If you’ve made a costume before, you know every costume has a story. Where the fabric came from, what the inspiration was, how the design transformed in the creation process…. But most often we don’t get to hear these stories. I’m ALWAYS amazed by how my students take what they learned, add their own inspirations and personalities, and create costumes… Read more →
I often look at different dance costume designs other than belly dancing to get new ideas that I can bring to the belly dance world. And I’m in love with ballroom jewelry 😀 They’re really sparkly and gorgeous, but the problem is, I can’t find any tutorials on how to make them! So I made my own sparkly swirly armband… Read more →
What accessories do you wear with your dance costume? 🙂 In the last couple of posts, I showed you how I’m decorating this costume, and I wanted to make a matching hair accessory. So here’s a cute and easy hair clip to make, and the best part is, it won’t fall off even if you shake your head, which makes… Read more →
Remember this costume I used to show how to sew on beaded appliques? 🙂 Well, I decided to jazz it up with this vibrant yellow lace fabric 😀 In this video, you’ll see how I created this drape sleeve which continues over to the bra cup. It’s easy to do and very pretty! Let’s get started! To make this lace… Read more →
So I opened my DIY Applique Kit shop a little while ago, and people love the kits because they come with everything you need to create beautiful appliques yourself! 😀 But some of them asked, “How do I attach the appliques to a costume?” A very good question 🙂 In this post, I’ll show you exactly… Read more →
You know I love making beaded appliques and using them for decorating my costumes 😉 But finding the right beads and the right stones can be challenging, and often I don’t know where to buy them or how many beads to buy to make appliques. 🙁 It turns out, many costumers face the same challenge! I… Read more →
When I make beaded appliques, I like to mix in a rhinestone chain. 🙂 Rhinestone chains are great for defining the shape of the applique, which is a big plus for dance costumes. (Vague shapes don’t show well on stage.) And of course, rhinestone chains add lots of shine, and they are much quicker to sew on than… Read more →
If you’re in my Applique Making course or if you’ve read my decoration tutorials, you probably heard me saying, “It is important to make a clean outline.” I truly believe an applique will look beautiful with a clean outline, even if you mess up the inside of the outline a little 😉 It’s especially true for dance… Read more →
Beaded appliques are perfect for decorating your dance costumes with… or even your evening dresses or bags! They make everything look so fine and polished! 🙂 And so they come with high price tags. Can you make one yourself? Sure you can! 🙂 In fact, making your own beaded appliques is actually simple and… Read more →
I’ve been enjoying playing with beads these days 🙂 But decorating costumes with beads can be intimidating, especially for beginners! You may wonder, “Is it going to take hours of work? Is it going to look good on my costume?!” So today I want to share with you this pretty DIY beaded sleeve for your costume. It’s very beginner-friendly and… Read more →