Steampunk Influenced Belly Dancing

For those of you putting together a Steampunk or Neovictorian influenced belly dancing costume there are some examples on this video. Plus it's just very cool to watch. And they interviewed one of the Abney Park guys as well.

Steampunk Belly Dance Costuming

This video is short but has lots of inspiring ideas in it. Since my goal is to design a steampunk belly dancing costume for myself, I am keeping an eye out on new videos in that genre.

Make a Veil

I saw some lovely fabrics at Joanne's today that could be used for belly dancing veils. Some even had scalloped edges and sequins. If you have even moderate sewing skills, it's easy to make your own veils. Especially if you have a serger. You can also hem them by hand, even though it is time consuming. One friend of mine crocheted edgings in fine thread around every veil she made. Just remember adding trim adds weight to a veil, which is both a plus and a minus depending on how you intend to dance with it.

Making Tassels

It's a rainy day in southern California. I didn't really feel like weaving today. But then I remembered I also needed to make tassels for the woven hipband so I decided I was in the mood to do that.

Making tassels goes a lot quicker when you use 3 strands of yarn at a time. So if I wrap the yarn 25 times around the cardboard, that's actually 150 strands in one tassel. Because each wrap makes 2 strands. Two strands times 25 wraps times equals 50 ends. And each wrap has 3 kinds of yarn so that's 150.

Or to put it another way. One wrap around the cardboard equals 6 individual ends once you cut the tassel across the bottom. So 6x25=150. Sometimes doing things is easier than explaining them.

Belly Dance Shops on Etsy

Hard to fit? Need a custom item? Need cowry hair falls? Bloomers? Harem Pants? Skirts? There are many artists and costumers on Etsy that cater to us. Here are but a few.
AISHAX

Akaisilks

ThreePaintedPeacocks

Shivati

Ants in your pants belly dance

ZelH

AmyOlson

These ought to keep us busy for a while.

Holiday Dancing

I think it is ever so useful to plan ahead for holiday costuming needs, especially if you do parades or belly grams. And I've found the most useful color of all is red.
Because red works for Christmas, Valentine's Day, and the 4th of July. One of my favorite costuming sites for things like striped stockings or Santa hats is 3wishes. I love their candy cane striped stockings. Make sure you order or make holiday costuming early. You don't want your green veil stuck in customs the day of your big party. Here are some holiday colors you might want to collect.

1. Christmas: red and green or blue and silver

2. Valentine's Day: Red and white

3. Halloween: Orange and black

4. Fourth of July: Red, white, and blue

5. St. Patrick's Day: Green

6. Mardi Gras: Green, purple and gold

7. New Year's Eve: Jewel tones

8. Earth Day: Green and brown

As far as bras and hipbands go, aim for a gold set and a silver set.
If money is no object, it's also nice to have copper or bronze too.

Genie Hat Prototype

I made this cool little genie hat today for a social experiment, and now I'm thinking of making more for my etsy shop. Even two layers of buckram were a little too floppy, so on the next one I will make the interior from plastic canvas to help it hold it's shape better.

The veil is fastened to the pony tail holder. I tried fastening it directly to the ring, but the veil was too heavy and kept pulling it off. A chiffon veil might not have that issue, since it's the sequins that are heavy. It is held on with two hat pins, one on each side.The metal part is a vintage earring.

This is a lot of fun to wear too.