Bits and Baubs of Sewing Projects from Sparkly Belly

As a dancer, or anyone in the performing realm knows, you have to be able to do a bit of sewing.  Costumes break all the time, and require upkeep and mending.  It was always a goal of mine to learn to sew, and being interested in costuming and theatre, but not always having the time to do so, I have been inspired in the times I have a spare moment or two to start on little projects.

Where to begin, if you are new at sewing or you are on a budget and want to create some pieces for your troupes?  I always point people to Mao Murakami's Sparkly Belly Blog.  I'm going to showcase some of the projects I've made using her blog here in this entry.

When I began teaching, my first thought was to use the 10 minute DIY Tribal Overskirts and DIY 10 Minute Cowl Neck Top as troupe costuming, but at the time, I only ended up making these projects for myself.  Perhaps in the future I'll persuade some of my students to also make some.


Since I was new to this sort of thing, working without patterns, I went to my local fabric store and found some stretch material that was on sale.  I made several of the tutorials using this same material.

After creating the Tribal Overskirt, the Easy Sleeveless Choli, a mermaid skirt and a shrug out of the orange material, I felt more confident in my sewing.

I also made another Tribal overskirt out of a fun stretch camouflage.  These are great for practice too.




Using my custom-made to fit me mermaid skirt pattern I created from Mao's two part Mermaid skirt tutorial, I made a blue skirt and a gold velvet skirt.  Since learning, I have also figured out how to make my own godets to insert in the trumpet skirt for contrast or fullness, which I have incorporated into two complete costumes, I'll post more about that later in another blog entry.



One of my favorite projects was making the DIY LED veil wings from Mao's blog.  I made them on a rainy day when my kids were in school.  At the time, buying LED wings was cost-prohibitive so I thought it would be fun to make them myself.  It was the holiday season, so luckily the materials were readily available.

The hardest part of making the LED wings was the initial cut of the veil wings, because the fabric was not as wide as my pattern called for, and I had to adjust it to fit the amount of fabric I bought.  It was also a challenge laying out the Christmas lights but I managed to make it work pretty well.  These wings are shorter than traditional belly dance wings, but that means they are good for smaller spaces.  I have long arms though and I have to be aware of the tight/shortness in the range of motion at times while dancing.


I used wooden dowels from the hardware store as my wing sticks, and I made a video tutorial for my students to follow on youtube.



I've made three versions of Mao's DIY shrug for dancers, one in orange, one in gold velvet to match my gold velvet skirt, and one in power mesh with diamonds on it.



The finished shrug below.



Lastly, I was very excited when Mao and Mahin of BDQ collaborated in their "Your Sparkly Wardrobe" series on a DIY Prop bag tutorial, one of my most-requested DIY's.  Unfortunately, I made mine a little too small, and it only fits my wings and some of my canes.  I used pleather and it came out really nice.  It does not fit my swords, as they vary in length, curvature and heaviness.  I would like to try again some day when I have time.



I can't emphasize enough what a treasure Mao Murakami's Sparkly Belly blog is for dancers.  Dancers should have a basic understanding of costuming and sewing and this definitely helped me!

Glitter & Gold - DIY Troupe Costuming

When creating troupe costuming, especially with a new troupe, it's a good idea to use neutral colors, like gold, black, silver, or copper.  I was building my troupe with my students in the classes I taught and I wanted us to have something classic which we could re-use at other events.  We decided to go with gold stretch velvet for our skirts.  That way we could mix and match our bedlah (bras & belts) or choli tops and hip scarves.  

I held a sewing workshop or "sewcial" at my home for some of my students and we planned about a month in advance before an upcoming performance at a local belly dance swap meet, where we would debut our costumes.

I had been a longtime follower of Mao Murakami's awesome costuming blog, SparklyBelly, and I offered to help my students make their own patterns so that we could make Mao's mermaid skirt and so that we could end up with a beautiful troupe costume where we all matched.  Three of my students joined me at the sewcial.

Armed with snacks, brown craft paper for drawing the pattern, rulers, tape measures, scissors, notebooks, pencils and some snacks, we all got together, and watched the videos, while helping each other measure to make our custom patterns.  

Each dancer made their own pattern by the end of our 3 hour sewcial.  I had already made my gold skirt, so I was able to show my students samples of what I did, including my pattern, the fabric and thread I used, and how it came out.  I also shared my other belly dance custom-made costumes that I created with my students, giving them inspiration and ideas.

I had already made several other projects from the Sparkly Belly blog on my own, including Mao's 10 minute Tribal Overskirt, and Easy Sleeveless Choli / Crop Top, the DIY LED (veil) wings, prop bag, and several of my own mermaid skirts using my custom mermaid skirt pattern that I drafted thanks to the blog.

We had a great time working on the custom patterns together, and then everyone went on a "field trip" to go get the gold crushed velvet fabric for our skirts.  

I used some additional scrap fabric I had to create Mao's shrug tutorial found here and one of my troupe mates made a Turkish choli type top to wear over her bra.

Although we ran out of time to actually sew that day, everyone finished their skirts in time for our upcoming show, and we wore them to perform at the swap meet a month later!  

They looked beautiful, and we were lucky enough to do an awesome 

photoshoot in our skirts that day at a gorgeous Banquet Hall after the show.

We were featured on Mao's blog in our troupe costumes, which we couldn't have made without her wonderful tutorials!  

special thanks to Signature Banquet Hall photo by L. Hall

Mermaid's Tale of the Sea - Making mermaid costumes for bellydance

 

Themed belly dance shows can be really tough to figure out.  How do you stay within the theme, but keep the integrity of the dance, while also paying tribute to the theme in a way that is unique and exciting.  Usually it's a requirement to use either music or costuming or both that fit the theme.  Some themes are easier than others, of course, especially if they already lend themselves to the familiar aspects of your dance, such a pirates (long skirts, swords, corset-style Renaissance Faire/bedouin clothing).  Other themes are definitely harder (Boy Band comes to mind!).  (photo above, selfie of a mermaid skirt off the rack from Spirit store).

I was excited to bring both of my student troupes to the Pirates hafla where we would be doing two separate takes on the theme.  One group would be mermaids, the other would be pirates.  Since this is one of the most-documented of my costumes, I'm featuring the Mermaid costumes on my blog.

For the mermaids, fabric is key.  Luckily, a lot of really cool mermaid fabrics have come out recently, especially with the popularity of cosplay.  Being a fan of both cosplay and bellydance, it's twice as awesome for me.  I happen to find a ready-made skirt at the local seasonal Halloween store, which was. beautiful, but way too long to dance in, but I was confident I could fix it.  The skirt had a train on it that was about an extra 8-10 inches long.  I wanted to have a matching bra and hopefully arm bands as well.  So I took the skirt home, and with simple modifications, I trimmed the excess off the bottom and took in the sides a little, and added slits for a perfect fit.

There was plenty of fabric leftover from the ridiculously long skirt to cover a bra and make upper arm bands.  I found some pretty chiffon fabric in blue with fish on it to add a little flounce to my arm bands (from the Yaya Han cosplay fabrics line at JoAnn's).



I had an idea to add pearls to the bra mimicking the shape of a seashell.  I ultimately did not like the result and took them off, leaving the bra to shine on it's own with the fabric and a dropped jewel from the center.



I did not have enough mermaid fabric to cut a belt but I definitely wanted something complementary to finish my mermaid costume.  I used a plain purple, with interfacing and I found a pretty "bubble" fabric in bright blue stretch which complimented the mermaid fabric.  The mermaid fabric has a blue-purple-green iridescent look to it, depending on the lighting.

I also wanted to make a mermaid crown.  I researched crowns and found a lot of them on Pinterest, but it was harder than I thought to make something that was both pretty and practical.  I bought some sea stars, painted them silver, and put crystals and glitter on them, but they proved to be troublesome on the crown, poking me and not sitting well.  I opted for only one in the center of the crown.  I did end up using two stars on the belt and one sea shell in the center.  My kids commandeered the other sea stars.

I also had a lot of seashells, which I incorporated on the fishnet-style drop I had on the belt.  I added some rhinestones as well and put glitter on the seashells.

Sadly, I did not wear the crown because it was interfering with my sword dance.  Here's the finished costume, and my troupe-mate's similar mermaid costume.  Her costume used fabric from JoAnn's Yaya Han line of cosplay fabric.  I was really pleased at how our costumes came out and looked together!

Rehabbing Old Costumes Into Something New

I've always loved costumes, which is part of the reason initially that I was drawn to belly dance.  From the beginning I attempted to make pieces of costumes, and tried to make my own ensembles, in addition to purchasing costumes along the way.  That being said, creating a costume from scratch is a huge undertaking and usually takes a very long time to complete.  I've learned from my mom, but also from experimenting on my own, buying patterns and trying to make costumes from inspiration in fabrics and other textiles.

Sometimes if we wear a costume enough to be bored with it, or styles change and it feels dated, it can be a good idea to see if parts of it may be salvageable or even better, if enough fabric remains to change the look of the costume entirely and give it a fresh makeover.

If I'm not entirely happy with the way a costume comes out, I will take elements of it apart and see if I can up-cycle them to a new costume.  I have also inherited costumes from other dancers, which didn't quite fit my style, or needed to be changed in some way.

I took this pink costume, which originally consisted of harem pants (pantaloons), a bra top and a tied skirt (which, unfortunately, consisted of 4 inch strips of fabric, hanging down in a way that didn't flow nicely), and I wanted to make a matching belt and a front/back panel skirt instead.  I wore this costume a few times, but I felt like I could make it look more flattering as my body had changed from the time I originally created it.

I had used the black fringe on another costume, which I was unhappy with, so I removed and re-purposed that to be part of this re-made costume. I had found the flower for the belt from a friend, and I thought it tied in the black lace in nicely, and complimented the costume perfectly.  I loved the pop the black gave the pink, and it was a perfect match for the lace sleeves I had purchased from Mesmera at a belly dance show.

Costuming Reconstruction - Transforming a Dress into a Costume

Troupe costuming is always a challenge.  People have different levels of comfort as far as how much coverage they want, different styles, but the troupe director wants the group to look unified and cohesive, identifiable as a group of dancers, and not simply a bunch of individuals who got together to dance.

For our studio recital a few years ago, we purchased similar "goddess dresses" to perform in, and then we customized the dresses to fit our different styles, while retaining the look of "a troupe."  These dresses all had a slight animal print to them, in different colors and slightly different patterns but they were uniform enough to look very troupe-like.

Upon examining the original dress, my idea was to cut the top from the bottom under the bust, and then take apart and re-cut the bottom in a mermaid-style skirt to make it fit in a form-fitting way, as the skirt was rather baggy.  It was a lovely dress on it's own but it needed to fit like a costume would to allow movement but be flattering on stage.

  This was a bit scary, taking the dress apart, but I could definitely see it starting to take shape, almost instantly.  The top was pretty much done once it was separated from the bottom - it just needed hemming and a little bling to finish it off.

The skirt was more challenging.  I opened the seam so that I could see how much fabric I had.  I used my custom made pattern for a mermaid skirt that I made from Mao's Sparkly Belly tutorial online at her costume blog and was able to squeeze out a 3 panel skirt from the existing skirt fabric.  I even had enough material left over to make matching arm gauntlets.  Here is the finished result!



The other troupe members had their costumes altered by a seamstress.  Below is the photo from our studio recital.

Jessikah photo by Pink Heart Photography; troupe photo by Visioneuse

Performing Tips for the Beginning Dancer

Raqs Euphoria troupe perform at the LA County Fair

You've taken several belly dance classes, and your instructor mentions upcoming shows where you can perform your choreography for the first time.  You probably feel excited but also a bit nervous hearing this.  Performing for the first time can be very intimidating and scary.  Thoughts like "What if I mess up?"  "All these people are looking at me!" run through your mind as you prepare.  It's a baby step though that many dancers want to take, they are inspired by the idea of wearing a beautiful costume and finally putting all that hard work up on a stage with their friends and dance sisters.

Here are some tips for performing for the first time:

1.  Find a safe, supportive environment to perform, such as a class showcase, or low key event, where the audience is not large and you can dance with people you are comfortable with, such as a teacher or student troupe.

2.  Practice on your own as well as in class, even if it's just five minutes every other day or every day.  The more you practice, the more your body will have "muscle memory" and the moves will come on their own when you hear the music.  This is the ultimate goal in a choreography, because you don't have to think about the moves, they just come to you.

3.  If there is a practice video or performance video of anyone doing the dance you have learned, watch it.  If you only have a couple minutes during a break, watching the video or listening to the song is still helpful in remembering the moves.

4.  Wear a costume you feel comfortable in - and test it out before performing!  Try on different things and wear something which doesn't make you fidget or feel weird.  If you feel too exposed, try a power-net body suit underneath or wearing a drape/fringe on a costume.  You don't have to wear anything too skimpy.  Being comfortable and feeling good about yourself goes a long way in performing.

5.  Wear makeup and do your hair/nails.  This will automatically give you more confidence.  Some performers feel that makeup is like a mask - it puts you in that "zone" or "character" who is on stage and helps you to feel good.

6.  Try to find focus.  Being on a stage with lights can be intimidating and seeing a sea of faces looking at you can also shake you up.  Focus on a friend or family member in the audience and forget about the others.  If you don't have a friend at the show, look for someone who is smiling and looks happy.  Focus on them.

7.  Start out standing where you are surrounded by other dancers.  You can use your peripheral vision to watch them and remember the moves.  Ultimately you want to be able to do the dance without watching others, but in the beginning, it's perfectly fine to peek at your friends.

8.  If you know how to count the beats of music, this can help to slow your moves down when necessary.  Sometimes being nervous makes us speed up unnecessarily.  Take your time, take those moments and feel them.

9.  Trust yourself.  Have confidence!  If you don't have confidence, FAKE it.  No one will know the difference.

10.  It also helps to go to other people's shows.  Watch and see how they work.  Both troupes and soloists.  Watch them travel the floor.  Watch how the dancers interact.

11.  Practice your expressions in the mirror.  When you are practicing, practice with a smile.  Try not to make faces as you make mistakes.  Your face is part of your performance.  If you make a mistake, keep going and smile.  Chances are, no one will notice, and everyone makes mistakes.

For info on my classses, visit my website www.JessikahBellydance.com

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall - the Importance of Mirrors for Correcting Technique in Dance

Mirrors.  An essential tool for the dancer.  It can also be a crutch and inhibit performance if you rely on them too much.

I prefer teaching where there are mirrors.  I have taught belly dance classes without them.  I think they are helpful in these ways for me as a teacher - I can see the students behind and around me, and I can help to correct them if they are doing a move wrong.  There's also power in seeing the whole group dance together "as one." 

They are important for students as well.  You can synchronize your movements with fellow dancers, and it helps beginners to understand dance space and the concept of being in a "window" (being seen by the audience, even if you aren't in the front row, because you are between dancers, thus in a "window"), which I touched on in my last post.  Mirrors teach you to have good facial expressions, and look happy, interested, engaged in your dance and with the audience.  Sometimes, it's also the best way to see your teacher, if there are people blocking your view, then you can check out the teacher in the mirror as well.  Mirrors help you with your alignment and you can get immediate feedback on how you are dancing.

There comes an important point before performing, though, where you must trust yourself and turn away from the mirror for practice. After all, you can't perform with a mirror in front of you! You have to know the moves.

The class should do the routine several times away from the mirror, trying to feel the movements and use peripheral vision to watch the other dancers to stay in sync.

When I first started dancing, we danced on mirrors all the time.  I don't remember ever turning opposite way to dance away from them.  Often times, the dress rehearsal on stage was the first taste of dancing without mirrors.  That can be very intimidating.  In more recent years, I have taken many classes where the studio had no mirrors and that was also a huge adjustment.  I felt like I couldn't correct my moves and I couldn't see the front position of the teacher in addition to her back.

When working with mirrors, use them to watch your body and your face.  Are you doing the movements like the teacher?  Like the group?  Do you look relaxed, happy or in character for your dance?  Practice until you feel comfortable turning around.  Listen to cues in the music to help you remember which moves are coming up next.

For more info, visit my website.