For more than 15 years, I lived the vendor life. Traveling to events, setting up my books and selling other items at belly dance shows along the West Coast, from Portland to San Diego and as far east as Las Vegas. The travel was exciting! I met a lot of wonderful people, had some great travel experiences, and sold a lot of books and patterns. It was fun and hard work, but I had a blast!
Right: Me hanging out with Lynette Harris of Gilded Serpent and Miles Copeland of Belly Dance Superstars at MECDA’s Cairo Caravan on the Queen Mary, 2013.
To round out my product line, I carried a selection of patterns by the likes of Madame X, Tempest, and selected items from the Caravan Collection from Folkwear. Many costumers enjoy the ease of grabbing a pattern, cutting it out, and making a beautiful garment. Although my books are great guides for making costumes from taking measurements to stepping on the stage, I’m frequently asked for recommendations on patterns to simplify the process.
However, at some point, I misplaced my pattern bucket! It somehow got dropped into a box and put into a closet, unlabelled, unloved and completely forgotten. I still do local events, but over the past few years, I have only taken books and accessories. So in January, when I was doing a “New Year, New Me” themed “clean up,” I located my old pattern bin.
Left: The Ibexa Press book rack c. 2005. I had just added the Tempest Corset Belt to my collection.
But the truth of the matter is I’ve drastically scaled back my vending activities, and only participate in single-day, local events and take a more scaled down booth. Easy to set up and tear down, and 
perfect for tucking into small spaces. I enjoy having a place where people can stop by and say hi, check out my latest books and show me their latest costume creations! But these days, my book line is so expanded, that I don’t really have space for patterns on my rack.
Right: Dawn Devine ~ Davina and Author/Teacher/Performer Sara Shrapnell at Sudeep’s Bay Area Belly, 2015.
Since I wrote off these patterns years ago, I’ve decided to sell all the patterns and booklets found in my “pattern bucket” at wholesale or less! So, to facilitate this sale, I’m loading all the items onto my etsy store and offering my usual Free Shipping in February sale. So if you’re in the market for a belly dance costume pattern, check out this sale!
Now, for the rest of the day, I’ll be uploading patterns to my Etsy store. A perfect activity for a rainy winter afternoon! If you’re planning your costume projects for 2017 or just want to window shop some cool belly dance patterns, click on the banner above and it will take you right to my shop! If you have any questions about the patterns – use the etsy messaging system to drop me a line and I will get back to you in a jiffy!
Happy Costuming in 2017!
Dawn Devine ~ Davina
Feb. 1, 2017