Promotional Post Card - "The Cloth of Egypt: All About Assiut"
New Cloth of Egypt Post Cards appearing in Vegas
I’m in the middle of preparing to attend the Las Vegas Belly Dance Intensive Sept. 6 – 9 at the lovely Flamingo hotel. I’m teaching a workshop called “Think Like A Designer” about planning and building a useful wardrobe using techniques from the worlds of fashion and costume design. I’m really excited about teaching, performing and networking at the show! In preparation, we’ve put together a promotional post card for the book I’m currently working on “The Cloth of Egypt: All About Assiut.” Check it out!
Promotional Post Card - "The Cloth of Egypt: All About Assiut"The Cloth of Egypt: All About Assiut - Post Card - Back
One of my favorite organizational tools in my sewing arsenal is my bobbin holder. This rubber donut-shaped bobbin holder is about 5” across and holds a lot of bobbins. I’ve got two, color coordinated – one with lighter colors, the other with deeper jewel tones. This holder is easy to use, the bobbins slip in and out easily but stay in place. I love that I can easily organize by hue and tone and it’s easy to see exactly how many bobbins I have and what colors are prepared and ready to go.
There are several different companies making this style of organizational product. Mine is stamped BobbinSaver, and it truly saves me time by helping me stay completely organized. If you do a lot of sewing, and switch colors frequently, this might be a great product for you.
Tribal Fest is one of my favorite events to go to, hang out at and watch lots of fantastic dancing. This year, there were many wonderful assiut-clad performers. Here are three more of my favorites from this year’s events. Check out part 1 for more.
Rachel Brice and Datura
After relocating to Portland and opening her studio Datura, which has become the new epicenter of modern tribal fusion, Rachel Brice has built a troupe featuring an amazing group of talented dancers. You can spot one of my favorite tribal performers, another Bay Area to Portland transplant, Ashley Lopez amongst these amazing women. The costuming is lush, silver on black assiut. The dance – spellbinding.
Sasha
This performance features the supple Sasha, who spent his days of Tribal Fest 2012 wandering around draped in as many as 7 vintage assiut shawls. A self-proclaimed assiut addict, here he is performing with at least four draped around his body which he tucks and wraps the scarves to preserve them whole while still enjoying the shimmer and swing of wearing them in performance.
Qabila Folkdance Company
The Qabila Folkdance Company brought to the Tribal Fest a more traditional folkloric performance wearing lovely assiut gowns. These ladies performed an upbeat Saidid and Gahwazee Suite with style and gusto. Visit their FaceBook page to connect with this talented group of women.
I spend a lot of time doodling and drawing. Fantasizing on paper what I can make in cloth. To simplify the drawing process, I have a collection of croquis that I use as a proportional guides for my sketching. In the design world, a Croquis, (which is French for “sketch” ) are used as a simple tool to keep designers from having to map out female forms over and over. As a costume designer, I build a croquis for each of my regular clients, and then use that to sketch out our costuming plans together.
Serina - Belly Dance Paper Doll to Color
Serina started out as a croquis, but I found her so charming, that I turned her into a more complete drawing. When I was done, I realized that it would be fun to treat her like a paper doll with a variety of costumes. So here is Serena, my first belly dance paper doll to color. I’ve included 8.5″ by 11″ printables below if you want to print her out and have some fun coloring in her costume – or even designing a new one!
Easy to put on – perfect for quick changes – dresses are an excellent item to have in a belly dancer’s wardrobe. From high glamour to traditional, fanciful to folkloric, a dress can bring high style to the stage. Some designs can even be used in multiple ways from presenting a specific culture, region, or even as a coverup between acts or to wear while announcing at events. Consider adding a dress to your belly dance wardrobe!
