Making Belly Dance Costumes
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make YOUR ultimate belly dance outfit!
This lens will help you find patterns, sewing tips and suggestions for making your own belly dance costume, including how to make tassels or how to sew on mirrors for your belly dancing belt. Not only is making your own dancewear a good way to save money, but it allows you to create just the exact belly dance costume you picture in your mind.
There are also links to sites that sell ready-made belly dance costumes for those who want to embellish or only make part of their belly dance outfit.
Whether you do Egyptian, cabaret, Turkish or tribal belly dance, this lens has something for you!
belly dancing costume info:
the table of contents for this lens
Belly Dance Costuming Books
Pattern Links
find just the pattern you need!
- Belly Dancing Costume Patterns: Where To Get Them
- Although mainstream pattern companies do sell "harem girl" patterns, usually in the back of their catalog under "Halloween Costumes", their patterns are rarely suitable for use as belly dancing costumes. They start with the assumption that the person buying the pattern will probably use it to make an outfit that will be worn only once, on Halloween, and then discarded. Consequently, clothes made from such patterns are usually ill-fitting and not well suited to moving vigorously while wearing them. They bear little or no resemblance to what "real" belly dancers actually wear.
- Belly Dance Costuming
- In this section are websites that contain directions and patterns on making Belly Dance costumes and websites that sell Belly Dance patterns. Have fun creating your own costumes.
- Dancing Patterns.
- habithat.co.uk sells sewing patterns including national costumes, medieval costumes, Dancing Patterns.
- Belly dance costume: Alexandra's Skirts
- Belly dance skirts made easy with Delilah's tricks and tips from her Bellydance Costume workshop. Learn how to make a pattern that you can use over and over again.
- Choli Pattern
- Choli Pattern, adaptable to many sizes
- Turbans, Tassels and Tattoos! - Free Choli Pattern
- Here is my very own FREE pattern for a backless choli. It is made in stretch panne velvet, is very comfortable... and takes just one and a half hours to sew!
- ethnicpatterns.com - Belly Dancing Sewing Patterns
- Ethnic and worldwide sewing patterns.
- Costumes: Harem Pants & Cabaret Skirt
- Costume Tips from Sheikhani, Harem Pants & Cabaret Skirt
- Belly Dance Costume: Free Choli Pattern
- Black Swan Tribe: Free Choli Pattern for panne velvet choli or stretch velour choli
- Bellydance Patterns
- These patterns are produced by Atira Fashions, formerly Jehlor Patterns. The actual patterns themselves have not changed, what has changed are cover illustrations. A knock-yourself-out selection of bellydance and folkwear to choose from!
- MidEast Ethnic Patterns
- Online patterns and instructions for a Ghawazee coat, Shalwar, Blouse and Hip Belt.
- frankencholi tutorial
- make a choli out of a fitted tee shirt - great for bellydance, yoga, or a summer day
Let Your Hips Ring with a Coin Scarf
the classic belly dance costume accessory
Making and Decorating Your Tassel Belt
- The Art of Tassel Making
- Here is a fun and easy technique for making belly dance tassels.
- Free "How To Make Tassels" Instructions from Fiber Images
- Very simple and clear technique for tassel-making with illustrations.
- (auralynne) how to make a tribal tassel - tribe.net
- directions and illustrations for making your own tribal tassels
- How To Make A Hip Scarf
- This link is a PDF on how to make a hip scarf, so if you click on it, your browser will begin to download a file.
- How to Make A Cabaret Belt
- Caberet Belts are best used in a night club setting and for most private parties.
- Corset Belts: The Pattern
- Tempest's Corset Belt is a unique costuming element and corseting system for the hips that allows for a close, comfortable, and firm fit that truly conforms to your body and stays put!
- Tassel belts, a variety of colors and forms.
- Tassel belts are an integral part of an American Tribal Style Belly dancer's costume wardrobe. They can be almost any shape, the only limitation is your imagination.
- isew.co.uk - Tantalising Tassels
- How to make a ribbon tassel
- How to make a Tassel
- How to make yarn tassels, with great instructions for making the pattern/guide so you can make a whole bunch that match.
- Try Your Hand at Tassels
- Instructions for making tassels using rayonette fringe.
Homemade Panel Skirt
beautiful accessories don't have to break the bank
My homemade panel skirt is a great example of how a fun and funky belly dance accessory can be created from thrift store finds and with a minimum of sewing skills! What you see here is the inside and outside waistband of my panel skirt.
The panels are from a table runner/fringed piece of cloth I found at the Goodwill for less than $1.
The waistband/hip ties are scrap fabric that was leftover from a pillow project my mom had sewn.
The silver dangles were earring/accents I found at a neighborhood jewelry store when they were having a clearance sale. Each packet of eight dangles cost me about $2.50.
The silk "yo-yos" were found at a street fair and were 12 for $10. I picked interesting blues, taupes and grays and improvised from there.
Altogether, that puts my materials costs somewhere in the $16-17 range. The waistband required that I know how to sew in a straight line and the dangles were sewn on by hand afterwards. Total construction time was maybe an hour, and I did the hand sewing while watching a couple of DVD movies at home.
How easy is that?! Keep an eye out for bits and pieces that you can assemble and it's very easy to make parts of your own dance costume very cheaply.
Tribal Tassels and Textiles
Shisha Embroidery
how to sew mirrors onto fabric
Shisha is the traditional name for mirror embroidery, as found in India and the Middle East. It was thought to help trap and/or ward off the "evil eye." I've always loved how it looks and finally decided to learn now to do it myself.
Here are some great instructions for how to do Shisha. These are the directions I used to do the embroidery you see below. What you are looking at is my belly dance belt in progress.
Construction and Sewing Tips
- Learn to Dance - Learn to Sew
- Not long after I started belly dancing I discovered three fundamental principles of costuming: (i) costumes are expensive, (ii) no matter how high the quality, constant repairs to the beading and sequins is required, and (iii) some things (e.g. great historic replicas) can not be bought. It was out of necessity that I began beading and sewing.
- Sewing for belly dance | sewing and tailoring
- making belly dance costumes for the beginner.
- Choli for Roxane
- A Choli Fit for a Queen...Well the biggest inspiration for this project is that I'm hopelessly anal retentive, and I love things that are shiny! That makes the Indian embroidery form called zardozi absolutely perfect. Zardozi is a style of embroidery that uses metal threads, coils, spangles, and ot
- Belly Dancing: Costume Corner
- Tons of how-to articles on Belly Dance costuming
- frankencholi tutorial
- make a choli out of a fitted tee shirt - great for bellydance, yoga, or a summer day
- TUTORIAL: Shirt into Peasant Shirt - a set on Flickr
- This top has adjustable sleeves and an adjustable top so that it can be worn for dance or any piratey/ren faire costume event.
This top is created from a secondhand shirt. Depending upon the type of/size/fabric shirt you use your results may be different.
Beautiful Costume Inspirations
belly dancer photo gallery
There are many different cultural variations to how a belly dancer might dress, depending on which form of belly dance they are performing. Here are some pictures to give you ideas and let you see some of the wonderful outfits found in the world of belly dancing.
Costume Sites
For those who would rather buy a belly dance costume
- Sugar Petals Dance Accessories Home Page
- A great source for belly dance costume items. Sugar Petals carries costume parts for the do-it-yourself dancer as well as finished items.
- Belly Dance Costume & Dancing Supply with Moondance
- MOONDANCE BELLY DANCE & BELLY DANCING COSTUME SUPPLIES: The inexpensive way to shop for belly dance & dancing supplies, including: jewelry, hip scarves, coins, bells, bras, belts, music, books, veils, skirts, harem pants, music and more. Free jewelry gift with every order.
- The Belly Dance Shop - Costumes, Hip Scarves, Veils...
- belly dance costume, hip scarves, belly dancing, harem pants, costume jewelery, zills, veils.
- Oasis Dance Company
- The highest quality belly dance costume, belly dancing imports, costume supply, world musical instruments, video, music, finger cymbal zills at the best prices, and everything for belly dance
- Belly Dance Hip Scarves - Costumes - Dancing Isis Wings by Isis Exchange
- belly dance hip scarf, Egyptian costume, belly dancing Scarves, Skirts, Choli Tops, harem pants, costume jewelery, zills, veils and coins all handmade direct from the manufacturer Isis Exchange.
- Flying Skirts Tribal Belly Dance Costumes
- The Flying Skirts line is known for high quality construction, gorgeous colors, natural fibers, authentic tribal embellishments
- Desert Dancer Imports
- From pantaloons to flying tier skirts, cholis, fringe belts, dreads, and even turban pins; we have it all here for you. If you want to do some creating on your own, we have some tools to help you do that also. Please let me
know if I can help you in any way, this is what I love to do; make dancers feel beautiful in their costumes.
Tribal DVDs
Costuming Tips and Comments
Did you like this lens? Do you have any tricks or tips for making your own belly dance costumes that you'd like to share?
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Kallista Regina
Feb 4, 2012 @ 9:57 am | delete
- The frankencholi link is down. Does anyone have a link to it somewhere else?
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relache
Feb 4, 2012 @ 2:42 pm | delete
- I'm looking... but so far I'm just finding nothing but links to that one missing page...
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dreadnaughtdarling
Nov 21, 2011 @ 7:11 pm | delete
- Wonderful Page!
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Kaylah_Bellydancer
Nov 19, 2011 @ 12:59 am | delete
- thank you for all the useful information and beatiful costume pictures :-)
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JoyfulReviewer
Oct 18, 2011 @ 2:43 pm | delete
- Great ideas and DIY information. Thanks for the fun costume lens.
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by relache
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Tribal Belly Dance Pants
BellyLady Black Tribal Belly Dance Comfortable Pants
Amazon Price: $13.99 (as of 02/16/2012)
A pair of basic black, flare pants can be a fantastic foundation to any sort of belly dance costume look. You can go tribal, fusion, steampunk or beyond!
Tribal Tassel Top
Tribal Vest with Multi Colors, Embroidery, Beads and Fringe
Amazon Price: $45.95 (as of 02/16/2012)
This gorgeous tribal belly dance top pairs up well with either pants or skirts.
Add a Hip Scarf
Terylene Belly Dance Hip Scarf & Shawl With Paillettes And Fringe, Deluxe V-Shape Style -black
Amazon Price: $7.39 (as of 02/16/2012)
A great item for adding texture and interest, especially when doing a very dark-colored outfit. Get sparkle and shimmy with every little hip movement!
