Category: Costuming DIY

Articles about designing, making and renovating costumes for fun and dance.

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Assiut/Assuit Belly Dance Costuming DIY Design

Three Day Assiut Challenge – Day Two

Bra Base for Quickie Assiut Costume - Frederick's of Hollywood Exxtreme Cleavage Bra

Hello Friends in Dance and Costuming,

It’s day two, and boy, am I worried about not getting this all done!  But you know, I only really need to get it “done enough” because my motto of the moment is “Done is GOOD!”   Actually, that’s sort of the motto for my whole life.  With the skirt taken care of, with two cuts and 20 safety pins, it’s time to tackle project two, the bra.    There really is no way to fake this bra.  I’m just going to have to put my nose to the grindstone and stitch like mad!

First, I grabbed out my black bra.  This is an Exxtreme Cleavage bra from Frederick’s of Hollywood.  (Find it here)  I’ve been wearing this style of bra for quite some time and have made dozens of belly dance costumes from this make.  Although it’s a bit pricy, it really does create a gorgeous plunging cleavage line.

Bra Base for Quickie Assiut Costume – Frederick’s of Hollywood Exxtreme Cleavage Bra

I love this palm-tree motif with alternating short and tall palms.  Before I started cutting, I played with the layout of these stripes on paper.  Once I sketched out my possible designs, I wrote down my order of procedure, so I wouldn’t leave out any important steps.  And in the spirit of full disclosure, here are my sketches.  Thus proving, you don’t need to be a great artist to be a good costume designer.

Notes on assiut layout over cups. Man, I need to work on my penmanship before I share more prelimenary sketches! ! 😉

Okay – So now that I determined that I am insane for picking the hardest design I could come up with for this piece of assiut, it’s time to start applying the fabric to the bra.  I start by laying out one cup first, measuring the cloth to make sure that if I cut the cloth, I still have enough fabric to make the other side.  Thankfully, I do!

I like to begin at the main focal point, which for this bra is the center front.
From the center front, I work outward along the upper edge of the cup. I decided to put in three tight bands of the palm-tree trunk pattern at the edge to make a very dense and eye-catching strip of silver.
Once the upper edge is pinned into place, I return to the center front to make a series of little pleats, folding in the plain black under the palm-tree trunk stripes.
Once the center front seemed densely silvered and lovely, I figured out which stripe I could use for the bottom edge. Here you can see the excess cloth is still attached. ALWAYS ALWAYS measure twice and cut once. (because fabric won’t grow back – darn!)
Take a deep breath and cut. I know what you are thinking. I cannot cut assiut! But fear not – it’s just fabric. I’m using new assiut from Egypt. And while expensive, it’s not THAT expensive or difficult to get. Now – if you’ve got a VINTAGE piece, that’s a different story. Think long and hard before cutting into vintage assiut.
Gently mold the cloth around the cup. Here, I’m making box pleats to bring the cloth into the arm hole side of the cup. My goal is to sport as much of the silver embroidery as possible. So I pleat carefully, making sure not to squash the cup down and loose the bra shape. Never pull, just smooth the cloth over the bra.
After pinning the whole way around, I take a look at it now. Is there anything that looks off or jarring to my design eye? If so, now is the time to make any adjustments. Actually, I think this doesn’t look half bad, if I do say so myself!

JUST FOR THE RECORD – I HATE THESE PINS!!!   I am traveling and some of my tools have gone missing.  I ran out to the nearest pharmacy and got their only style of sewing pins.  They remind me of Lucky Charms cereal.  Blue Stars, Red Hearts, Yellow Butterflies.  They are wimpy,  dull, and are not coming home with me! I long for my lovely yellow-headed quilting pins and my sleek extra long silk pins.   *sigh*    Next week!

And now, it’s time to replicate this design on the other cup.  Just a few words on this process.  Follow the same steps in order, and you will get closer results.  Don’t be shocked if you need to do more pinning and futzing with it to make it match.  What ever you do, don’t sew down the first cup!  You might find it easier to adjust both to match rather than trying to make one look just like the one you just sewed.  Once you’ve sewn it, you’re not going to want to rip it out!

Now – it’s time to cover another cup.  (This time I don’t have to stop to take pictures, Yeah!) and then the sewing like mad portion of the project begins.   Check out the next post to see how it turns out.  ~ Dawn Devine ~ Davina

 

Sewing Assistant – Sammy waiting for me to drop something.. anything… There is nothing in the world as energetic and potentially dangerous than a 5mo old kitten!

PS – Special Thanks to Jamie Hanrahan for letting me use his dining room table, light and most importantly, the use of his sewing assistant Sammy.  This beast is diabolically cute, but I miss my well-trained old-lady cat Sassy who is most expert at finding “the middle” of every piece of cloth.  Just an FIY – Assiut is very very attractive to cats.  It’s shiny metallic bits and open network are perfect for kitty claws.  Protect your expensive fabric!  And that was my public service announcement for the day!  ~ DD~D

 

 

Categories
Assiut/Assuit Belly Dance Costuming DIY Design

Three Day Assiut Costume Challenge – Part One

Inventory of existing pieces and materials on hand.

Hello Friends in Dance And Costuming,

OMG – I’m performing this weekend and I don’t have a thing to wear!  This is a classic case of the  cobbler’s kids have no shoes!  How can I, a costume guru of sorts, appear at a show wearing.. well.. off the rack stuff? I’m going to put all my projects for the next three days on hold, changing my plans, and making a costume NOW.  I frequently tell friends, clients and students that planning and executing a costume doesn’t have to cost a fortune or take a lot of time.  SO – I’m going demonstrate in a quick series of blog posts which will document this quickie “made in a minute” costume.

Clock Starts NOW!

First Thing:  Take Inventory and Make a Plan

My Motto: When time is tight, work with as many materials as you have on hand.   I start out by making notes on what pieces I have to work with.  Since I knew I was dancing, I brought along some basic costume pieces.  I’m also working on a Costumes of the Maghreb, and doing some research on Assiut.  (Which is spinning off into it’s own book because THAT chapter grew to epic proportions!  More on that project to comes soon!)   I do a lot of doodling while I’m making notes.  Here’s my inventory on paper, complete with slopping short-hand notes and rough sketches.

Inventory of existing pieces and materials on hand.

Costume Goal:  Put together an outfit that features MORE assiut.

First: I will make a quick-and-dirty panel skirt from the shawl.
Second: Make a new bra using the plain black bra and left over scraps of assiut.
Third: Create a headdress using assiut.
Fourth: Make a hip sash from assiut.  (I don’t think I’m going to make this one – but lets try!)

Down and Dirty Panel Skirt

So – I can take the shawl and turn it into a skirt.  That was not my original plan for this piece of assiut, but it’s a simple matter of  cutting it down the middle and putting a waist band onto it.  Ooops – I don’t have  a sewing machine.  SO – I’m going to improvise with a bunch of large safety pins and pin a front and a back panel directly to my harem pants.   I’m on the road, and while I have a small sewing kit with me, I just don’t take a sewing machine everywhere I go.   When I get home, I’m going to take the time to turn this shawl into a proper panel skirt.  For now, this is what I’m going to do:

1 – CUT – Since this shawl has a center panel, I’m going to cut to either side of the panel to preserve those useful motifs.  I’m not terribly worried about the panel skirt being too short, as I can always add a yoke to bring it to the proper length when I get home.

Be Brave!

2 – PIN – I used about 20 pins in the process – 10 in the front and 10 in the back.   I started by pinning down the sides where I wanted them.  I then divided the fabric in half, to find the center, and then pinned the center of the panel to the center of the pants.   Then I folded the fabric a bit to make it fit the width, pinning above the motifs so it will hang as straight as possible.

Yoked Harem Pants with Assiut Side Panels – Design by Anaar of Tombo Studios.
When viewed from the inside, you can see that I placed a pin about every 4" accross each panel
When viewed from the inside, you can see that I placed a pin about every 4″ accross each panel

I would like to take a moment and thank my ancient Roman ancestors for inventing the Fibula, which evolved into the modern safety pin. Without you, this quick and new-sew skirt would not be possible.  Thanks!

This pinned-in-place skirt is not a permanent or final solution.  When I get home, this will become a finished skirt or perhaps some other garment, but for this weekend, it will function just fine as a quickie pinned on 2-panel skirt.  A little short, but very very sweet.

Skirt Panel Safety Pinned to Pants – I call this project Done (enough for now)

Next Step: Assiut Bra – Check out the next post  ~ Dawn Devine ~ Davina

Categories
Costuming DIY

Thimbles

Davina repairing vintage assiut using a milliner's needle and a jelly thimble.

Jelly Thimbles

Hello my friends in costuming and dance,

I’ve recently taught a private workshop on making bras, when I got a unique question.  When I was demonstrating a finishing technique that involved hand sewing, a woman in the class asked, “Where did you get that weird thimble?”   I had to pause for a moment while I contemplated my finger, my thimble and where I got it.  I told her in a quilt shop somewhere, I don’t remember which one, and I passed it around for the other ladies to feel.

Davina repairing vintage assiut using a milliner's needle and a jelly thimble.

What made this thimble so unique?  It’s made from the same material that jelly shoes are made from.  It has the ability to really snug the tip of the finger. It doesn’t fly off and is soft.  You still need to get used to using a thimble, but for experienced thimble wearers, you will find a jelly thimble offers more comfort and security as you sew.  They come in two styles, a cupped version, which makes it easy to catch the needle and domed version, that I like when I’m doing beading and pushing with the side of my finger.

I got my jelly thimble at a quilting store.  (Quilting stores always have the best and most unique sewing tools and notions!)  But if you hunt around on line you can find them.  The brand of the ones I have are from the company Dill-Buttons.  If you know your size in millimeters, you can use a quick web-search to find out who’s currently stocking them.  If you don’t know your size, I recommend finding a local quilting specialty store and going in and trying them out!

Jelly Thimbles – What a wonderful invention!

Happy Costuming,
~ Dawn Devine ~ Davina

An assortment of thimbles from my collection.

 

Categories
Assiut/Assuit Belly Dance Costuming DIY

Assiut – Vintage Photos

Hello my friends in costuming and dance.

I just wanted to take a moment and share my latest find with you.  As many of you know, I adore working with assiut and have been doing a ton of research on the history of this luscious cloth.  As I have combed through dozens of books on the history of textiles in Egypt, I have found scant few references or citations to this mysterious fabric.  As it turns out, in the last quarter of the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th century, tulle bi telli, what we call assiut, was primarily sold to European and American travelers as tourist art. Hot on the trail of assiut, I’ve begun pouring over period novels, tour books, traveler diaries and journals.  Hoping to find references to the way this cloth was made, bought, sold or worn.

On this quest, I’ve begun looking at other forms of tourist art as well, including the ubiquitous picture post card.  While there were socially appropriate scenes of camels, pyramids, temples and tombs, there were also a great deal of naughty “French Post Card” style images available.   I recently found these two images for sale on the web and snapped them up.   Dating to the first quarter of the 20th century, these photos capture the pattern and drape of the classic assiut shawl.  While I would prefer to have images of women entirely dressed, I’m happy to add these two lovely young ladies to my growing collection of assiut-clad beauties.  Unfortunately the date and location of these photos along with the names of the models and photographers are unknown, lost in the mists of time.

And now, back to work on the trail of the history of assiut.  I’ll be back with updates as I uncover more information!  ~ Dawn Devine ~ Davina

Categories
Costuming DIY General

Costuming Pattern Lines

Davina's Belly Dance'O'Rama Display, inside the Simply Stylish booth, Cairo Carnival 2005
Davina's Belly Dance'O'Rama Display, inside the Simply Stylish booth, Cairo Carnival '05

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.

Madame X - Adjustable Beladi Dress Pattern - 9803

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.

Tempest - Tempest's Corset Belt Pattern

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.

Folkwear Patterns - Tribal Belly Dancer - 144

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