 to do my flounced mermaid skirt pattern, 3 if I do a gored and godeted mermaid skirt (seams from waist to hem with triangles of material inserted for fullness at the hem)...

Coin Collection Turned Costume

2009-06-01T19:32:00.005-06:00

Today I finished the hand-sewing on the material covering my soon to be coin bra.
Now I'm debating on whether I want to use gold trim along the top edge of the cup and if I want to remove the coins from the piece of the old bra (now cut up and slightly visible as a dark forest green) and resew them all one by one to the new, recovered bra. I also need to get the straps functional so that I can debate the attachment point for the tummy drape and determine if I want to go ahead and drill the coins that I set aside to cover the rest of the bra in a lighter layer of coins. More of a 'chain' of coins rather than the overlapping scale arrangement at the top of the bra. I pretty much never know exactly what the finished costume will look like. I like to have a general concept that gets developed as I go along. It lets the costume tell me what it wants to be instead of me forcing the costume to line up with what I thought it should be... I know. I'm weird :)

The trials of change...

2009-05-29T09:55:00.004-06:00

I've been completely fixated on getting back to my coin costume project and starting what I think will be the next project in line- an ivory velvet with pearls and iridescent crystal creation. But first? I must put my sewing room back together.

I just completed a move to a new town and my sewing area is a complete shambles. Went down in the basement (sewing area) a few days ago thinking I could start setting things up and noticed two rather... critical..things. I have no outlets. Absolutely none. and I have one bare light bulb and a window well for lighting. *pulls hair and cries*
For the short term solution I will be stringing an extension cord down the stairs with a power strip on the end for my sewing equipment and lamps. My darling boyfriend has promised to wire me some outlets and lighting as his next project. Yay! In the mean time, I'll torture him with my sewing equipment being set up occasionally in the main area of the house. It has to be done.

Phoenix Rising

2009-05-21T09:38:00.008-06:00

One of my very first belly dance costume projects was to cover a bra with coins. I had no idea what I was doing and in retrospect I'm pretty sure I chose the worst possible bra ever. I didn't cover the cups with new fabric. I didn't reinforce anything and I didn't replace the straps. It was litterally a bra with coins. Eek. Thankfully, at least the arrangement of coins was flattering...

Several years after that I went through the painstaking process of building myself a coin belt. I loved the way it looked. When it wasn't on. Unfortunately, the weight of the coins would pull the belt as low as physically possible, leaving me with the dreaded "Muffin Top" where the flesh of my hips was puffed over the top of the belt. Not flattering.

Here's a picture of the costume.

While wasting time on eBay one day I stumbled across an inspiring image of another coin costume. I loved the arrangement and it didn't seem to have any of the troubles that my failed attempt suffered from. (I later discovered who made the costume and was in the picture, but that's another story!)

I had already begun the process of rebuilding my ill-fated coin costume based on this picture when I stumbled across Ozma and her costumes on facebook. What should I find within her treasure trove of information but this very costume and step by step pictures of how she remodeled it! This find was just in time to help me solve some of my construction dilemmas.

Here's where I'm at so far: I've cut the coins off of the floppy, unreinforced satin bra with the scandalous demi cups (can we say too much exposure!!). In replacement, I have purchased a WonderBra and recovered it in dark teal lycra dance fabric. We'll see what happens as I go, but for now I am thinking of adding some braided trim and resewing the previous coins that only cover the top half of the bra. I've also created a tummy drape from coins and some jewelry findings.
Any vote on whether I should completely cover the bra material with coins or allow the current amount of teal to be visible? I'm leaning towards leaving it visible. I feel like completely covered bras sometimes make people look flat chested... Thoughts?

The belt hasn't been touched just yet but I've just purchased some cool lining fabric and crazy stiff interfacing to go under the teal lycra so there should be progress soon.

The coins come from all over the world. The majority of them were a gift from my Great Aunt Martha who has brought them home from her life of extensive travel. China, Japan, Kenya, France, Mexico, Ireland, Portugal, Australia... I love my coins. Because I have no intent to spend them anywhere, I have been free to 'deface' them by drilling holes. I have a drill press and a magswitch for this part of the process.

I'll post again soon with pictures of my current progress, an image of the drill press and magswitch in action and whatever else I think might be of interest.