Category: DIY Belly Dance Costume Blog

Meet Chani! – Costume Alteration Expert

Got some costumes you inherited from your teacher that don’t fit quite well?  Love vintage costumes but need help with altering them? Today I’m super excited to introduce to you a belly dance costume alteration expert, Chani!  As you’ll see in this post, she is excellent at taking an old costume and putting new life into it. And her work… Read more →

3-panel-belly-dance-mermaid-skirt-sew-part-2

DIY 3-Panel Mermaid Skirt Pt.2 (Sewing) for belly dancers

In Part 1 of this 3-panel mermaid skirt series, I showed you how to make your own pattern for this 3-panel belly dance mermaid skirt. If you missed it, start from there 🙂 In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to cut the fabric, and assemble all pieces together. Let’s get started! Click here to sign up for the Sparkly… Read more →

DIY 3-Panel Mermaid Skirt Pt.1 (Free pattern) for belly dancers

I shared this 5-panel mermaid skirt tutorial years ago, and it has been one of the most popular tutorials at Sparkly Belly. And since I published it, so many of you have requested a simpler, 3-panel mermaid skirt. Thank you!  So today I’m thrilled to share with you my 3-panel mermaid skirt over the next 2 posts, more straightforward than… Read more →

DIY-long-ruched-hip-scarf

DIY Long Ruched Hip Scarf for Belly Dance

As belly dancers, we can never have enough hip scarves, and today I’m very excited to share with you this new ruched hip scarf I made!  It’s extra long, so it feels like a half skirt, which feels nice as you dance in it. And I love the ruched design. It’s an easy, beginner-friendly project, and let me show you… Read more →

DIY Sparkly Belly Dance / Ballroom Bracelet

I shared the sparkly necklace DIY perfect for belly dancers and ballroom dancers with you last month, and so many of you came to my site and downloaded the free pattern! And some of you requested a bracelet to go with it, which is an awesome idea! So in this tutorial, let me show you how I made this beautiful,… Read more →

How to decorate stretch dresses (1)

How to Decorate Stretch Dresses

Whether you make belly dance, ballroom, or wedding dresses, you’re likely to encounter stretch dresses. Decorating stretch dresses or costumes can be tricky because if you don’t do it properly, you can lose the stretch of the fabric or your finished dress can pull in funny directions. So in this video, I’ll show you how I decorated this dress and… Read more →

DIY nude gauntlets

DIY Nude Gauntlets

I always like to have matching accessories for my costumes, and so for this brand new dress I made, I decided to make a pair of nude gauntlets! Gauntlets are great because they cover parts of your arms without adding much weight to the overall look. In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to make these nude gauntlets that look… Read more →

DIY Sparkly Necklace – Belly Dance & Ballroom Necklace

Do you have a statement necklace to wear with your costumes? This DIY sparkly belly dance / ballroom necklace was requested by some of you, and I’m so happy I gave it a try! It’s a simple project, yet you get a pretty big result! Plus, once you make it, you can wear it with any outfits! Let me show… Read more →

Crystal Queen Rhinestone Stencil Review

Want shortcuts for rhinestoning your costumes? 🙂 Today I’m excited to share with you this cool product! The ladies at Crystal Queen contacted me a while ago and sent their rhinestone stencil kit for me to try! Since I had a new dress in progress, I used it to decorate the neckline of the dress! So let me show you… Read more →

DIY Ruched Hip Scarf that STAYS on your hips!

I wanted to make a cute ruched hip scarf to go with a brand new baladi dress I made! It was a very easy project, and in this post, I’m going to show you how I made it! Oh, and there’s nothing more distracting than seeing a scarf fall off a dancer as they perform… So I’m also going to… Read more →