Black and Red Tassels belly dance bra

And I just managed to squeeze in another piece for a dance costume for the concert!

Finished at the last minute, I had been looking for the right tassels, and I am glad I waited.

They turned out a treat. Two rows of tassels, with black sequins stitched over where they were attached.  These give a lovely swishing feeling, and allow some of the lovely bra to show through the fringe.

Yellow Tabla belly dance bra

I have just realised it's starting to get close to our dance concert night this month, and I am looking at the costume lists, mentally assessing what to wear for each dance.

Thank goodness I only need to have costumes for 5 dances. Some of the women are in about 15 dances. That is a LOT of costume changing!

Still, I needed to make a yellow bra for the Table dance. The costume must be yellow and black, so I wanted to keep the bra looking fresh, as I have a black lace bolero and layers of black and yellow skirts to wear together.

The result is a very subdued bra in soft yellow, with a beaded fringe (I think it's supposed to be for upholstery, but nobody would know). The sequins are stitched on symmetrically.

Reminder to self next time adding fringeing: stretch out the base of the bra while stitching it on.

 Ouch. it's a little bit tight.

Purple hip scarf bra

There is another fast way to create a belly dance bra, without all the beading and sequins. Simply stitch an inexpensive hip scarf to a bra. This $8 scarf is hand stitched around the top then is allowed to hang over the bra, and finally ties closed over the clasps at the back.



I really like wearing this bra, and it falls beautifully - my bust even jingles while I move... but the bra underneath is so lovely, and it's hidden. Sometime, I will buy another bra, remove the hip scarf off here and stitch it onto a plain inexpensive one.



This bra is so lovely underneath, it deserves to have some sequins on it, just to show it's loveliness. (Have you shown your bra lately? Hee hee.) I am feeling inspired to stitch on some purple, green and yellow pansies.

Teal and Tangerine Belly Dance Bra

Ooh! I think someone has the bug!



I bought this bra, which PERFECTLY matched the unusual fluro pink/orange fabric swatch - now made into harem pants -  I had been carrying around in my bag.

The bra was so pretty it didn't need much blinging. So I added two different sized sequins - large pink with teal over the top, and some pink with gold, attached in a random arrangement.



While I have worn it a couple of times, I am still looking for a fringe or tassels to hang around underneath in just the right shade.

Blue sparkly belly dance bra for Kerri

I've had so much fun decorating Belly Dance bras, that I have quickly used up all my supplies (time to scout for bargain bras and matching sequins and motifs).

So I offered to decorate some for my girlfriend Kerri. She sews amazingly, and has been sewing her own ballroom dancing clothes for over 20 years, but the handwork is not her favourite. Woo hoo! I get to do some more handwork without buying supplies!

This is her first pair, covered in a remnant of blue sparkly fabric, then freestyle sequined by me.

Black with blue flower belly dance bra

And an even faster way!

I bought a black sequined top at the opp shop for $1, then cut it to cover a $5 bargain bra, appliqued around the edge to stitch on the black background, while turning the edge under.

A blue sequin motif was added, and ta-da! A very very quick (and very reasonable priced) addition to the Belly Dance costume collection was created.

Just a little note, if you are thinking of doing this yourself, watch that the sequins folded under the edge don't scratch your skin - you might need to use very sharp scissors to trim the excess away.

Teal and gold belly dance bra

The second attempt at beading a belly dance bra resulted in much larger beads and an applique motif on one side. This greatly reduced the time taken to complete the beading.



I really like the assymetry of the design, with the applique motif on only one side. Followed by a design that vaguely mirrored it on the opposite side.

The pearly sequins are also a favourite.