Basic belt
A belt emphasieze your hipmovement, and is a basic part of a professional dance costume. For an elegant basic costume, wear a stretch-velvet evening gown with a belt on top. You can also make a matching bra, to create a full costume
needed:
patternpaper or newspapers for making a pattern
about 0.5 m. sturdy fabric
0.5 m.covering fabric
help of a friend
1. Measure your hipsize (at the broadest point of your hips), add two cm and cut out a strip of paper thats app. 20 broad and as long as your hipsize with two extra cm. Wrap it around your hips and close it with tape at the point you want the closure to be (preferable front or back). If you want a side closure, make a pattern with a closure at the middle front or back and adjust it later.
2. Have your accomplice walk around you and make folds in the paper, so it will fit smoothy to your body. Start with a fold on the sides of your body, followed by folds in the back and front. Finish by making folds inbetween these four, but make sure you make it symmetrical (well, sort of. We all now that women seldom are symmetrical). Make sure the folds stay in place by taping them.
3. Now take it off again and spread it out on a smooth surface. It should look something like this (3). Adjust the folds a little bit without changing the main shape. Fold it in the middle.
4. Once folded over, the paper looks a bit like picture 4. Now, draw a creative shape that looks like the one in picture four on your pattern. This is a shape that's flattering to most women. The frontline should have a slight dip, but the best way to get it right is putting the pattern on again and let a friend fold it to see howlow it'll be when you wear it. Cut out along the patternedges that you've drawn. Put it around your hips again and judge your work. Make some adjustments (or let your friend make them) untill your satisfied. it should fit smoothly over your hips.
5. Cut this pattern out of sturdy fabric without seamallowances and out of the pretty fabric with extra seam allowance. Don't forget some extra seam allowance at the closure.. Handstitch this together while keeping it slightly bend in the direction it should when you are wearing it (use a basket or your leg to keep the belt curved). Once stitched together, try it on and pin were the closure should be.
6. Adorn your belt. Add fringe, beads, applications, rhinestones, whatever. After fully adorning it, add the closure by hand and finish it of by lining the belt with fabric in the same colour as the outside. Just cut out the beltpattern, lay it on the belt, fold the edges under and handstitch into place. |
