Welcome to my blog and thanks soso much for spending a little while peeping into my world

ARTS, BELLYDANCING, CRAFTS
BELLYDANCING, ARTS, CRAFTS
CRAFTS, BELLYDANCING, ARTS

whichever order I put them in, these are my passion!

... all from my little home studio in Durban, on the east coast of sunny South Africa!

"I used to think that anyone doing anything weird was weird. I suddenly realized that anyone doing anything weird wasn't weird at all and it was the people saying they were weird that were weird." -- Paul McCartney









Wednesday, October 24, 2012

ANOTHER BELLYDANCER'S BRA BEADED AND COMPLETED!

So besides the papercrafting and cardmaking passion I have, I also love to design make and bead costumes for bellydancers.  

My friend and owner of The Belly Button Studio, Gwenyth, asked me to bead another turquoise bra for her bellydancing costume.  It's finally finished and perhaps if she decides to go to Cape Town to the International Oriental Dance Festival to dance, she'll get the chance to wear it.and here it is:



Here's a closer look at the beading (now do you see where I get my 'signature' of sewing sequins and beads onto my cards)  :


There is NO gluing involved here, each sequin and bead is stitched on INDIVIDUALLY.  The cups are lined so that the stitching (using invisible nylon thread) causes no irritation, and the back elastic is also beaded so that it retains its FULL elasticity.

I can almost hear you ask ... now long does it take to bead a bra?

ANSWER : The number of hours depends on how much beading is to be done,  the size of the bra cup and how much the dancer is prepared to spend.

I spent about 110 - 120  hours beading this particular bra, (that's 14 days working  hours a day).  and the monetary reward .... about 5 South African Rand  per hour ... very much less than the unskilled street sweepers employed by the city managers ! LOL!

So why do I do it .. Simple!  I LOVE the craft.  I never have any idea of what the finished bra will look like.  The dancer will tell me how much she wants to spend, the colours she wants, and I usually ask her about the style of dangly bits she wants - but that is all.  


luv'n huggz
Jen Leeflang
Durban
South Africa


16 comments:

  1. This is an amazing piece of art! The colours and intricate patterns are stunning...just unbelievable. I'll bet it catches the light beautifully when she dances. I'm glad I saw this on MIM.

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  2. Absolutely gorgeous! What a lovely creation.

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  3. Does it come from a fairy tale? It is splendid and i love these turquoises!
    Friendly
    Chris

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  4. This is just so gorgeous. I bet the dancers really love every one you make!

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  5. Jen this is amazing. You are so talented. And I totally agree, this is a labour of love and one cannot put a price on it. Saw this on MIM and had to come over for a closer look. Hugs Desire {Doing Life - my personal blog}

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  6. WOW - this is amazing, such beautiful bead work, gorgeous colours and loe the 'dangly bits' ! Thanks so much for joining us at Craft-Room..Esther xx

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  7. Stunning work Jen. Gorgeous colour too. Love it. Thanks for joining us at TG this week.

    Kat x

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  8. An absolutely stunning work of art, and definitely a labour of love. This is so beautiful. Thanks for joining in with our Oriental theme over at the Craft-Room Challenge.

    Maria xxxxx

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  9. Now this is a beautiful piece of work , so delicate and intricate and I loved it but as it is not a papercraft project it cant be entered into Make it Monday .Please do enter another of your papercraft projects ; we would love to see it .
    Shirley-Anne

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    1. I check the rules of each challenge I entered into and the papercraft projects only rule was not there when i looked - it is now. But thanks anyway. Sorry to have contravened. I will remove my entry.
      Love and hugz
      Jen

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  10. WoW!!!! this is Stunning!!!!! and so beautiful, thanks for sharing with us at Craft Room Challenge, Debi x

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  11. Gosh this is a real labour of love all that work! Sensational Thank you for sharing this with us at Craft-Room Challenge XOXO Zoe

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  12. Wow! This is amazing, I love it. Thank you for joining us at Craft-Room Challenge.
    xxx Hazel.

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  13. A wonderful piece of artwork. Thanks for joining us at Craft Room Challenge. Julia xxx

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  14. Jen this is just incredible. My mum makes belly dancing costumes so I understand the wealth of effort and love that goes into making them and you must have the patience of a saint-but how rewarding! I would love to feature your costume on my blog so I will return when I put the post up :-) Hope to see you enter my All Crafts Challenge again soon, I love your work :-) Elaine-xxx-

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  15. You are featured :-) Elaine-xxx- http://sparklingblackrose-craftmylife.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/featured-crafters-from-my-all-crafts_9.html

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