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 costumes and always looked more professional than anyone else in the group. And you’ve also heard about the UK dancer who feels awful about her group’s costuming situation and has joined my Belly Dance Costume Workshop in order to change the situation.
It’s possible! 😀 But it can be challenging. 🙁
In fact, when I started out, I was very confused.
I casually asked one of the dancers in my group, “How did you make your belt? It’s gorgeous!”
She kindly described how she made it…. but it just went in one ear and out the other.
It sounded so complex, the materials sounded like foreign words, and everything sounded intimidating. Should I just cut fabric in a rectangle shape? Should I find a pattern? What are darts!?
I was lost, but I didn’t want to wear the same boring hip scarf again. But would I really be able to figure out how to make a belly dance belt for myself??
7 Biggest Belly Dance Belt Mistakes I Made
So I gave belt making a try anyway… and failed many times.
Here are 7 biggest mistakes I made, which I see other people make too, so that YOU can avoid making these mistakes!!
Mistake #1: The rectangular belt
When I started out, I simply assumed that belly dance belts are a long rectangular piece of fabric. Just like a belt you’d wear on your jeans.
But after I made a rectangle belt (one in the right photo) and put it on, it turned around my hip constantly as I danced. On stage, I found myself looking for moments to push my belt down or turn it to face front instead of focusing on my movements. That was frustrating 🙁
Once I realized that the rectangular belts weren’t working, I was finally able to make a belt that fits me much better and stays around my hips, and I’ll tell you more about it in a minute.
Mistake #2: The paper belt pattern
One day I came up with this brilliant idea that if I made a paper pattern, I can use it over and over to make more belts!
So I went on to make a pattern out of scratch paper.
The problem was, the belts I made out of paper NEVER fit me well. So I ended up making a pattern that I could use over and over to make belts that don’t even fit 🙁
Then I discovered there’s a much better way of making a belt pattern that fits me perfectly. More on that soon!
Mistake #3: The paper thin belt
The first belly dance belt I made was just a layer of very thin felt covered with another layer of fabric. The result? It was so flimsy, and wouldn’t hold heavy decorations like glass beads and rhinestones.
Mistake #4: The curvy belt
When I was trying to learn a better way to make a belt, I read that you should add a curve to your belly dance belt so that when you lay your belt flat, it’s not a straight line, but a gentle curve.
….it sounded cool, but how much curve? How do I create the curve?
I simply got confused. 🙁 It’s not really a mistake I made, but I failed before I could even try.
Mistake #5: The traced belt
I also read that you should trace a belly dance belt that already fits you well onto a piece of paper, and use that as a pattern.
…this also sounded cool…. but it would work only if you already had a belt that fit you well!
I was trying to make one because no belt fit me well 🙁 Again, I failed before I could even try.
Mistake #6: The wide belt
I bought this Turkish style belt that was wide all around and dips in the centre.
The dip should be good because it’s like the ‘curve’ that’s supposed to make the belt fit more nicely.
Yet again, this belt kept on turning around as I moved. The front centre always ended up over my leg by the time I finished dancing a piece.
I even adjusted the belt to fit my hips nice and snug. But it still moved around.
It took me a few years to realize why – It was simply too wide for my body.
As I learned from trial and error, I realized that it’s not that you can’t have a wide belt, but you have to have certain parts narrow enough to keep the belt in place. As long as those parts are too wide, your movements will only push the belt in all directions. I’ll tell you more in a second!
And finally…
Mistake #7: The long fringe belt
Don’t get me wrong, I love fringe. The above mentioned Turkish belt came with beautiful fringe.
The only problem was, the fringe was like 20in long. It looked super cool. But on me, it was waaay too long, making me look shorter than I already am.
It was also super heavy because of the hundreds of glass beads, and kept on tilting down at the front and prevented my legs from moving freely.
So there you have my embarrassing belly dance belt mistake stories! 😳
It’s embarrassing to think I made so many mistakes for belts alone!
But I’m happy if I help YOU avoid all these mistakes. These are mistakes I see beginner costumers make all the time.
The point I want to make by sharing these mistakes here is this:
Many people believe that they have to have advanced sewing skills in order to make a perfectly-fitting costume.
But that couldn’t be further from truth.
Instead, what you need is a more customized approach to costume making.
Specifically, you need to create a custom template based on YOUR unique curves in order to create a beautiful costume. And the rest can be done with very basic sewing skills.
So in my next post, I’ll share with you how to make a perfectly-fitting belt pattern based on your body measurements. This is the exact same technique I share in my Belly Dance Costume Workshop. It’s SO customized that it’ll ONLY fit you perfectly.
Remember Royah’s belt I shared with you in my previous post?
You’ll be making one to fit you very soon!
If you want to learn how, sign up for my newsletter, and I’ll email the tutorial to you when it’s ready 🙂
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Thank for reading, and keep sparkling! 🙂
