Project: Costume Rescue has slowly begun

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!

*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!

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!

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

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

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...

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.