Thread: 3/4 veil in silk? heavy or light?

New project! I've always wanted to try this out..anyone know of a handy pattern that will create a well balance 3/4 circle veil? How about full circle veil (I think that's what it was..slit in one place to get 'inside')

Has anyone danced with 3/4 veil in silk? Was it lighter silk or heavier silk, how did you feel about handling that much fabric? Do you think lighter or heavier was easier to manipulate?

What about the hem? I'm assuming a veil of this size would have to be pieced together..were the hems along the side unsightly?

Was it hemmed along the top so you could grab the edges better? Was it weighted along the border?

RESEARCH!! :)

Any video demos you like?

doh! and what size was it ? 55 inch wide or 45 inch wide?

thx!!!

I have a full circle veil, but not out of silk. I made it with lightweight lame (not that tissue-y stuff). I haven't danced with it in eons, but it flows pretty nice. I can pull it out and take a look at dimensions.

The ones i have used in workshops with Sahra have been either a heavier fabric - crepe backed satin in one case - and 45", or they were a heavy lace fabric with a satin ruffle on the bottom, same size.

the basic pattern is 3 quarter circles sewn with flat feld seams (the enclosed seams like those on you jeans). the flat feld seams reduce drag.

I would thing that larger veils would be cumbersome and difficult to control.

{{{HUGS}}}

I know one dancer who makes her 3/4-circle veils by cutting out a half-circle and two eighth-circles. She sews one of the 1/8 circle pieces to each side of the half circle.

Use either French seams or flat felled seams. Usually, French seams are what get used for lightweight fabrics in stuff like curtains.

For a 3-yard veil, I wouldn't consider buying anything narrower than 54 inches because I'd want the fullness of the circle, not a sawed-off oval. 45 inches is ok with a 2 1/2 yard veil, but I wouldn't buy a veil that small.

I'd consider buying either heavier or lighter fabric, though I'd have a bias for heavier so I could use it for double veil.

I'd consider either 3/4-circle or half-circle - both sound cool to me.

thanks you guys, I have some veils here that I'm going to take to Karen up the street and see what she can do with the hems you talked about..it will be a big experiment :) have heavy and light silk so we'll see what happens :)

logistically would a 3/4 veil work in 45 inch fabric? it would be a smaller veil for sure ..

Originally Posted by jesennia

logistically would a 3/4 veil work in 45 inch fabric? it would be a smaller veil for sure ..

If you aim for the straight edges to each be 45 inches as well, so that the finished straight edge is 2 1/2 yards, it would work, but only for people with short arms.

The late Aliya Quinn would cut a 1/2 circle, then add a quarter to one side and make a faux seam in the middle of the 1/2 circle. Some of her veils had ruffles on them and she would do the most beautiful things with them.
Bellydance with Aliya in Gaithersburg MD

oh my goodness bless her heart...

I assumed that there were some photos of 3/4 veils on that site, but I was wrong.

She had a bunch of 3/4 veils at a workshop I took from her and they all had the standard radius of a half circle veil that was cut from 54" fabric except for ones that she had put ruffles on. At first I thought the ruffles were dumb, but it really made the veil move well and did beautiful things when you played around with the veil. Any way, the ruffles were maybe 4"? I really don't remember. Maybe they were wider so allow use of 45" fabric.

Loulie uses flared gores(?) for hers, they're pretty incredible. I'm going to have to look up flat felled and french seems now! Thanks Shira!!

I have a 3/4 silk veil that I bought from another dancer way back when. It doesn't actually work so I just prance around with it. When I do tricks it gets caught up around my arms and in general is a pain in the ass. So now I just don't do circle veils of any kind. It does have gores and a hem on all sides.

am taking some stuff over to my seamstress for her to try it out..we get our new rental in two weeks, it has a large garage so i'll be in there trying to figure out how to use the damn thing (in both sizes)