belly dancing costume

In 2010 I took up belly dancing for a short time with two of my lovely New York friends. These two also happened to work in the costume department at the New York City Ballet and so we decided to have a costume making day for when we felt good enough to perform in public (ha ha). Mine never got completely finished, the belt is missing its lining and i never got round to making a skirt, but i thought I'd keep a record of where I got to.

First installment of craft fair items...

Here are the first of my creations for the craft fair Jane and I are doing at the beginning of December.

The little sleeveless cardigan was finished using odds and ends that I had in my scraps box of yarn. The end result was an interesting mismatched stripe in various shades of red and orange.

I have completed 4 out of the 5 dresses I started, using 100% wool for the bodices and a cotton fabric for the skirts. The skirt seams were all machine stitched and then hand stitched onto the knitted bodices. I used a pretty cable and moss stitch pattern for the bodices to create texture. Each dress is unique.

Little sleeveless cardigan in warm reds and oranges. Brown leather buttons.

age 12-18 months

Beige knitted bodice with silver peony buttons at the back.

Whimsy cake print skirt

age 0-3 months

Yellow front and grey back to knitted bodice.

Yellow edging and silver peony buttons.

Quirky alphabet print skirt print on a blue/grey background.

age 6-9 months

Maroon front and faded blue back to knitted bodice.

Maroon edging and bronze circular vintage buttons.

Blue ditsy print front and red ditsy print on back panel of the skirt

(opposite to knitted bodice to create interest)

age 9-12 months

Various shades of green on the front and back of the knitted bodice.

Bronze circular vintage buttons.

orange and green panels of the same print for the skirt.

(my personal favourite so far...)

age 12-18 months

bulking out my portfolio...

My Christmas knitting project had to be put on hold for a couple of weeks while i put together a project for a potential assistant design position. I have to present it for the design director on Wednesday...fingers crossed it all goes well.

It's also extra work for my portfolio which is always nice.

Here is the sneek preview. I am going to be practicing my fashion illustrations, so hopefully they'll only get better from here on in!












I will most likely be updating this post as soon as all my knitted swatches are done so you get the full effect, and I probably should mention that should be 1x1" color swatches on the first two mood boards...

Oh, and no prizes for guessing which company I'm interviewing with.

First of many...

My aim this year is to use my free time in a positive and constructive way. I am planning to hand make all my Christmas presents...

I have 6 nephews, 5 nieces, 3 brothers, 3 sisters, and a set of parents. Ambitious?

Here is the first of many, a shrunken waistcoat (or vest as they call these things in the U.S.) for my 14 year old niece Kis Angel.