Stitching with a Shimmy

Shimmying through life with needles and thread…

Archive for the ‘Dance’ Category

March 27th, 2009 by deRomilly

I am a Dancer…

I do dance!

I do dance!

With wardrobe malfunctions! Everyone goes through something similar at some time in their life,  I think.  As Mom would have said, “builds character!”

Note: All pictures in this post are courtesy of Megan H. Freeman.

In my case it was a misunderstanding of the logistics of my current weight loss — I’ve lost 2 inches in my hips over the past few months and nothing around my waist.  This takes my nice hourglass figure – the curves of which served to hold up my skirt – and turn it into a cylinder – not conducive to skirts staying up.

Note to self (and other dancers) if you are in the process of losing weight, do NOT trust even a full dress rehearsal — pin – pin- pin your costume. It will be the part you’re least worried about that will snap. Keep a professional attitude, smile, turn, wave and leave gracefully if necessary.

oops

Oops. See how low that skirt is falling?(So are the pants!)

New Comedy Schtick!

New Comedy Schtick!

No, I didn’t lose my costume onstage – if in doubt, turn hitching it up into a comedy schtick! But apparently it was closer than I thought it was! And yes, I was wearing underwear, but luckily it didn’t come to people seeing it.

romaliess10pic3

So there!

Costuming malfunctions I’ve seen over the years include everything from the loss of a false ponytail to my skirt, to broken bra straps, to a ballerina who lost the entire bodice of her tutu in the middle of a backbend — that recovery took grace under pressure and has been my gold standard for continuing over the years. If she can handle that,  I can handle almost anything. So there!

March 23rd, 2009 by deRomilly

Bedlahs & Reinforcement

I am still building the turquoise bedlah – really I am!

But I got a reprieve as far as time goes because my troupe was asked to perform a specific routine at the show at the end of February. With everything that’s gone on in my life since Thanksgiving, I can’t say I’m sorry about that!

However, I was also included in the lineup as a solo act, which meant making sure my costume worked – I really don’ t like how my gold bedlah fits over the hips, so I chose a red bra I made a while back and a hip scarf. This is a great idea. But I have a caveat for those of you thinking about making one of these – OK, a couple of caveats.

  1. If you are using gimp and /or pre-beaded ribbon to cover the cups, it WILL take more yardage of both than you think it will.
  2. If you are using the pre-beaded decorator ribbon, run a sturdy thread through all the beadwork and knot each fringe individually! This stuff is not made to suffer the forces placed on it by sharp pops and shimmies, no matter how pretty it is – and reinforcing it will still be faster than making it new.
The Bra in question.

The Bra in question.

That second point is hard-learned for me. I put this read and black tribaret bra together in a hurry two years ago – and this year I went back and re-stitched all the fringe with a metal-core thread. I’ve only worn it once and already the threads in the fringes were breaking.

Doing this would have been much easier to do before it was stitched down to the bra in rows. Keeping the thread from wrapping around the other rows of fringe is a huge production! Ah well, learn something with every project! (And every performance… that story to come…) With this bra I thought I was also going to learn to pad the cups: but I ran out of time. I’ve shrunk since I’ve made it, though, so I ended up stuffing them the old fashioned way – with socks.

March 18th, 2009 by deRomilly

Dancers who Stitch (or Stitchers who Dance)

Rissa Peaceroot of  Pretty Impressive Things, also the Editor of CQMagazine online, is also on several of my bellydance lists. This current issue of the magazine is a tribute to their original editor, Nora Creach. what I didn’t realize until reading Rissa’s editorial, is that Nora, or Noora, was also a dancer. she had some marvelous insights on bellydance in the “good old days.”

I have a desk job — my stitching hobby is also pretty sedentary. I love bellydancing because for me it is a way to keep moving while having fun with other women (and men) of myriad shapes and sizes.

And that brings me to a question — who else do I know hiding a secret identity? There is an entire website gallery of bellydancing librarians. There are more of us than you might guess!

Dancing stitchers – show me your shimmy! Do you make your costumes? Do you avoid “real” sewing like the plague? How do you combine your hobbies, or do you?

February 27th, 2009 by deRomilly

Bellydance!!!

Not much time today — I’ve got to work a half day and then come home and change and put on make up and go all the way across town for a bellydance performance.

Luckily, I’m (theoretically) up near the beginning of the show, so I’ll get to enjoy watching the rest of them without worrying about whether or not I’m going to fall off of the stage or bean someone with my zill (finger cymbal).

The show is the beginning of a weekend-long workshop, so I won’t be posting my yellow post until Sunday afternoon at the earliest. Hopefully I’ll have bellydance pictures for you, too!

January 28th, 2009 by deRomilly

To Build a Plus Size Bedlah… Part 2

OK. Now I’ve got a pattern. Time to create the buckram lining (or outer shell) Really, it can go on either side of the bra. I tend to put it inside since I a) line the bra with felt and b) like being able to bead into the foam surface and c) like that this keeps the foam outside a bit smoother. If you’re making a bra, play with it until you decide which you prefer.

Note: I’ve got a friend who just told me last week to Dispense with the buckram altogether and just coat the whole bra in Liquid Stiffy fabric stiffener. I haven’t decided how I feel about this idea yet. I may try it on one, but frankly, I sweat like a horse when I dance and always have, and I’d be afraid it would melt through the fabric in the heat. I’ll do a little more research and then report back on this idea! (I’ve used it in small amounts on my professional bedlah, though, so maybe it would be ok… that MUCH though… that’s what’s throwing me for a loop!

I cut my buckram out to match the pattern I made earlier, without leaving any seam allowance. You really don’t want any overlap or it gets too bulky (I’m bulky enough on my own…). I have NEVER had this actually be completely accurate. I whipstitch the buckram together along the seam line in the middle, and then stuff it into the bra cup and baste it down with big basting stitches so that it won’t shift.

Next part – covering the bra with pretty fabric!!! The fun part starts!