Egyptian Baladi Dress Part 5

I’ve finally finished all the beading on the neckline. It was a lot of work but I think it was worth it, the finished piece is really effective.
Pinning neckline to dress
Next was to attach the neckline to the dress. I started by pinning the neckline to the dress while on a dress former to make sure it was stretched slightly.

Turning under the edge all the way round the neckline, pinning as I went.

Stitching neckline to dress inside

Then I slip stitched all around the inner edge, making sure that the fabric was smooth and turned under enough not to be seen from the outside.

In the centre front I stitched two lots of bugle beads between the two sides to maintain a certain spacing while still being open.

 

Stitching outside neckline to dress

With the dress back on the former I pinned the outside edge of the neckline and again invisibly hand stitched under the edge.

The last finishing touches are to stitch the arm holes, hem and side seams.

How to make a Feather Duster

Feather Duster

Last week I noticed lots of cobwebs around the house and decided it was time I owned a feather duster.

As I’m still on a mission (as always) to use up all my scraps of assorted materials left over from previous projects. I remembered I had lots of multi coloured feathers and some bamboo – from my attempt at gardening.

This was a wonderfully fun quick project to make.

What you’ll need -

  • Hot glue gun + glue sticks
  • Yarn
  • Feathers
  • Bamboo /handle
  • Fleece (optional)

I used three pieces of bamboo to make a nice sturdy handle. Cut the bamboo sticks to the desired length. I made mine quite long to reach the ceiling.

Feather Duster Step 1

Feather Duster Step 1

Step 1. Hold the sticks together at one end. Put a small amount of glue between the sticks and wrap the yarn around to pull them together tightly. Cut and knot the yarn. Repeat this step in the middle and at the other end so that the sticks are firmly held together.

 

Feather Duster Step 2

Feather Duster Step 3

Feather Duster Step 3

 

Step 2. For the feather end I tightly wrapped it with sheep fleece and yarn to create a padded end so that it wouldn’t scratch the wall – it ended up looking a bit like a torch. This also give the end more surface area to apply the feathers to.

 

 

Step 3. Apply the feathers from the end working back towards the handle, making sure to keep the glue on the base of the feathers. Leave it to dry for about ten mins or so to make sure the glue has cooled.

Feather Duster Step 4

Feather Duster Step 4

 

 

Step 4. Enjoy dusting with you new duster!

Wonderwool 2013!

wonderwool

IMG_32552

 

Last weekend I made my way to Wonderwool Wales on the Royal Welsh show grounds in Builth Wells for a day of yarny goodness!

This was the third Wonderwool I had been too, and as usual it was full of varying stalls selling items from fleece to finished products. Armed with a short list of things I would like, I made my way round, once to look and at least once to buy!

Me looking at yarn.

Me looking at yarn.

I found some beautiful chinese tribal batik’s and embroidery at Slow Loris Textiles. Martin Conlan the stall owner told us a lot about the origins of the textiles and how they were meticulously created.

I spent most of the day trying to avoid being tempted by fleece and other such fibers. I was very aware that I still have about 8kgs of fleece in the utility which needs using first. But I did get a small amount of raw pink silk (as I needed it) to finish off a dress that is far from being finished.

Goodies from Wonderwool

 

As usual I had a wonderful time and came home excited for next years Wonderwool!

New Blog Launch Giveaway!

Modular Belt Giveaway

To launch my new blog I’m running a giveaway for a pair of handmade modular belts!

The Giveaway

You can enter through any of these blatantly promotional social media methods (you can’t blame me can you?). You’ll get one entry for each thing you do, so if you like Endenisia AND tweet a link, that’s double the chance to win!

Closing Date: 21st May 2013 at 11:59 GMT.

The Prize

The winner, picked randomly from entries through all of the above methods combined will win a pair of modular belts handmade by Endenisia.

Each belt section measures approx 37cm in length / 9cm wide and comes with a pair of brown fabric ties. They’re made using antique sari trim and are adorned with mirror trim, turkish buttons and kuchi chain. Great for dancewear or whatever else you think they’d go with!

Belt Giveaway

The Terms & Stuff

The giveaway will close on 21st May 2013 at 11:59 GMT.
No purchase necessary.
Entry is open to anyone who can legally use the services required to enter.
I’ll ship worldwide but in the very unlikely event that shipping + tax is in excess of £40, I’ll ask you to cover the remaining cost.
In the event that the operation or administration of the giveaway is impaired for any reason (technical issues, data loss, etc.) Endenisa will either suspend the giveaway until the issue is resolved or issue the prize to a random entrant from any eligible entries.
Endenisia may disqualify any entrant found tampering with the entry process with multiple entries by using multiple accounts/email addresses.
By participating in the Giveaway, you agree to release and hold harmless Endenisia from and against any claim or cause of action arising out of participation in the Giveaway or receipt or use of any prize.
Void where prohibited.

Lampeter World Dance Festival

Lampeter World Dance Festival

Last weekend was the Lampeter World Dance Festival, there was free taster sessions for Flamenco, Tribal dance and Belly dance with a show on the Friday night.

The friday night had a wonderful atmosphere with lots of local dancers from around Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire performing. Zara came all the way from London to perform three dancers and brought her souk.

I performed a solo in my Gothic Lolita costume to Animus Vox by The Glitch Mob, it went very well appart from my bindi falling off at the beginning! I also had the opportunity to be part of Lyza Chthonia’s improvised Black Sheep Tribal group. Where we performed a slow and fast movements piece.

Batik Skirt – BlackSheep BellyDance

I have a Black Sheep Tribal Belly dance performance coming up and I realised that I didn’t have a nice full skirt to wear, so I decided that I’d have to make one and may as well do a complete costume while I was at it.

I’d heard a lot about 25 meter skirts and was intrigued to see what all the fuss was about. I assumed from the name it would have 25 meters worth of fabric, but with a little research it seems to be a 25 meter hem circumference making a very full skirt!

As this was my first skirt of this sort I had the idea of making a 10 meter one. Im quite short and thought I’d see what sort of effect this gave me as I was a little worried that 25 mtrs could swamp me.

I chose some pretty batik fabrics which I’d hem each tier with a black contrast band. I worked out all my measurements for meterage in each tier and used the Golden Ratio to have a natural looking ratio between each of the tier depths.

There was a lot of gathering and overlocking in this skirt!

The overall effect of the skirt is wonderful it has a lot of movement as the cotton is quite light in weight. The busyness of the fabric also adds to the movement and vibrance of the skirt.

BlackSheep skirt

Now onto the bra, falls and maybe a belt too!

Egyptian Baladi Dress Part 4

I’ll include a few images of my progress on the beading as this is going to take a while – but hopefully over time this collection of images should give a really nice overview of the progress.

Egyptian Baladi Dress Part 3

Blue and Gold Beading

Begun the beading this week, and have just realised how long this is actually likely to take!

I started with the gold edging and then went on to a bit of the blue bugles and sequins. It seems to keep up the momentum and enthusiasm if I change section every so often – but I am really enjoying it.
Neckline Beading

I think I’ll outline the scallop sections next so that it will give me an idea of how the shapes will look once there filled in.

Egyptian Baladi Dress Part 2

Baladi Dress

I surprisingly found the perfect fabric quite quickly, a 2 way stretch velvet in a beautiful dark royal blue. The main dress was easy to constuct as it only needed at little shaping and it stretches to fit.
The neckline where the beading is to go was a little more difficult as the shape was made out of paper to start with and then the fabric cut out and stiffened to made sure it doesn’t shift with the weight of the bead work.

Once the beading is complete I’ll pin the neckline to the dress and cut away the excess fabric around the neck.

Getting onto the beading now! I think this will be a mammoth job.