DIY Lace Drape Sleeve for Belly Dance Costumes

Remember this costume I used to show how to sew on beaded appliques? 🙂

Well, I decided to jazz it up with this vibrant yellow lace fabric 😀

In this video, you’ll see how I created this drape sleeve which continues over to the bra cup. It’s easy to do and very pretty! Let’s get started!

To make this lace drape sleeve, you need:

Lace – you’ll need about 50cm x 1m (20in x 39in)

Matching colour thread

How to Make a DIY Lace Drape Sleeve

First, measure from the top of your bra cup to the back centre of the side strap.

If you want to attach the end of the sleeve elsewhere – for example, you have a shoulder strap going over the shoulder, you can attach the sleeve to it. If that’s the case, measure from the top of the bra cup to that point. (See Princess Jasmine style drape sleeve tutorial)

Then take your lace, and do a simple running stitch. First, double thread your needle, and send your needle through the end of the lace and tie it at the end. Lace has lots of holes, so this prevents the thread from slipping out. You can leave the excess thread there for now.

Then do a running stitch about 1cm (3/8in) away from the edge.

Once you reach the other end, gently pull the thread and slide the fabric with your hand to gather the fabric.

Send your needle through the gathered section, and take the thread from the beginning and tie a tight knot. Then trim the excess thread.

Next, take the gathered end of the lace, tuck a few cms of the side edges towards the inside of the gathered strip, and place about 2.5cm (1in) from the end at the back centre of the side strap. Pin or place clips to hold it in place. (By the way, these clips are super useful for holding things temporarily. You can get the same ones here (Amazon))

Then from there, measure your measurement from earlier and add extra 7cm (2 3/4in), and gather that point with your hand. Here, again tuck the side edges towards the inside so they are not showing.

Place that gathered section at the top of the bra cup where it connects to the shoulder strap. Place clips.  

And use the rest of the lace to decorate your bra cup. You can make different designs like you can place it along the edge of the cup,

Or twist it and place it along the edge of the cup,

Or gather it and drape it over the cup,

Or cover the bra cup completely,

Or take it across your chest to the other strap,

Or up the same strap.

The sky is the limit. Be creative and find your favourite design.

For this costume, I decided to gather it and drape it over the bra cup diagonally. For this one, I tried keeping the gathered lace fluffy instead of flat against the surface of the cup to keep the airy look. Use pins or clips to keep the gathering in place.

Adjust all the gathered sections and fine tune the folds to your liking, and take your double threaded needle to stitch down and secure every fold to the bra. Use small stitches so that they won’t show much on the front and keep the small folds in place.

At the bottom of the bra cup, trim the excess fabric and tuck it to the wrong side before stitching.

I recorded the how to sew on appliques tutorial first, so I have these appliques attached already, but for yours, it’s probably best to sew on this fabric layer first so you can layer appliques on top of it. I just took some stitches out so the fabric lays under this applique.

Oh by the way, you can get a kit to make these appliques at my shop. Here’s a 5% off coupon code for you: SPARKLY2019 🙂 Check out the DIY Applique Kit shop here!

And just like that, you now have a beautiful sleeve and decorated bra cup! It’s so pretty how the lace flows from the bra cup over to your arm and to the back of your costume.

Similarly, I used the same fabric to make a little side swag for the skirt. You can get the pattern for this side swag and learn how to make this skirt with side openings in my Aurora Convertible Skirt course. 

In my next videos, I’ll show you how I made this matching hair clip that doesn’t fall easily and how I decorated the rest of the costume. So if you’re curious, subscribe to my newsletter below and stay tuned!

Click here to sign up for Sparkly Belly newsletter (bonus: get access to free course Belly Dance Costume Making 101!)

And if you liked this drape sleeve, share the love and share this tutorial with your crafty dancer friends! 😀

Thanks for reading, and keep sparkling!

P.S. Pin this image for your future projects!

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