Looking for ways to hide your upper arms and back?
Many dancers write to me and tell me that they want to hide their upper arms and back when they dress for their belly dance performances.
But a lot of solutions out there can get boring after a while, and finding a pretty solution, not compromise, can be hard. 🙁
So I wanted to create a beautiful garment to cover upper arms and back that you’d want to wear even if you don’t want to hide them! 🙂
So I created this shrug with ruffle sleeves inspired by ghawazee coats. The front opening allows you to show off your beautiful bra, and the ruffle sleeves look gorgeous as you move your arms. And in this video, you’ll see how to make one for yourself! I made the numbers easy so you can make this shrug easily 🙂 Let’s get started! 😀
Sign up for Sparkly Belly newsletter to get more DIY’s like this!
To make this Ghawazee Coat inspired shrug, you need:
Fitted long sleeve shirt
Stretch fabric – about 1.5yd (1.5m)
1in Elastic – about 1yd (1m)
Matching colour thread
How to Make DIY Ghawazee Coat inspired Shrug – Belly Dance crop top / bolero with ruffles sleeves
1. Mark shape on your shirt
First of all, let’s use your shirt as a pattern and mark the desired shape on it. Put on your long sleeve shirt, and mark a few things with safety pins. I’m using safety pins here, so they don’t come off when I take off the shirt.
First, your underbust line. Feel the bottom of your bra and place a safety pin there.
Next, your elbow. Just on one of the sleeves, mark where your elbow is
Finally, like ghawazee coats or Turkish vests, I wanted a front opening to showcase the decorative bra top. So think of the rough shape of the front opening you like for the half of your shirt, and mark about 1/2in (1.2cm) inside of the outline of the opening.
And take off your shirt carefully so you won’t lose the safety pins.
2. Trace back panel
Next fold your stretch fabric in half so the stretch is perpendicular to the fold.
Fold your shirt in half and place it so that the back side of your shirt is facing out, and align the fold of the shirt and fold of the fabric.
Trace the back side to the level of your underbust line which you marked with a safety pin.
Add 3/8in (1cm) seam allowance, and at the bottom, add 1in (2.5cm) seam allowance and cut along the outline.
3. Trace front panel
Similarly, fold the fabric in half and fold the shirt so that the front side is facing out. Align the fold to the fold of the fabric, and trace the outline to the underbust line.
For the front opening, mark where the safety pins are to the fabric, then connect the points with a smooth curve.
Add 3/8in (1cm) seam allowance, and at the bottom, add 1in (2.5cm) seam allowance and cut along the outline.
4. Trace sleeves
Next, fold the fabric in half, and place the sleeve with the elbow mark against the fold of the fabric, and trace the armhole to the elbow mark.
Add 3/8in (1cm) seam allowance and cut along the outline.
And mark the fold at the armhole here with a notch, which is a tiny snip within the seam allowance.
Repeat this to make another sleeve.
5. Make ruffle panels
Finally, measure the length from the elbow mark to the end of the sleeve. Add 3/4in (2cm) to this number, and I’ll call this length A.
And measure the width of the sleeve at the elbow mark. Add 3/8in (1cm) and divide this number by 3. I’ll call this length B.
Fold your fabric in half, and here the direction doesn’t matter. On the fold, pick a point, and measure Length A and mark it there.
Measure length B and mark.
Measure length B again.
And from there, measure double Length A.
From the mark that’s in the middle of 2 length B’s, measure Length B around so you have a half circle.
Then from the half circle line, measure Length A from the first Length A all the way to 90 degrees from the fold.
From there, extend the line smoothly all the way to the double Length A point. And you have this half oval-ish shape.
Cut along the lines, and in the small half circle, make a notch at the fold on the longer side of the panel.
And use this as a template to make another one.
6. Sew!
Now the rest is easy – we get to sew all these parts together! First, place front and back panels right sides together, and sew the shoulder seams with a 3/8in (1cm) seam allowance, using a zigzag stitch.
Then place one of the sleeve pieces right sides together and align the notch and shoulder seam.
Match up the end of the curved section to the end of the armhole, and the rest as best as you can. Place pins, and do a zigzag stitch with a 3/8in (1cm) seam allowance. If it’s hard to match up perfectly, don’t worry. Match them up as best as you can, and you can just pull gently to match up the lengths as you sew.
Repeat for the other sleeve.
(By the way, I highly recommend those red clips in above photo when sewing sleeves, instead of using pins. They’re much easier to place and don’t make the fabric wavy, so it’s easier to sew. You can find them in my favourite tool list here 🙂 )
Fold everything right sides together, and do a zigzag from end of sleeve all the way to the side seam for both sides.
Next, turn the top right side out, and take one of the round panels and place it around one of the sleeves right sides together. Match the notch with the seam of the sleeve, and match up the rest as best as you can. And do a zigzag stitch with a 3/8in (1cm) seam allowance.
Here too, if the sleeve hole and the round panel are not matching up perfectly, distribute the excess fabric as evenly as possible when you pin the layers together, and pull gently to match up the layers as you sew.
Once the seam is sewn, it looks like this.
Repeat this for the other sleeve.
Now take the elastic, and sew it right against the bottom edge on the wrong side, using a zigzag stitch. Just very gently pull the elastic when you sew. Make sure the ends overlap about 1cm or 1/2in, and cut the excess.
Then fold again to encase the elastic, and go over the stitches again with a zigzag stitch. Again, gently pull as you sew.
Finally, for all the raw edges, fold over 3/8in (1cm) to the wrong side and do a zigzag stitch to finish up. I left the sleeve edges unfinished, because I liked the way they looked, and stretch fabric doesn’t fray. But for yours, feel free to fold them or add trimming here as you like.
And your ghawazee coat inspired shrug with ruffle sleeves is finished!
I used elastic since I like the simpler look, but if you want to make a tie top, you could by splitting the front part in the middle and add ties.
It would look super cute if you add trimming along the front opening or ruffle sleeves! 🙂 If you add trimming along the front opening, make sure the trimming stretches too.
This top gives you lots of flowy movements while offering nice coverage. 😀
Speaking of coverage, in my next post, I’ll show you 6 ways of covering upper arms for your dance costuming. If you’re curious, be sure to sign up for my newsletter below so I can send it to your inbox! 🙂
Sign up for Sparkly Belly newsletter so you won’t miss the next tutorial!
Hope you liked this Ghawazee coat inspired shrug DIY, and if you did, please share this post with your dancer friends! This would make a really nice troupe costume as well. 🙂
And if you make your own, please share your creation on Sparkly Belly’s Facebook group! I love seeing what everyone makes!
Thanks for reading, and keep sparkling!
P.S. Relevant tutorials:
Time lapse video of the costume I was wearing in this post
P.P.S. Pin this image on your costuming board 🙂
Like what you read? Want to make more costuming bits yourself?
Sign up for my newsletter here and get my free email course, Belly Dance Costume Making 101!
3 comments for “DIY Ghawazee Coat inspired Shrug – Belly Dance crop top / bolero with ruffles sleeves”