{"id":4842,"date":"2017-05-12T08:37:43","date_gmt":"2017-05-12T15:37:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/?p=4842"},"modified":"2017-05-12T08:38:24","modified_gmt":"2017-05-12T15:38:24","slug":"lavender-bedlah-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/2017\/05\/lavender-bedlah-4\/","title":{"rendered":"Designing a Lavender Belly Dance Bedlah Ensemble – Part 4 & Finale"},"content":{"rendered":"

he In the last post, I stepped through the construction of the structural parts of a belly dance bedlah set that I’ve entitled “Lavender Garden.” \u00a0(If you arrived here first, you might want to check out Part 1<\/a>, Part 2<\/a>, and Part 3<\/a>.) \u00a0In this post, we’re going to embellish the bra and belt. \u00a0For this project, I’m using a “Project Bag” that I had in my design files. \u00a0As time passes, I gather supplies that I think would really “go together” well to create a full ensemble. \u00a0In this case, the fabric lead to gathering coordinating flat-backed lavender rhinestones. \u00a0The appliques were left-overs from the costume I made for the cover of my book, Embellished Bras, and they were added to that project bag.<\/p>\n

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Start with the Focal Points<\/h2>\n

Because I was using existing materials gathered over time, I knew I needed to be strategic when placing the design elements. \u00a0I picked the most important area and planned that first and then worked outwards from that spot. \u00a0Since I knew I was taking a scattered approach to the placement, the center of the bra front was my starting point. \u00a0I started with the marrying of a tear-dropped shaped lavender stone, with an earring drop as a frame. \u00a0I had 3 pairs of matching rhinestone earrings, so six of these motifs. \u00a0I then started moving out from the center in a visually pleasing way that was symmetrically well balanced.<\/p>\n

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Pin and sew the bra motifs in clusters<\/h2>\n

One of my best tips for putting together this kind of belly dance costume bra, is to pin a pair of appliques on, then sew them down. \u00a0Then pin the next “unit” and sew them down. \u00a0This reduces the number of pins your thread can get wrapped around when you work. \u00a0In the picture above, you can see that I stitched down the center front and the first pair of appliques before working up the main visual line along the upper edge of the cup. \u00a0What isn’t shown is a photo of all the design elements laid out in the pattern I was applying to the cups. \u00a0I really got on a roll and plowed through!<\/p>\n

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Layout the entire belt<\/h2>\n

Belts, however, are another story. \u00a0Because they are flat, I generally lay everything out and pin it down. \u00a0 For components that aren’t easy to pin, like the flower-shaped jewelry motifs, I use a little double-sided tape to hold them in place while I’m manipulating the design. \u00a0Scotch Double Sided Tape<\/a> does the trick. Just remember to pull it off the backs of the motifs before you sew them down. \u00a0As a back-up, just in case the pins and tape didn’t hold it together, I take pre-sewing photos to document the design. \u00a0If all the jewelry components slide off, I know how I had planned it out, and don’t have to redesign.<\/p>\n

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Prep Egyptian fringe with glue<\/h2>\n

I had an 18″ strip of leftover Egyptian glass fringe. \u00a0To make this relatively small length of fringe to embellish both the belt and bra, I cut it into small sections that I positioned below the main appliques. \u00a0However, to prevent the fringe from melting away, I prepped it ahead of time, using glue to reinforce the top row. \u00a0For this project, I used Aleene’s Fabric Fusion Glue<\/a>. \u00a0I ran a bead of glue along the upper edge, adding extra glue at the places where I planned to cut.<\/p>\n

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Line the costume<\/h2>\n

Before I send a bedlah set out into the world to take on the bright lights, I make sure to finish the project with lining. \u00a0Linings perform a lot of important jobs. \u00a0First, they protect all your stitches from abrasion. \u00a0As the performer moves, stretches and dances, the costume will shift and flex against her body. \u00a0If there is no lining, the knots and stitches will slide against the dancer’s body and other costume pieces which will add unnecessary strain to your work. \u00a0Second, I want to hide all the ragged edges and wacky stitching so that my client, and anyone she shows it to, will see a complete and finished work. \u00a0During festivals and large events, dancers often change in communal dressing rooms, and I want my bedlah set to be beautifully finished inside and out. \u00a0For this costume, I used basic 100% cotton solid-colored quilting fabric in a coordinating purple.<\/p>\n

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Voila! It’s finished!<\/h2>\n

After lining the bra and belt, I adjusted the straps, stitched down any places I had missed, and added the final hooks and eyes and voila! \u00a0The costume is feminine and lovely, perfect for springtime performances. \u00a0San Francisco\/Bay Area belly dancer Shalimar hit the stage at Al Masri nightclub in SF for the costume’s debut. \u00a0Although I couldn’t be there, she sent me this great pre-show selfie from backstage.<\/p>\n

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I am so pleased with the way the ensemble turned out. \u00a0In addition to this bedlah set, I’ve made a matching lavender skirt, and soon I will be making a deep purple chiffon skirt that will tie in with the deepest colored sequins. I hope you find this ensemble inspiring and this demo informative! \u00a0Good luck on your next costuming adventure.<\/p>\n

Happy Costuming & Delightful Dance<\/em><\/strong>
\nDawn Devine ~ Davina
\nMay 11, 2017<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Designing a Lavender Belly Dance Bedlah Series<\/em><\/strong>
\nStep 1 \u2013 Lavender Belly Dance Bedlah \u2013 Planning the Design<\/a>
\nStep 2 \u2013 Lavender Belly Dance Bedlah \u2013 Bra Bands and Straps<\/a>
\nStep 3 \u2013 Lavender Belly Dance Bedlah \u2013 Belt Base and Bra Covering
\n<\/a>Step 4\u00a0\u2013 Lavender Belly Dance Bedlah\u00a0\u2013 You’re here!<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"<\/a>

he In the last post, I stepped through the construction of the structural parts of a belly dance bedlah set that I’ve entitled “Lavender Garden.” \u00a0(If you arrived here first, you might want to check out Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.) \u00a0In this post, we’re going to embellish the bra and belt. \u00a0For […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4849,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[8,10,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4842","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-belly-dance","category-belly-dance-costuming","category-general"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/4-LavenderGarden.jpg?fit=504%2C831&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2YZtR-1g6","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4842"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4853,"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4842\/revisions\/4853"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}