Day 90: Periwinkle Ice Bellydance Costume

So it all started with this big skirt I purchased from goodwill and unpicked to discover it was very very large! So large that not only did we fit 3 people we fit 4 people!

We wound up turning it into this costume for our troupe (5 costumes now).

I still had a lot of satin leftover. So I wanted to make another costume with the leftovers. Even though there was some glue marks still. It did not matter b/c the beads were going to cover them up.
And then finally it comes to this costume. I oringinally purchased clear ab beads over the years and inherited some from other people and I wanted to do an all white costume that was a mix of clear ab beads. One day I was cleaning out my closet and a piece of the periwinkle satin from the tribal fusion costume was near the clear ab beads and I realized no.... I need to make a costume cominging these 2 colors. It would be amazing.

So I started with gluing the big pieces and sewing on the big beads. And I played around with the center piece too. I had something in my stash of course.

Then just sew sew sew. Now before I filled everything completely in, I needed to decide how to edge the costume. I could not find pre-strung sequins that would match. I actually purchased individual sequins in different blues to see what would work the best. Here is me playing around with them.

I chose medium cornflower blue. So I sewed on the sequins on the edges of the costumes. Yes each one indiviually.

Eek! the strap was too short. I had to extend it further with felt... boo

So I finished the top also with sequins. And the straps too.... Now time for easy filling in! I glued the different clear AB finish rhinestones (and they were big too!) to fill in the costume. Less for me to sew. Yeah! FYI it is way easier to add to rhinestones to the glue spots then it is to glue the rhinestone then add. Trust me!!!

Done! Wahoo! Well almost..

Add the fringe to the bottom of the belt.

Now I need to add fringe to the bra. I used beads I got at Michael's. I cheated b/c they had jump rings. I decided to sew it on as is...

Ahhh! Done!!! I actually didn't have a performance to wear it to b/c I had gotten sick. So I wore it to practice one night. So I am completely not made up. And well the stress is getting to me with the move and I have put on some weight. But here is how I would like to wear the costume.

OMG I can't believe that I made it through 90 days. OMG I can't believe that I am moving. Wow. We leave with the truck on Thursday! For all of the posts click here!

It was a lot of fun. It was really great to finish projects before the move. I can't believe I did 90 posts! Wow! Give me some time to unpack and get internet before more posts will begin to trickle back to the blog. Life is crazy! But life is good!

I hope you have enjoyed my 90 days of blogging. :)

xoxoxo,
Lauren

Day 78: Burned Satin Flowers

Another fabric flower post! This project all started out with some harem pants I made many, many years ago but blew out the inseam at a Rennaisance Faire. Luckily I was wearing a skirt over top. No one saw a thing but the expression on my face when it happened. they were beyond repair and decided to use the scraps to make flowers.

These are very easy to make and if you have any sort of pyro inkling, this is the project for you! First cut circles from the satin at various sizes and then quickly burn with a lighter.

Next just glue the layers together going from large to small. 

I wanted something for the center so I added a big black bead I had. Done! 

Then simply I added the aligator clips and the flowers were ready. This is a great scrap busting project.

I really like this project. I have done some before with black but these are thicker. I like them thicker. For more of my 90 days of blogging click here.

xoxoxo,
Lauren

Day 72: The tribe has spoken part 1

The tribe has spoken. Mostly because the dress is probably the biggest thing I have ever gotten for $0.99. It could also fit an entire tribe within it too and/or cover the tribe with all the fabric as a tent.

But man the print was to die for! And really soft and fabulous!

It is weird but sometimes you don't noticed odd features until you are about to take it all apart. Take these buttons!

I saved the buttons for later. Now I decided to use the bottom portion of the dress to make a top. Something useful I could wear to work. I opted for this Sew Stylish Simplicity pattern 1808. I am making the top.

This pattern was super easy to follow. And make. I only had one issue with the pinning on the band to the rest of the shirt. I did it to the wrong curve. It took awhile to pull out the seam. Sigh. Otherwise this pattern was great! Oh and I cut a 16 b/c the pattern is for knits only so if I would have cut my size then the shirt wouldn't fit. So by cutting a 16 I have plenty of room to wear and it fits well! I have marked this pattern as good! Want to use it again. Just maybe not for the shorts or pants.

Here is my final blouse! Love it! It is busy but I don't care. I have saved the rest of the dress b/c I think I can do something with it. Stay tuned!

So you can't see the details of the shirt with the busy pattern. But it isn't too bad. Will be a great shirt for work. Yay. Well maybe in the spring. For more of the 90 days of blogging posts click here.

xoxoxo,
Lauren

Day 63 : Purple sequin bow dress inspired by pinterest

Today is a good one! OMG I love this dress! I know many people are addicted to Pinterest like me. I love it and I usually pin before I sleep. I found this really cute dress, that I realized I could copy it as any easy refashion. It is from a store called Red Velvet and no longer available.

Take this sad mom dress, found for $0.99 at Goodwill.

I used the following pattern to make it smaller b/c I knew the this was going to take a lot of work. I had just enough of the fabric to follow the pattern. But without the sleeves

I saved the bias trim on the dress to reuse it again for the dress.

Next I have learned from previous refashions that I need to add some stabilizer interface for this dress or it will sag. I ironed on some.

Next I sketched out with a pen how I wanted to make the bow. I used Clover's white gel based pen that simply irons away! I love this pen!

I had some gold sequin on a string in my stash and decided I was going to use 2 rows of it for thickness. So sew, sew, sew!! :) Actually I attempted to sew got angry and then decided to glue the trim on. No need to raise my blood pressure with the stress I am already dealing with.... I glued in small pieces and would let it dry and then go to the next part of the bow. Really, once I had the design it was pretty simple to glue.

After I was done gluing I pulled off the stabilizer. I cut off the last sequins on the ends of the strings and made sure it looked good. Now I need to finish the armholes and neckline. I had originally saved all of the bias trim from the dress but I did not have enough. Surprisingly the neckline was bigger than on the original dress. So I purchased the closest purple I could match to the dress and sewed it on the neckline and armholes. Oh yeah and don't forget to hem! Done!

Here is the end dress! Love it!

Actually this pattern was awesome! I cut a 12 (remember sewing sizes are different than sizes in the stores) and did not need to alter anything. I will plan on using this pattern for other projects b/c it fit well (I see a glitter slinky dress in my future with this pattern!).  Besides the differences in color, I think it was a great copy cat dress! Yay! For more of my 90 days of blogging click here.

xoxoxo,
Lauren