How to Start Making Dance Costumes – Beginner’s Guide to Dance Costume Making Part 1

Many years ago, I came up with this brilliant idea to make my own dance costume.

I already loved dance costumes and I was excited. 😀

The only problem was, I knew nothing about costume making.

I didn’t know what a dance bra top was made of, I didn’t know types of fabric, and of course, I didn’t know how to operate a sewing machine. I didn’t have one.

So naturally, I was very overwhelmed and frustrated.

Sound familiar?

When you’re just starting to make your own dance costumes, it can be very confusing and overwhelming. 🙁

So in this video and next one, I want to help very beginners get started. In this post, you’ll see what tools you need and easy projects to try. Let’s get started!

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My site is specialized in belly dance costume making, but you can apply basics to other style of dancing as well.

Now, if you’re new to sewing, you’d want to avoid it as much as possible. So the common question a beginner costume maker asks is…

Can I make a dance costume with hot glue gun?

Unfortunately, the answer is no. I don’t recommend hot glue gun for a few reasons.

First, the glue can melt or get weak with your body heat as you dance in the costume. What happens if the glue melts? Your costume will fall apart. Not a good idea. 🙁

Second, the heat of the glue can ruin your fabric.

And third, we use a lot of stretch fabric for costume making, and your hot glue may not stretch. The seams may come apart as you put it on.

Of course, hot glue can be great for making halloween costumes. But a dance costume needs more strength and durability, so in general, I don’t recommend hot glue.

Do I have to sew then?

So for most part, sewing is better than gluing. But there are exceptions.

For example, for decorating your costume with small rhinestones, gluing works just fine. Be sure to use appropriate glue like gem tac. (There’s a great tool for gluing rhinestones!)

There’s also fabric glue available. If you really don’t want to sew, you can try fabric glue. But based on my experience, fabric glue is never as strong as hand stitching, and again, it doesn’t hold stretch fabric well, even stretchable fabric glues I’ve used.

So instead of wasting your money on fabric glue, I recommend you learn how to use a hand sewing needle and thread 🙂

What do I need to start making costumes?

For beginners, all you need to start making costumes is:

• Hand sewing needle
• Scissors
• Measuring Tape / Ruler

You probably have these things at home. And just pick up inexpensive fabric and thread to get started.

You can upgrade tools as you go of course 🙂 But for now, I’ll share with you projects you can work on with the above tools in a minute.

Do I need a sewing machine?

Not for beginners. It’s definitely nice to have a sewing machine if you want to make a skirt.

But if you’re just starting out, build your skills and confidence by first tackling easy projects like ones I’ll share with you next.

Where can I learn how to start making dance costumes?

I have over 100 dance costume tutorials on my blog, which you can find summarized here 🙂

But if you’re new – first try no-sew projects like this overskirt or crop top.

These projects don’t require much sewing, and even where sewing is required, it’s just a few stitches. You can even use safety pins for the time being. The important thing is, you get used to measuring and cutting fabric.

Then you can move onto making fun accessories like this armband and foot accessory.

And try decorating costumes by using this ruching or pleating technique, or beading.

Without sewing machine, you can make beautiful things like this Swirly Belt.

You can find the catalogue of all my tutorials like these here 🙂

Now the next big confusion is, how do I pick the right fabric for making dance costumes? In my post, I’ll show you common types of fabric used for dance costumes and how to pick them.

So make sure to sign up for my newsletter from the below link, so you won’t miss the next video!

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And if you know a dancer who is struggling with costuming, help them out by sharing this post with them. They will appreciate that your love 🙂

Thanks for reading, and keep sparkling! 🙂

P.S. Pin this image for future reference! 🙂

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