Costume Wish List

I received an email the other day from a costume vendor. I'm admiring the costumes posted; they are on my wish list. I'm seriously considering purchasing or making a costume out of some type of lycra blend fabric. One of these will be my inspiration to draft something for myself. The purple is different, the layering of fabric in contrasting colors is what I like. The beledi dress is always been a winner. The dress with the rings looks good, it might be challenging to get the loops adjusted just right. Not much room to gain a pound! After an extensive web search, it's obvious that the trend of costuming is going the stretch fabric route. All or most of the beading is attached to the skirt, this does not require the need for the traditional belt. Will this be the end of the 2 piece Bedlah as we have know it? Not sure, but it will always have a special place in my heart, not to mention the circle skirt. Does anyone have any thoughts on the new trend of belly dance costumes?

The Pattern

This is the pattern that we use for the beledi dress. BD #1003 (I failed to insert the photo on an earlier post) I did some modifications and adjustments to the pattern. 1st - I made it longer to the ankle, 2nd - I slimmed down the width of the dress. It seemed to work better for me, if the dress fitted closer to the body. We used stretch fabric, I'm sure you can use something without stretch. The dress is very flattering to all figures. (Radhiya's opinion) If using this pattern, be sure to purchase 60" wide fabric. It can be tricky to lay it out, the sleeves are 1 yard across! If your fabric is not wide enough, you will have slice the sleeves at the shoulder and re-lay them. The pattern can work well for troupe costuming as well as beginner sewers. I did try to find the link to the vendor but it seems as if she is not on-line or perhaps it's just down for now. But I did include a few links above on where to purchase belly dance patterns. Most of the pattern companies are on line, but the basic companies, McCalls, Butterick, Simplicity and Vogue all sell costume patterns.

http://www.squidoo.com/bellydancecostumes

http://www.adiradance.com/dance_costume_c/BD_PAT/Patterns

Holiday Hafla

This evening "Troupe Nayliyat", had the pleasure of opening the show at the Holiday Halfa sponsored by Danse Orientale. It was a cold and rainy night. I eagerly awaited all of my troupe members to arrive. Despite the traffic and unpleasant weather conditions; everyone arrive in one piece. I missed Rania not being the line up with us this evening; her smiling and supportive face was in the audience cheering us on. Our music selection was from the Tribal Bedouin CD by Hossam Ramzey. I'm happy the performance started and glad when it was completed. Another one down and now I'm looking forward to the next event. We survived, a new choreography, and the challenge of keeping hipscarfs in place (safety pins), cheers and all. There is no way we could accomplish this all without our support group. There is nothing like "family, friends and those who love to see you dance". Hey, someone has to take pictures, hold the table, assist with makeup and clap along with us!

On the program were dancers from the metropolitan STL area. I had several costume favorites, the Ghawazee Coats, a dress that sparkled, and some of the "new" Lycra spandex ensembles are beginning to grow on me. Oh my, how could I forget to mention the menu? Yummy, Middle Eastern cuisine! Wow, I now have to unpack my bag.

Our Red Beledi Dress

One more red costume to complete, still working on the bra....the dress is all cutout, waiting for the pieces to be serged. It's a drag to change the threads on the serger, but necessary. Covering a bra is challenging but fun; I do enjoy hand sewing. If I could just stay off line, I'd be done. I chose the BD Pattern # 1003. Sewer beware, I'd suggest only using 60" wide fabric. I learned the hard way and had to detach the sleeves on a couple of the dresses.
Sad to say the fabric was not wide enough. My "test" costume, was shorter than I liked. The shorter version works well with harem pants. Adding length makes a perfect "beledi dress". I found the orginal fabric at a WalMart. At $1 per yard I purchased the entire bolt! It was not enough for everyone, so we had to go with alternate choices of fabric.

I made 4 of the dresses on the picture, I not going to tell which ones, but I'm so very proud of my troupe. We are blessed to have a talented blended group. This is a supportive group of women. I "heart" them all.