{"id":4854,"date":"2017-05-17T10:15:33","date_gmt":"2017-05-17T17:15:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/?p=4854"},"modified":"2017-05-17T10:15:33","modified_gmt":"2017-05-17T17:15:33","slug":"event-sewing-kit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/2017\/05\/event-sewing-kit\/","title":{"rendered":"Event Sewing Kit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two weeks ago, I attended one of my favorite local events, Bay Area Belly hosted by Sudeep. \u00a0My co-authors and I set up our “Portable Book Stall.” \u00a0Sara Shrapnell<\/a> and I manned the booth with the help of Poppy Maya<\/a> and our favorite photographer Alisha Westerfeld<\/a>. \u00a0It was the first time that both of our 2017 releases, Becoming a Belly Dancer: From Student to Stage, and Zills: Music on Your Finger Tips are completely finished and on our rack! \u00a0While I was at this show, I had a few more things to stitch down on the assiut costume on the dress form. \u00a0This ensemble, titled “Assiut & Black Loops,” needed to have the lining of the bra cups installed.
\n\"Dawn<\/p>\n

Finishing Costumes At Events<\/h3>\n

As I worked on these finishing touches, quite a few people showed an interest in my sewing kit. \u00a0I frequently take sewing projects with me to events and have been carrying around the same basic tools in an old kid’s pencil box for many years. \u00a0At this event, however, I had so many people inquire about the contents of my box, I thought I would take a moment to share it with everyone. \u00a0Aren’t we all sort of curious about what other people carry around in their bags and purses? \u00a0So without further ado, to my event sewing kit!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

It’s a Pink Pencil Case<\/h3>\n

I’ve been hauling this plastic kid’s pencil box around for many years now and hit has held up great. \u00a0What I like about this particular container is the clamshell design, so when it’s opened, both sides are quite deep. \u00a0When I’m working on a particular project, I can throw in all the special things that I need to get the project done. \u00a0It is deep enough to hold a cone of serger thread or a couple of bags of rhinestones.<\/p>\n

\"Davina's<\/p>\n

The Items I Always Carry<\/h3>\n

When you open my box, you can see that there is plenty of room if I need to hold more, but it’s not as big as carrying around a tackle box. \u00a0When I am called to work in theatrical environments or at bridal stores, I bring a much bigger and more complete kit. \u00a0For belly dance events, I’m only going to be working with my hands, so the basics are all related to hand sewing and fitting.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Pins and Pins<\/h3>\n

The one thing that gets pulled out at virtually every belly dance event is my tin of safety pins. \u00a0I try to keep an assortment of sizes, but I always make sure to have a lot of sturdy large safety pins for any last minute costuming needs. \u00a0A bar pops loose, or a dancer wants the added security of pinning their belt to their skirt or as insurance against a bra popping open, I’m ready! \u00a0 For sewing purposes, I also carry long quilting pins to hold things together as I sew.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hand Sewing Essentials<\/h3>\n

Because I’m never sure what type of needle I will need at any given moment, I always carry a variety set of needles. \u00a0I also carry along beeswax to condition the thread I’m working with. \u00a0I am often called in to do on-the-spot costume adjustments, so I keep a measuring tape in the box as well.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tools for the Job<\/h3>\n

I also have a set of hand sewing tools that live in the box. \u00a0A pair of thread snips and embroidery scissors make quick work of cutting threads. \u00a0The green item is a seam ripper which is great for unpicking a lining to get inside a costume to make alterations. I carry a seam gauge around with me everywhere and use it on practically every costume project. \u00a0Two thimbles for options and different uses and the round tan object is a thread puller which is especially handy when going through the tough multiple layers of a bedlah set.<\/p>\n

What’s not shown in these photos is a small baggy of hooks and eyes and three spools of thread in white, mid-grey, and black (which I haven’t refilled yet.) \u00a0I learned long ago working in theater, that it’s more important to match the tone of the thread than the color, and, realistically speaking, I can’t bring every thread color along. \u00a0If I’m working on a particular assignment, I will pack those items into the box as well. \u00a0And that is a tour of my event sewing kit!<\/p>\n

Happy Costuming and Delightful Dance,<\/em><\/strong>
\nDawn Devine ~ Davina<\/em><\/strong>
\nMay 17, 2017<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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

Two weeks ago, I attended one of my favorite local events, Bay Area Belly hosted by Sudeep. \u00a0My co-authors and I set up our “Portable Book Stall.” \u00a0Sara Shrapnell and I manned the booth with the help of Poppy Maya and our favorite photographer Alisha Westerfeld. \u00a0It was the first time that both of our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4858,"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":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-belly-dance-costuming"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/Blog-Pink-Box-Inside.jpg?fit=576%2C489&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2YZtR-1gi","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4854","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=4854"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4854\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4863,"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4854\/revisions\/4863"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.davina.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}