I’ve been getting SO many requests to do ATS and tribal fusion costuming over the years 🙂 Now that I got inspired to do ATS / fusion costuming, I had a problem. What should I make!?!? So I asked everyone on my newsletter to submit their ideas, and I decided to do one that was very popular and best of… Read more →
Tag: belly dance costume workshop
7 Pretty Ways to Add Coverage Over Belly for Belly Dance Costumes
Sometimes as a belly dancer, you want a bit of coverage over your torso. Maybe you have a more conservative audience, or you feel more comfortable with more coverage. And it’s perfectly fine to not show your belly to dance belly dance. But sometimes it feels like options are limited. At the end of the day, it… Read more →
How to Make a Belly Dance Belt – Ultimate Guide to Perfectly-Fitting Belt Pattern Making
Over the last couple of posts, we’ve been discussing what it takes to create a beautiful, perfectly-fitting belly dance costume to wear at the next show. We saw that how a well-fitting, beautiful costume can turn a dancer into a more confident and professional one… even if she is a hobby dancer! And I shared with you my… Read more →
7 Biggest Belly Dance Belt Mistakes I Made (and You Should Avoid!)
As belly dancers, costumes are very important for our performances, and most of us would love to have new, well-fitting costumes for our next show. We’ve seen that we CAN have new, well-fitting costumes for shows, and how it affects dancers’ confidence level and appearance. I’ve shared how I was so inspired by the dancers in my group who made… Read more →
How NOT to Dress for Your Next Belly Dance Performance
How many of us want a new, beautiful costume to wear for the next show…but when the next show comes, end up pulling out the same old costume that looks and feels just okay? …or worse, it feels awful but that’s all you have to wear? Well, the other day, I received an email from a belly dancer in UK.… Read more →
How to make 3 styles of mermaid skirts out of 1 set of patterns!
I love versatile patterns that allow me to create many different styles of garments. Would you be surprised if I told you these skirts were all made out of the same set of patterns? This is how I created each one 🙂 1. The Goddess Skirt I show how to make this golden mermaid skirt called Goddess Skirt in my… Read more →
DIY Belly Drape for belly dance bra (BDCW hack part 1)
Earlier this year, I shared my Plus Size Belly Dance Costuming Guide which became a very popular post on Sparkly Belly. 🙂 One of the tips I included there was what I call the “Belly Drape” – It’s a design created with fabric that drapes from the bra and provides light coverage over the top of your torso. It’s really easy… Read more →
DIY Caftan style Open Front Cover-Up (with pockets!)
As a belly dancer, it’s important to wear a cover-up before and after performance so you make a great impact when you’re in your magical costume on stage. 🙂 I did a Caftan inspired cover-up tutorial a while ago, but I wanted to make one that opens in the front. It makes more sense especially when you are wearing a… Read more →
3 tricks for sewing stretch fabrics (& avoiding uneven skirt hem!)
Want to make this lovely grey skirt? Learn here! For making dance costumes, stretch fabric is essential – it helps us create fitted costumes and gives the flexibility we need for when we move around and dance in it. 🙂 So I have a lot of tutorials where you use stretch fabrics – like this mermaid skirt, Goddess Skirt, and… Read more →
Perky Ruffles DIY – Flounce ruffles with fishing line for creating designer-looking costumes!
I love belly dance costumes made by Russian designers. I can easily spend half an hour scrolling through Pinterest, just getting design ideas and inspiration from gorgeous creations made by them. They are so good at creating a dramatic look. 😀 I noticed they do that by using a lot of ruffles. But not the light and soft type. They… Read more →