Fringe

I finally got hold of a fringe dress to practice in! I was very scepticle about me being able to dance in fringe, I've heard some awful stories about the weight of the dress and making a person look fat.

I was pleasantly surprised by this dress that I bought online (One size really does not fit all!). I got to wear it for the Vaudeville Circus show a few weeks ago. In the process I learnt a lot. Fringe on a diagonal are rather flattering, thin fringe is very light, and you need a lot of it to get the full effect.

Thanks AM Photography for the awesome photos :)

Adeventures in Sewing: Batwing Top

For the UCT Vaudeville Circus, one of the dances I did was a Tango to fit into a medley of the Phantom of the Opera music. The colours were red and black, a colour I don't own in a ballgown.

Thankfully I had some red fabric stashed away for a rainy day and red stretch lace, the result, a batwing top with lace insert in the back and lace basque. I paired it with my ballroom practice skirt and a some improvised floats made from the scraps. The best part was it only took an hour and 4 seams!

I now have a batwing top to practice in for Latin while my new dress takes shape :) 

Adventures in Sewing: Bunting

In the near future we are throwing a baby shower for a friend. With Spring approaching, the vibrant colours have inspired a rainbow/colourful theme of sorts.

To capture that Spring-time feel I thought I would make some bunting to add to the decor. Having never made bunting I consulted the internet, which gave a variety of answers, many time-consuming, involving doubling the fabric, hemming it, etc.

The material I used comes from Kolnick's Linen, who produce linen for a number of department stores in South Africa. Their factory shop regularly sells off their off-cuts in bundles for R2. I used half a bundle to make all the flags (all 60 triangles), the other half went to Barbie clothes for my young cousins.

I am taking the lazy approach to this sewing whim. I drew a shape of 20 cm for the based of the triangle and 25 cm for the height. Make a few templates and cut out the shapes roughly. Take Pinking Shears and add that beautiful zigzag edge to the sides of the triangle and presto, a flag is made.

I'm all for cheap and easy. I inherited a lot of my gran's sewing supplies, including rolls (and I do mean rolls) of bias binding in a multitude of bright colours. Instead of getting ribbon and folding in half and then pinning etc., I merely slipped the short edge into one flap on the bias binding and zigzagged over it to hold the flag in place.

Now that all the bunting is made, I might be able to get back to the sewing project lurking beneath of the bunting