Hello Gang,
I’ve been working on a an article and pouring through old photos. In my world, photos can represent a moment in time or serve as documentation for a project. Today, however, while looking for something very specific, I surfed past this photo on my harddrive. It made me think back to the days when I was an active vendor, attending shows, festivals and events up and down the West Coast.
To augment my book collection, I carried several different pattern lines for DIY costumers looking for actual patterns. While my books give directions on how to make patterns from your measurements or drape a custom garment to your body, many costumers simply want to pull out a pattern and use it.
With this in mind, I began carrying patterns to help my customers out. This includes patterns from belly dance costume designers Madame X and Tempest along with a select group of designs from the Caravan Collection by Folkwear. I even developed a great pattern for opera length gloves and other arm accessories that I could print out on my old beast of a printer, Gloves and Gauntlets.
Why did I choose these patterns? Well, honestly, I have personally, and successfully, used each of the patterns I sell. Bottom line, I sell them because I like them and they work.
Although I’ve scaled back my business and I’ve retired from vending at shows, I still travel to teach both dance technique and costume design. I have taken my retail business online and you can buy my books here (by clicking on any of my book covers to the right) while other items like patterns and one-of-a-kind costume pieces are available over on my eBay store, Davina’s Bellydance-O-Rama.
I still have that old book rack and it’s ready any time I want to bust it out and hit a belly dance show! Perhaps when all my books have been transformed to their new binding, I’ll hit the road again. In the meantime, I’m going to keep sewing and writing.
Happy Costuming ~ Dawn Devine ~ Davina