Make your own cane!

(adapted from comments originally made on bellydanceforums.net)

Go to your local home improvement store and head to the dowel section(in the Lumber section) or to a craft store. Look at the 36" long (unless you are REALLY tall) and 1/2" diameter dowels and get one that is PERFECTLY STRAIGHT. You will have to go through the bin, but your investment of time will be rewarded. Cane can be used as is for practice, or embellished . . .

Tape Method:
If you don’t want to paint, stay in the home improvement store and either head to the electrical section for some colored tape or the heating section (where they sell ductwork) and get the silver, shiny tape they use to seal ducts. Wrap the cane in your tape of choice.

Painted method:
Now, if you are crafty, stop by the paint department and pick up 1 can of spray primer, one can of paint in the color of your choice (metallic paints are nice). On the way home, swing by a craft store and get some puff paint in complimentary colors. (Ok, the dollars are adding up to $15 to $20, but you could use the various paints when you invite your friends over for a cane painting party.) Then, stop by your favorite beverage emporium and get two six packs of a beverage AS LONG as it comes in a cardboard carrying unit (glass bottles), the kind with the little cutout that acts as a handle. When you get home, remove the beverages to the fridge and save the cardboard. (Caution: consumption of certain beverages in high quantities may impact the quality of the forthcoming paint job.) Now, when the outside temperature is suitable for painting, take the cardboard carriers outside with some newspaper, your dowel, and the spray paint. Set up the two carriers on the newspaper and slide the dowel through the cutouts so they act as a stand. (You may need to weight the beverage carriers with rocks or empty bottles.) Gingerly spray on the primer, let dry, rotate, and repeat. Same with the color of your choice (spray, dry, rotate, repeat). When dry, bring the whole mess inside to the kitchen counter and dribble on the puff paint on the cane in a pattern. There is no right or wrong, here.

You will now have a custom cane that can match your favorite outfit(s) and that is VERY practical. And, the puff paint ensures a good grip when performing. I have found that using a "dot" pattern to apply the paint helps to balance the cane on your head because the “dots” make little points that grab hair nicely.

The "scrap" book

I . . . am a fabric hoarder. There, I said it. I justify it by saying that I "need a full palette in order to exercise my artistic vision;" but, really, I hoard fabric. Because I one day hope to do something with it, I had to come up with a Simple, EASY way to keep it all straight.

Take:
1 binder notebook
several pieces of paper
clear protective sheet covers (with holes to fit your binder)
scissors
a stapler
a few minutes of your day
and a pile of fabric

Pick up the fabric, one piece at a time. Estimate the yardage (I use the nose-to-fingertips method of estimation), then lop off one corner of the fabric, staple it to the paper, and use the pen to note how much yardage you have. Fill up the paper with corners of fabric, then slide it into the page protector, and into the binder. Gradually work your way through the pile.

Finished a project? Move the corner to a new page -- one for skirts, one for bedlahs, one for veils -- you get the idea. Take this with you to workshops where there will be vending or when you go shopping for material. These few minutes of organization will help you make MUCH better decisions about what to buy.

And, all of your friends will marvel at your organization!

Draped Coin Bra Cover 101

How fast can I type this? I have only been meaning to give you this post FOR A YEAR!!!

sigh. (lot of that today)

Say you need a coin bra costume for a show, like I did about this time last year. And, say, you are frugal and willing to sew. Well, maybe more on the frugal side. Here is what you do:

1. Make a basic black bra base, extra sturdy. Cups that have a point where the strap meets the cup are best for drapes. Rounded cups with no points will require that you do surgery on the drape. You will need a bra base that can support the weight of the coins, which will pull heavily down the cups. This is no time for halters, ladies! You need think, strong straps here that will distribute the weight -- crossed in the back are best.

2. Take the base to a reputable dealer and look for a "coin bra drape." These will look oddly triangular when hanging, and you will need to arrange them over the base to ensure a good fit. These are NOT one size fits all. Take some binder clips, safety pins, and an extra set of hands to help you hold up the drape and see how it fits over THAT base, not the everyday bra you are wearing. The drape needs to be able to cover the cups, flex to hang so that the top edge follows the edges of the cups, and still cover all the way down to the bottom edge of the bra. You can make a *slightly* big drape fit perfectly, but you cannot stretch one that is too small.

3. Buy the matching coin belt at the same time. Trust me, you will regret it if you don't. You will never be able to match it later!

4. At home, make sure you have at least 100 safety pins. Go buy more if you don't. And, pliers.

5. Before you begin draping, look over your drape carefully. Use the pliers to tighten any loose jump rings. You will use the pliers again later in the fitting.

6. Place the bra base on a work surface, cups up and facing you. Use the safety pins to secure the drape to the upper edge, starting at the upper triangular point of the drape cup, pinning that to the upper point of the bra base. Do both points first. Work your way down each side to the center where the cups meet, one pin on each side at one time. You will have to finagle it a little to get it even.

Front View:

Back View (ignore safety pins under the armpits for now:

7. Try it on. Adjust drape. Repeat until happy.
8. Start pinning the top of the drape along the cups under the armpits.
9. Try it on. Adjust drape. Repeat until happy. This part took the longest for me, as the drape may need surgery (told you about the pliers!) to fit properly. And, at some point you will need to use the pliers to cut the chains off of the drape. You can decide whether to run some chain along the straps or just keep it bare. Your bra, your aesthetic. I have draped them both ways; and, since I am a cabaret dancer, I hate a nekkid bra back. So, I either have to drape the chains, too, or wear a vest over it.
10. Commence sewing! This is easy, really. If you have draped and pinned properly, you only need to sew to attach the top of the drape to the top of the base. Find the "chain" that runs along the top of the drape, making the shape of the drape. You will sew this to the base in strong stitches that have some give to them -- you want the coins to move! Use HEAVY thread (upholstery, button hole) to make a stitch that attaches the drape chain to the upper edge of the cup. This is the only sewing your will do, running a seam that starts at the points of the bra cup where it meets the strap to the center. Repeat on the other side, then along the cups under the armpits. When sewing, only do one or two stitches at a time and knot in between (coins cut thread). Stop and fit, adjust as needed. At the risk of repeating myself, DO NOT sew the drape completely to the bra, do not sew the bottom edge. Too much sewing or too-tight stitches will restrict coin movement and ruin the bra.

I made my base out of scraps and got my coin drape for about $30 USD. Belt ran about $30 as well. So, with only minor cussing and $70, I got a set I could have paid $100 and up for. Time well spent, so to say.

Finished product:


Enjoy!

Double Duty

First, apologies from the Practical Dancer. I had lofty, ambitious goals of regular posts that conveyed useful wisdom, all perfectly organized and locked down in files saved to my hard drive, perfectly edited and back up copies ready in case of the catastrophic event of a blog move.

Sigh.

The Practical Dancer has a day job. I have a "second job" of being a Dance Student, Dancer, and troupe member. I am a Wife and a Mom. I read incessantly about dance online. I sew whenever I can, and I have a house to clean, bills to pay, and cats to pet. And, I have some lingering New Year's resolution about "priorities." Like you, I have "a lot on my plate."

It is more important to me that I get these ideas out here for you than that I get them captured permanently on my overstuffed hard drive. Welcome to the new me, fast and loose, and forgive me for being gone for so long.

Now, for the post.

What I have learned in my overstuffed life is that in order to do fun things like go to workshops, the beach, or to visit family for the weekend, you have to spend a fair amount of time traveling. Time one could spend dancing or sewing. I used to just use that time to *think* about dancing or sewing, accomplishing about 2% of good in the process. Then, I learned a simple trick from the Great and Powerful Ozma -- you can, under the right circumstances, multitask! Since a fair amount of my travel is with someone else driving, I began to take projects along with me. Most of our sewing is hand work anyway. Why not knock it out when you are sitting down in a fixed environment for a while?

I made a set of gorgeous beaded sleeves on the 4 round trips to Baltimore when we were buying our boat. That would have been about 30 tedious hours if squeezed in "at home;" but, captive in the car, it helped time to fly by. (Still need to dance in those darned things.)

I almost completely made two little ruffled arm drapes on the way to and from a workshop. (Had to make the pattern and cut them out ahead of time, and do some of the finishing at home on the machine.)

And, yesterday, I worked out the pattern for appliques on a bra and got them sewed on in the 5 hours it took to go and visit family.

The hardest parts of this are 1) breaking down your projects into tasks that can be done in a car (while someone else is driving!) and that also fit the time you will spend in the car; and, 2) knocking out the pre-work and carefully packing so that you have what you need. You will get better at this with practice, as I have. Next thing you know, you will look forward to road trips and waiting rooms as time to sew.

Resolve to repurpose – Christmas day edition!

A friend of mine says that when she was growing up, her Japanese Mother would always make them clean the house the week between Christmas and New Years. Her thought was that whatever way you start the New Year was the way the rest of your year would go, so a clean and orderly house was in order.

Thinking about this and about New Year’s resolutions we all struggle to keep (as I start up my own end of year cleaning cycle), I wanted to share some ways you can reuse everyday household items to support your dance habits. As I started writing this, I started looking at everything differently; and, I hope you will, too! These resolutions will be EASY to keep, and may save you some money. Let’s see how many we can rack up, starting with the leftover items from today’s gifts.

1. Save the RIBBONS from Christmas presents and use them as straps (or a strap base) on a costume bra.
2. . . . or, as side bands for a bra.
3. . . . or to sew sequins, beads, rhinestones, or other embellishments onto when covering a bra.
4. . . . or, sew them along the upper band of your hip scarves to stabilize them.
5. . . . or, sew them along the upper edge dance belts to ease pinning. To do this, hold the ribbon about 1” down from the upper edge of the belt. When sewing, sew along the center line of the ribbon, allowing you to pin above or below as needed.
6. . . . or, if they complement a belt that is a little too small, use them to cover filler material that expands the belt diameter.
7. . . . or, use them for wrist bands.
8. . . . or, for arm bands.
9. . . . or, for flutters that dangle off of arm bands.
10. . . . or, for a head band.
11. . . . or, for ankle bands.
12. Save the TISSUE PAPER from today’s packages to wrap your coins scarves in; the tissue will keep them shiny.
13. . . . or, cut the tissue into small squares to use as blotting papers for glistening brows after a show.
14. . . . or, use it to cushion more delicate props, like glass candle holders.
15. Save the BOXES from today’s gifts to stow your bedlah.
16. . . . or, for storing your beaded dresses so they do not stretch.
17. . . . or, for storing your beaded skirts so they do not stretch.
18. . . . or, for storing your hipscarves.
19. And, since silica gel IS your new best friend, you know you want to save those guys to store with your costumes, right?
20. But, did you know that you could also keep silica gel to store with your FABRIC to keep it in good shape, long before it becomes a costume?

Basic Cover-up Pattern

Christmas Greetings, all! A few months back, a member of Bellydanceforums.net asked about making a cover up. It took a few months to find the time to capture it in writing; but, here it is, my Christmas gift to you, in (hopefully) a printable pdf format.

Please let me know if you catch any errors in the pattern, and I shall correct them.

Regards,

Anala

This applies to costumes, too!

A recent blog post on CNN discussed whether someone could "catch" diseases from vintage clothing. Having worked in a thrift store during college, I can attest that the most delightful items can come from questionable sources. And, environments like thrift stores pile all of the merchandise together, allowing "icky things" to spread. While the likelihood of getting sick from a costume is low, there is a slightly higher chance that you will inherit silverfish or other little critters that like to dine on fabric (as opposed to dining on you).

You may be wondering how this relates to costumes . . .

Ever bought a used one at a workshop?

Ever bought one from a vendor?

Ever bought one, period? Or, bought the parts?

The sad truth is that textiles that become costumes tend to travel a LOT. They may come from halfway around the world. They may live in someone's basement for a few years. And, they may come with "friends."

So, the advice in Dr. Gupta's blog is sound: wash it if you can, isolate the item in a plastic bag for a few weeks, and take good care of your clothes. Periodically inspect all of your costumes and the containers you store them in, looking for little visitors. Keep them in a clean, conditioned environment. And, when introducing new costumes in to the mix, quarantine them for a bit!