DIY 1 HOUR Belly Dance Costume Challenge! – Part 2: Skirt & Decoration

In my last week’s post, I started this 1 hour belly dance costume challenge and made the bra top in 45 minutes. Yes, I used ¾ of the time just making a bra top!

In this Part 2 of DIY 1 hour belly dance costume challenge, you’ll see how I made a skirt and decorated the costume. Did I finish them in time? Well, let’s see. Let’s get started!

Click here to hear about the Belly Dance Costume Workshop enrollment!

DIY 1 HOUR Belly Dance Costume Challenge! – Part 2: Skirt & Decoration

So for the skirt, I used the 1m of fabric I saved from Part 1.  (Check Part 1 to see what materials I used for the whole project 🙂 )

I wrapped it around my body right side in, and folded the top to adjust the length 

Then wrapped it pretty tightly around the belt line and hips and marked where to sew. This is the same method as my DIY 10-minute ruffle skirt except that I did this with the right side of the fabric towards me so I can see the marks from the wrong side.

Then I went ahead and made sure the fold was even, and sewed here about 15cm (6in) from the top with a narrow zigzag stitch. 

Then I trimmed the excess fabric at the top and connected the edge diagonally to the raw edge. And the skirt is finished! I left the hem of the skirt unfinished, just like I did for the shoulder straps, because stretch fabric doesn’t fray.

I put the costume on my dress form, and added these brooches I found at a dollar store. 

And this is my 1 hour belly dance costume! Woo-hoo!

I made it just under 1 hour, and I was actually really surprised to see I did it! I was sweating and exhausted!

But so happy to know that a simple last minute costume is possible!

The decoration is pretty simple, but using a bright color fabric definitely helped create the dance costume look, and you could use sparkly fabric to make it look more festive and stage worthy.

The folded edge of the skirt makes it fitted and sturdy at the top, and you can adjust the length of the skirt by rolling out the fold at the back. 

Of course, there’s no need for you to rush through a project like this, and you can spend more time decorating and finishing edges more properly. But I wanted to show how you could whip up a costume without some crazy sewing skills for that last minute performance or an event that you need a costume in a specific theme that you’d never use again. I basically removed all the frills and nice finishing to cut down the time required.

But what if you want to make a good, sturdy costume that you want to wear over and over again? One that you spend a bit more time creating, but will fit you really well and last you many performances?

You can learn exactly how to make a high-quality costume like that in my Belly Dance Costume Workshop.

In the Belly Dance Costume Workshop, BDCW for short, we’ll:

• Go over the basics of sewing dancewear fabrics
• Create a perfectly-fitting bra, belt and mermaid skirt, all based on your unique body shape, essential for any belly dancers’ wardrobe 🙂
• Learn lots of beading and decoration techniques including how to make beaded fringe
• And in BDCW, you’ll be finishing all the edges beautifully, so you can create your own, professional-looking costumes to show off at your next performance!

The workshop enrollment is opening up next week, so be sure to go to the website and sign up to hear about it (& get special discounts 😉 )

Click here to learn more about the Belly Dance Costume Workshop!

Hope you liked and you were entertained by this 1 hour belly dance costume challenge, and if you did, please share this video with your dancer friends! 

And again, check out the Belly Dance Costume Workshop website to learn more step-by-step, proper belly dance costume making.

Thanks for reading, and keep sparkling!

P.S. Pin this image for your future reference 😉

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