Lately, I’ve been getting more out of my belly dance classes; something finally clicked and I’m getting the hang of some of the basic moves, and in class–instead of twitching and looking like I’m having a seizure–I actually look pretty good, for a beginner.
So, my after-work-week-night project this past week was to decorate some old pants to make a low-cost belly dance outfit.
I wanted the pants to coordinate with a red and gold scarf with a flower motif I’ve had for many years; I drew the flower-shape from the scarf onto some paper, and traced the outline onto old rayon pants I got from Dharma Trading several years ago. Then, the pants were white; I dyed them light purple and wore them to work. When they got too shabby, I dyed them a darker purple to try and give them more life.
So here’s the starting point:
I traced the outline using a white pen with ink that easily washes off fabric; these are available at any fabric store:
Then, I gently squeezed Jones Foil Glue over the traced design:
The glue is sticky and takes 1–8 hours to dry. I glued the front of the pants one night, and the back the next:
Then, once dry, I took a sheet of Jones Tones Gold Foil and rubbed the foil–using the back of a spoon–over the glue. Presto, the glue is no longer sticky and tacky; it’s covered with gold foil. It looks cool!
I pinned my new pants up on my wall, with the scarf; this, plus a black sports-bra, is my new outfit. There’s no belly dance class for a few weeks, but when there is, I’ll get a photo of me in this outfit to prove I’m actually going to wear it!
