Beading technique: Looped fringe with sequins

Summer is great for all the projects that are lying around and need to be done. Often these projects don’t need much time or effort but somehow they just don’t happen. I decided to tackle my pile of unfinished projects one by one and my first project was a red beledi dress that I bought five years ago. It’s a troupe costume and each troupe member converted the sleeves to a different style.

 

The Dalla Dream Dancers backstage in our beledi dresses

 

I wore it as is, without finishing the edges of the sleeves or beading the sleeves. As a result, I always felt a bit uneasy when wearing the dress. Pulling it out of the pile I gathered my materials and got to work. It took me about three hours to finish the edges and now I can put it back in the closet, knowing that it will be ready for the next performance.

While working on the edge, I took some pictures so I could share this technique with you. It is a looped fringe with a big sequin in the middle, that adds sparkle to the edge, weight to the sleeve so it drapes better and a bit of extra movement.

Supplies

Seed beads

Cupped sequins (I recommend higher quality laser holographic sequins because they last a long time.)

Paillettes (I used holographic pailettes app 20 mm in diameter)

Thread (For durability, use extra strong thread)

Needle (as small as possible, to get through the seed beads)

Technique

Start by threading your needle and anchoring the thread to the fabric. Or, in different words: thread your needle and tie a knot in the thread. Choose your starting point and get your needle through the fabric from the back to the front, then to the back of the fabric again. Secure the end. Stick your needleback to the front and let’s get started on the beading!Add to your thread: one cupped sequin (make sure the cup sits with the bottom towards the fabric), fifteen seed beads, one pailette and then fifteen seed beads again. It looks like this:

Pick a point app 1″/2,5cm to the right of your starting point, and stick the needle through from the bottom of the fabric to the top. Tug lightly on the thread to tighten the beads and sequins.

I like to knot my beading as often as possible, so I make a knot at this point to secure the loop into place. If the beading breaks, I will only loose one loop of fringe, not a whole row.

Rinse, repeat.

Once the whole edge is finished, the effect is a shiny, beaded edge with a lovely dangling paillette in the center of each fringe. This technique is very forgiving so it looks rather uniform even when the distance between the starting point and the end point is more or less than 1″/2,5 cm.

I am a professional bellydancer, costume-a-holic and dance studio owner living in the Netherlands. My biggest passion is teaching and performing bellydance and I intent to continue doing so for quite some time! I am a teacher at the online Belly Dance Business Academy, where you can find courses and workshops to help you grow your belly dance business. If you like to be kept in the loop, please like Kyria Bellydance on Facebook or follow me on Twitter. Leave your questions or comments in the box below, or let me know through Facebook.

 

Pink Turkish costume part 1: the materials

For a duo performance on April the third, we’ve been practicing and choreographing a song from Asena’s 2005 cd. We didn’t decide on costuming yet, but I assumed we’d wear old school Turkish bra and belt sets. I still have my first pro costume, an ancient Bella bra/belt that I bought second hand from my teacher. However, something unexpected happen: I had a Bella costume that didn’t fit me, and my fellow dancer fell in love with the costume and bought it from me.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Bella costumes: she creates beautiful costumes, using high quality crystals and holographic sequins. Her bead work is amazing, made into almost lattice like curls and shapes. In short, my fellow dancer had a kick-ass modern style Bella costume and asked me if she could wear it for the show. We agreed that she could, but I sort of forgot that I haven’t got anything similar in style or bling to match.

That’s when I decided I should make a modern Turkish style costume that would look good on stage next to a Bella. To make matters more complicated, I’m on a rather tight budget (that’s why buying a costume was not an option). I do have a lot of time on my hands and that is a real advantage in this case! I plan to finish this costume in four weeks, and will update often on the progress and problems I run in. Today part 1: the materials.
I mentioned the tight budget, right? So I dived into my fabric stash first, searching for a suitable base fabric, stones, rhinestones, sequins and other stuff. I came up with a lot of Swarovski crystals that I bought four years ago when I was working on a red fringe costume. Other then that, nothing.

I spent two days browsing the internet looking for the right materials and decided on using holographic foil print lycra as my base fabric. Bought it from http://www.glitterstof.nl and it arrived within 24 hours. I also bought 10 m of AB rhinestone chain from Kralen Studio for the much needed glitter. this is what the fabric and rhinestone chain looks like:

I did some more browsing and found holographic cupped sequins on tabou.de. I wanted flat but settled for cupped as I’m pressed for time and I figured it would work too. I bought three colors, as multiple colors help to bring extra depth and interest to the bead work. Here they are:

And lastly I needed iridescent beads for the fringe and 3d bead work. I ended up at Empire Beads from the UK and bought two types of 4mm bugle beads, purple and pink:

The beads and sequins haven’t arrived yet, but I’m working as fast as I can to have the belt/bra base ready for when they do arrive somewhere next week. You might have noticed how I used EU suppliers. I choose EU stores because I needed the materials fast and I didn’t want the dreaded import taxes to ruin my parade.

That’s it for now, more on the belt pattern tomorrow!