Category: General

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General Makeup and Appearance

30 Day Belly Dance Makeup Challenge – 2017

Hello Gang!

It’s been nearly a year since I tackled the challenge of putting on a full face of belly dance makeup every day – and vlogging about it on YouTube.  That was last year in July, and I was new to vlogging, uploading videos on a regular schedule to YouTube, and it has been many years since I was working as a pro dancer and putting on performance makeup multiple times a week.  I flew by the seat of my pants making it up as I went along.  Some of the vlogs are interesting.  Many of them are informative.  A few of them contain questionable content.  Here is the playlist from last year, in case you would like to check it out again, or watch it for the first time.

Prompt List – No flying “Seat of the Pants”

This year I thought I would pull from the lessons learned last year and be a bit better prepared.  The first step was to brainstorm a list of concepts to use as a springboard for coming up with new belly dance makeup looks.  I’ve seen many a challenge list over on Instagram and so I crafted my list of 30 prompts and created a graphic to share around social media.  

 

A few pieces of equipment

I’m still filming on my iPhone 6s+ which continues to serve me well.  For my holiday gift last December, I requested both makeup and a microphone.  I was pleased to score a Kat Von D Metal/Matte eyeshadow palette, which is now out of production and is selling for 100+ dollars on eBay, as well as a Blue Snowball microphone with stand and a spit guard. Over the course of the next several weeks, I will be putting both of these new treasures to use!

I also bought a few affordable clamp lamps to light up my work table for top-down video production. Between the new lights and the new mic, I’m looking and sounding better this year.

More Palettes – More Colors – More potential

Last year I was really on a quest to learn as much as I could about the makeup industry, the ingredients within cosmetics and how they reacted on my skin.  I’ve watched hundreds of hours of YouTube makeup guru’s, perhaps it’s even thousands of hours at this point!  I’m not a makeup artist or YouTube guru, but I am fairly competent within my niche of belly dance, and I want to share with students of the dance the how and why of belly dance makeup.  While I stuck to a small assortment of products, this year, I’ve got more to choose from in my collection, so I will pull from my full selection of makeup.  I’m going to try to be more informative explaining my why and how I intend to use the items in my makeup hoard.

Day 1 – Go-To Belly Dance Look

The first vlog of the channel is now up on YouTube! The new playlist has been made and the game is afoot! I hope you will take some time this month to watch a few of the posts. I’ve started a playlist where all the videos will be posted as they are finished.

June is going to be fun, but a lot of work!  I’m hoping to streamline the video process and learn new editing techniques, as well as getting more and more comfortable in front of the camera.  Nothing like having a daily challenge to keep you motivated!

To beautiful makeup and costumes!
Dawn Devine ~ Davina
June 1, 2017

 

 

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General

Book Reviews by Sophia Ravenna

Nothing makes an author’s heart sing like the sweetest bird than a great book review.  As a book writer, I always get a little tingly with anticipation when I have the opportunity to read my book reviews. Reviews are the lifeblood of the publishing business.  While it’s easy to find reviews on a site like Amazon.com, it can be much harder to find book reviews in print magazines, digital articles, or on individual websites. Today, I want to share a pair of reviews that warmed the very cockles of my heart and made my inner author glow with sheer delight.

New Books = New Reviews

Last year, in 2016, I had the pleasure of finishing up a two-year long collaboration, Becoming a Belly Dancer: From Student to Stage, with Sara Shrapnell, Poppy Maya, and photographer Alisha Westerfeld. (on Amazon)  I also launched my own new title, Zills, Music on Your Finger Tips, with photos by Alisha Westerfeld and illustrations by George Goncalves. (on Amazon) So I’ve been on the hunt for book reviews that I can both quote and analyze.  I like to use feedback from critiques to improve my future writing.

I’m a blog reader

As part of my “job” as a belly dance writer, I devote quality time each week to reading blog posts, watching YouTube videos, and listening to podcasts about our art form.  It was quite a delight and surprise to find a book review on a blog I regularly read and enjoy, Sophia Dances: Confessions of a Dance Pants Addict.  I use the blog aggregator Bloglovin’ to collect, store and deliver blogs in an easy, visually appealing, and readable way. So when I saw my own book title appear in my stream, I was THRILLED!

Sophia Ravenna is a professional writer and researcher located in the Pacific North West.  I’ve been following her blog for a while, and I find her reviews to be thoughtful and insightful. Apparently, my co-author  Sara Shrapnel gave her a pre-release copy of Becoming a Belly: Dancer from Student to Stage for review purposes when they met in person at the Seattle-based event, Waking Persephone.  So I was absolutely DELIGHTED by the surprise of reading her review!  Since Sophia had written so honestly and thoughtfully about Becoming, I reached out and asked if she would like a review copy of Zills.  When she accepted I must admit, I was excited. The when I read Sophia Ravenna’s review of  Zills: Music On Your Finger Tips, I spent the day walking on air.

Review of Zills: Music On your Finger Tips by Sophia Ravenna

Review of Becoming a Belly Dancer: From Student to Stage by Sophia Ravenna

Recently, Sophia shared an image of one of her boxes of books.  From the looks of the contents, this is quite the enticing collection, and there will surely be reviews of other publications in her future blog posts.  And as you probably figured out, I’m looking forward to catching them all!

My hunt for reviews of my books will always continue.  If you ever spot one, even if it’s unfavorable, drop me a line at davina@davina.us and let me know!  And if you regularly write a blog, have a podcast, or YouTube channel – or simply want to share your favorites, let me know and I’ll add it to my Bloglovin or YouTube feeds!

Thanks for sharing the review love with me today!

Happy Costuming and Delightful Dance,
Dawn Devine ~ Davina
May 29, 2017

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General

Amabella Magazine is coming soon!

Today I spent five hours working on a new project I’m very excited about, Amabella Magazine.  This is a brand new, all digital, and absolutely free magazine!  We are starting out on ground zero, but our editorial team is the same group I worked with to put together the definitive guide to belly dance development, Becoming a Belly Dancer: From Student to Stage.  Photographer Alisha Westerfeld, belly dance teacher and author, Sara Shrapnell, international belly dancer, author and stylist Poppy Maya and I are working together to create a new style of belly dance magazine.

Our mission is to create useful, inspirational, beautiful and, perhaps best of all free magazine.  We are currently working on developing our website and collecting the content for our V0 issue featuring Bay Area belly dancer Basinah on the cover.  We’re still in progress, so this cover is current as of today, but will probably change and evolve as we get our content into the magazine.

Like my first magazine, Costumer’s Notes: Behind the Seams, Amabella magazine will be available for free view on the Issuu website, or you can catch it embedded on this website and other websites.  We’ve already started a subscription list over on the main website, Amabella Magazine.  If you would like to receive notifications of when issues of Amabella are released, just sign up for the newsletter!

This magazine is totally new, so I’m not sure where it will go in the fullness of time.  The focus is belly dance, but beyond that, we are still But for now, we’re filling it with the kind of content the Amabella editorial team enjoys reading.  We’re working towards filling our new magazine with a combination of interesting and informative information.  Over the next few weeks, I’ll be spending quality time at my computer working on the layout and design of this maiden issue.

I’ll check back in here when the publication is complete and uploaded to the Issuu website! I’m so pleased and happy, and very excited to take this next step in my publishing journey.

Happy Dance & Costuming,
Dawn Devine ~ Davina
May 19, 2017

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Belly Dance Costuming DIY General

Designing a Lavender Belly Dance Bedlah Ensemble – Part 4 & Finale

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.”  (If you arrived here first, you might want to check out Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.)  In this post, we’re going to embellish the bra and belt.  For this project, I’m using a “Project Bag” that I had in my design files.  As time passes, I gather supplies that I think would really “go together” well to create a full ensemble.  In this case, the fabric lead to gathering coordinating flat-backed lavender rhinestones.  The 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.

Start with the Focal Points

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

Pin and sew the bra motifs in clusters

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.  Then pin the next “unit” and sew them down.  This reduces the number of pins your thread can get wrapped around when you work.  In 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.  What isn’t shown is a photo of all the design elements laid out in the pattern I was applying to the cups.  I really got on a roll and plowed through!

Layout the entire belt

Belts, however, are another story.  Because they are flat, I generally lay everything out and pin it down.   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.  Scotch Double Sided Tape does the trick. Just remember to pull it off the backs of the motifs before you sew them down.  As a back-up, just in case the pins and tape didn’t hold it together, I take pre-sewing photos to document the design.  If all the jewelry components slide off, I know how I had planned it out, and don’t have to redesign.

Prep Egyptian fringe with glue

I had an 18″ strip of leftover Egyptian glass fringe.  To 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.  However, to prevent the fringe from melting away, I prepped it ahead of time, using glue to reinforce the top row.  For this project, I used Aleene’s Fabric Fusion Glue.  I ran a bead of glue along the upper edge, adding extra glue at the places where I planned to cut.

Line the costume

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.  Linings perform a lot of important jobs.  First, they protect all your stitches from abrasion.  As the performer moves, stretches and dances, the costume will shift and flex against her body.  If 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.  Second, 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.  During festivals and large events, dancers often change in communal dressing rooms, and I want my bedlah set to be beautifully finished inside and out.  For this costume, I used basic 100% cotton solid-colored quilting fabric in a coordinating purple.

Voila! It’s finished!

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!  The costume is feminine and lovely, perfect for springtime performances.  San Francisco/Bay Area belly dancer Shalimar hit the stage at Al Masri nightclub in SF for the costume’s debut.  Although I couldn’t be there, she sent me this great pre-show selfie from backstage.

I am so pleased with the way the ensemble turned out.  In 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!  Good luck on your next costuming adventure.

Happy Costuming & Delightful Dance
Dawn Devine ~ Davina
May 11, 2017

Designing a Lavender Belly Dance Bedlah Series
Step 1 – Lavender Belly Dance Bedlah – Planning the Design
Step 2 – Lavender Belly Dance Bedlah – Bra Bands and Straps
Step 3 – Lavender Belly Dance Bedlah – Belt Base and Bra Covering
Step 4 – Lavender Belly Dance Bedlah – You’re here!

Categories
General

Designing a Lavender Belly Dance Bedlah Ensemble – Part 3

Making the belt base and covering the bra

Because this belt is a simple 3″ band with the same width all the way around the body, I cut a front and a back the measurement of the hips + 4″.  I like to leave 1″ on the ends of both the front and back for overlap.  Bodies change through time, and 4″ offers a lot of leeway for future fitting adjustments.   I build the inner structure using my 3 ingredient construction technique.  Starting with an inner core of buckram, sandwiched between two layers of heavy-duty fusible interfacing, and then edged with grosgrain ribbon to maintain the shape.  My dancer has a bit of a booty, so I made 1/2″ darts 4″ to either side of the center back. I use clips to hold the darts in place before machine sewing. ((Clips on Amazon))

Building the Belly Dance Belt Base

Although you cannot see the buckram sandwiched between the pellon, in this next photo you can see how I machine sew the grosgrain ribbon into place.  Not only does the grosgrain reduce stretch over time, it also offers an easier layer for hand sewing the fashion fabric. (( Ribbon on Amazon))

Covering the belly dance belt base

I use a coordinating thread color and use a fairly long whipstitch, knotting every 3-4″ to hold the fashion fabric in place.  If I need to move or adjust the fabric, I can pull out this long baste easily.  If I got it right the first time, it’s knotted frequently enough to serve as a permanent stitch.  I know it will be covered, so these threads won’t catch on things or become abraded with wear.

Covering the belly dance bra

Embellished Bras - Front CoverI also take the bra cups to the same level of completion.  Like the belt, the upper cup edge is reinforced with grosgrain ribbon to prevent this edge from stretching and rolling with time and wear.  Then I cover the bra using the techniques that I cover in my book “Embellished Bras: Basic Techniques”  I make sure that the darts are stitched down as invisibly as possible with a slip stitch.

On the inside of the bra, I use a very fast whip stitch that I knot frequently.  It’s important when using stretch fabric like this purple panne velvet to be aware of the amount of tension and pull you have on the project.  If you pull the fabric tightly, your bra cup may distort or buckle.  So use gentle hands when smoothing the fabric into place and when stitching the fashion fabric down.

I like to turn my bra cups over and inspect them carefully to make sure the darts are well sewn, and the fabric lays smoothly across the surface of our lingerie base.  This is the moment to go back and make any subtle changes to improve the quality of the covering.

At this point, I have completed putting the base structure of this belly dance bedlah set together.  The bra consists of a pair of cups, two bands, and two straps.  The belt is made of two pieces, a front, and back.  They are all at the same level of “doneness” so it’s a great time to stop for the day.

In the next installment of this series, I will lay out all the design elements, choosing locations for the yummie surface embellishments including beaded appliques, jewelry components, Egyptian beaded fringe, and sew-on flat-backed rhinestones.

Happy Costuming & Delightful Dance
Dawn Devine ~ Davina
May 4, 2017

Designing a Lavender Belly Dance Bedlah Series
Step 1 – Lavender Belly Dance Bedlah – Planning the Design
Step 2 – Lavender Belly Dance Bedlah – Bra Bands and Straps
Step 3 – Lavender Belly Dance Bedlah – Belt base and Bra covering – You’re Here!