The chunky blue costume

Time for another costume post! I took this:


And made this:


Because this costume took an obscene amount of work, I'm not going to go through an entire tutorial like I have in the past. Instead, I'm linking to my Photobucket Album. Each photo is captioned with my notes. Take a look and let me know what you think!

The making of a stash buster

Back in March of 2009 I realized that I had collected enough stuff in my sewing stash to create a new costume. These items were mostly impulsive purchases, things that I bought on clearance, or left over items from other projects. Inspired by costume maker Ozma and her stash projects, I decided to start one of my own. This is what I discovered in my stash:

Click the pictures to enlarge or view the album here.

Oh but wait, there's more! I remembered some chainette fringe that I had purchased at the Scrap Exchange!


Construction did not begin until Nov 2009. I realized that I needed to buy more fabric. Thank goodness it was still in stock at JoAnns. I'm also pretty sure I picked up some extra pieces that day. I made a belt base using only felt (two layers), which was a first for me. I used the Sugar Petals belt form (with some tweaking) as the pattern:


After covering it with fabric I was ready to bead:



I started to trim the belt with some turquoise beads leftover from extra straps from a costume that I had sold. I forgot to include them with the sale of the costume and so I harvested. I didn't have enough and had to buy more...twice actually. I also started to play with the placement of the appliques and buttons.


I got this much done during my Thanksgiving break in Florida. I got to bead on an airplane and I enjoyed the stares. Some appliques have been sewn down and beaded.


I beaded on and around the appliques to keep them from looking so fakey and store bought:



Then came the fringe:



But something was missing....Crystals! I pulled out some hot fix crystals that I had bought for another project that never came into fruition. They were perfect!

Now, originally this was just going to be a belt, and only a belt. I was going to use it for a more fusiony look. But then I decided that I really needed a matching bra to pull it off. This is what it looks like without the bra (before crystals too, I think):


So the bra was tricky. I went through two cup bases before finding the right one. And actually it was a little too big for me, but it's better to pad than to have it be too small. Unfortunately, after covering a too-small bra I realized my error and had to take it apart. Ugh! Then, the fabric for the smaller cups did not fit the new larger cups. Double ugh! Of course, since this was a stash buster there was no fabric to spare. And guess what? The fabric was completely sold out at all the JoAnn's in my area. I turned to Bhuz for help. One dancer came through with a "close enough" fabric that would have to do. Construction of the bra continued...

Everything is fortified with felt. The straps use a canvas base. (Both materials are from the stash):


Covering...


You can see the slight difference in fabric...


Construction complete!


I didn't take any bra embellishment photos, but you get the picture. I thought about adding more stash to the cups, but honestly I was out of stash. I got to the point where I just wanted to finish it. And I couldn't really find matching appliques the few times I went to the craft stores to re-up supplies. Here's an after of the bra, but it's not finished yet!



I added fringe and padding to finish. I also found a super awesome way to pad bras. I took some old pantyhose and stuffed them with poly-fill. It makes a nice little shelf. Oh and I know it's practically a sin, but you can see how I glued the stitching down where the cups are connected to the straps and middle bit.



Add a little lining (leftover cotton from another project)...and we're done!



All in all this was a good project for me. I don't think this costume will be in the regular rotation, but it was great experience for costume design. I did end up having to buy more fabric, beads and crystals...but it was less expensive than most home-made costumes. And at least I got to whittle down my stash!

Snow weekend!

It's supposed to snow here and sleet for 24 hours soon. Because I am in the south this causes everything to shut down. I probably won't miss any work (because it's the weekend), but being the homebody that I am, I will have a great reason to stay home this weekend.

I'm already preparing my lofty list of activities to do over the weekend (besides play in the snow and watch movies).

1. Finish the curtains I made for the bathroom. The hooks I bought don't work, so I need to make fabric loops instead.
2. Work on my purple stash bra. It's constructed and covered. It just need embellishments.
3. Finish the dance choli I made out of extra fabric that I used for my pink and purple dots costume. The pieces are cut, it just needs to be sewn.
4. Hang up the 3-canvas painting that I made over the Christmas break.
5. Finish the graphic design work for the Souhail Kaspar workshop/show.
6. Work on my Web site and February newsletter.
7. Rephotograph my jewelry for etsy. I think part of the reason my jewelry isn't selling is because the quality of the photography isn't high enough.
8. Belly dance drills! Maybe I can get in some yoga too.

If for some reason the winter storm isn't as bad as they say it's going to be (although I've seen numbers that there is a 100% chance of wintry weather), then I hope to make it to Asyia's veil workshop, as well as the unveiling of the Nissan Leaf at the "green" McDonalds.

We'll see how much I get to. If I get to half of them I'm golden.

Craft Central: Making a belly dance overskirt in 10 minutes

Making a fun and stylish belly dance overskirt is a cheap and easy way to stock your belly dance wardrobe. It only takes a few minutes and there is no sewing involved. Wear your overskirt with or without a hipscarf, wear it to class, or even to performances. Follow this step-by-step guide to make your own overskirt. Click on the images for a larger view or visit the album.

1) You need a pair of scissors and 1 yard of fabric. Make sure your fabric is a 4-way stretch material. Pull it gently in all directions to make sure it is. Spandex and Matte Jersey are good choices.

2) Make sure your fabric has smooth, even edges and remove all printers marks.

3) Fold fabric over once, matching the short ends, not the long ends.

4) Fold fabric a second time, but going the other direction. There should be four layers.

5) Use the scissors to cut along the top fold. Be careful not to cut too much as your opening will double in size when you unfold it.

6) Check size of opening to see if it fits around your hips and there you have your overskirt!

The glitter dot goddess costume

About a month ago I started making a costume from scratch using some fantastic glitter dot and mystique lycra. I was going to blog about it once it was all finished, but well I am too excited and I've been home sick so I have nothing else to do. Here is what I hope to be a run down of the events thus far.

I was inspired while at JoAnn's by this fantastical fabric. I had to have it and I knew what I wanted right away. I think all the supplies and fabric cost about $50 or $60.




First I "sketched" out the design in Photoshop using a croquis I found online.


Then, I traced my L Rose skirt on some large white craft paper as the pattern. I cut out the design and I now I have a basic skirt pattern. The skirt is three panels, one in the front and two in the back.


Next, I traced the bra shape from my Great Loop--which fits me perfectly--onto craft paper to use as a pattern. I also had a bra from a Delta Burke body suit that I bought for $6 at Ross. I used the body suit portion for a tummy cover and was able to use the bra for this part.

As a result of my diligent tracing onto craft paper, I now have nice patterns for sleek skirts and bras. :)

Next, I needed to reinforce the bra. I knew that the bra wasn't going to be too heavy because of the design, so I decided not to line the original bra. Instead, I used a couple of layers of Aleene's fabric stiffener to help them maintain their shape. And because the purple lycra glitter dot was so fragile, I decided to use fusible interfacing on it. Well, it was a pain in the butt to get that interfacing to fuse onto the fabric. Such is the nature of a 4-way stretch fabric. You live you learn!

I also needed some strong fabric for the side-straps of my bra. I decided to use the heavy-duty outdoor canvas that I had used to recover some porch furniture. I stitched neatly around the edges and then went back and sewed the allowance down on the inside



While watching "A year in provence" (it's a four-hour film), I sewed the fabric onto the cups.




At this point it was really coming together...




Then, I had to make the rouched bit. That sort of left me scratching my head, but I used the tried and true gathering/ruffling technique and it looked pretty good.


Repeat on bra:


After showing this to Adam and Seher, we decided that the rouching was too long and that the zipper didn't match...



So, ugh, I had to redo the skirt, but I think it looks much better now.

All that was left was embellishments. Taking a break from redoing the skirt, I decided to bead the bra using iridescent sequins and reddish pink seed beads.




I decided that the red blended in too much with the pink fabric, so while at JoAnn's to buy a new zipper, I took a look at the beads. To my surprise they had a new stock of bead...no more red beads, but lots of purple ones! Well that settled it. I am much happier with the new color.



I also bought this awesome cotton fabric to line the bra with:


So here we are as of yesterday at 6:00pm or so:


As I mentioned, today I was sick so I spent all day beading and watching tv. Boring, yet productive.





All I have left is to finish the fringe, attach the bra strap, add hooks and line the fabric. I will be done in no time...Now if I could just get over my cold...

More pictures at http://s708.photobucket.com/albums/ww88/andalee-oriental/pink%20dots/ (oh and the thumbnails are clickable).