Thread: What do you think? *pics added*

I got a leopard print bedlah the lovely Estela here on Bhuz made & was selling in Swap Meet. It needs minor adjustments (straps & hooks of course) & minimal work (add a piece of fringe to the belt since my hips are bigger).

My dilemma is whether to do anything to the bra, so thought I'd solicit opinions & advice here from more experienced costumers.

I'll be relining it when I add padding, but on the front of the cups there's a small pleat at the top, from where the fabric was folded over like when you cover the cup. The crystals and accent beading around them run along the edge of the bra & are flat back, so glued on, the beads sewn on. It's not all that noticeable (I know Estella would not have worn it if it were), just the sewing fiend in me reared its head & had ideas when I opened the box yesterday, lol.

Option one: carefully remove the cyrstals & beading & use the armbands of same base material to cover a rectangular portion across the top, covering the pleat (like in the thread about how to cover a bra someone posted here). However, the sleeve material appears a little bit brighter/newer looking than the bra fabric, which may not make any difference at all under dim lighting/performance. However, even after replacing crystals & beading where they were, this option leaves me with a seam across the cup, which I'm unsure of how to then cover that.

Option two: don't remove or cut up anything, instead add a little more beading or spangle in terms of a swirly design or somesuch. However, I like the way it's decorated now - not too much & not too little. A bit of bling in some nice sized crystals & gold beading around the crystals, and there's some sparkle on the base fabric itself. In dim lighting it catches the light great, is very sparkly, and looks fantastic. Which leads me to...

Option three: leave it alone, period.

I can post pics tonight if that helps those of you more visually oriented, lol. Tell me your thoughts/ideas! ..g.:

Photos, photos!..l;,

..l;, Okay, I'll post tonight.

From straight on at a little distance, you can't see anything.


Still straight on, much closer, still can't really see anything


Turned to the side - you can see the fold a little.


When put on (or held on) & look at it from the side in mirror I see it a bit. I really don't want to take it apart & do any rebeading or recovering if there's not an easy and attractive solution to two bitty pleats.

Wondered about if tacking it down along that pleat/fold line from the underside & then add a few more accent beads on top/surrounding to detract would work?

Dude...bead over those bad boys!!! Really...and anal is my first name!

..l;, Any suggestions on pattern & if it'd look better to go over the whole cup or just part of it? Maybe circular pattern to mimic the beading around the gems? Or a faux desert swirl patern? Actually...maybe a few black & gold accent strands wouldn't look bad (kind of like on the desert swirls?) *Hmm*

Help me .w.: I've only ever sewn padding into a costume, not attempted beading. I'm afraid to do anything & then have it come out looking craptacular...c::

The pix are fuzzy...but I would sprinkle some very small ab crystals here and there. A few on top of the pleats to remove the shadows and a few here and there to integrate the additions.

Seems that it is hardly noticeable unless you are looking for it. Which, of course, you are. I like Anala's idea of some crystals to highlight and flash and distract from any shadows caused by the fold. Just don't overdo it. From the audience viewpoint they won't see a thing.

And remember, Egyptian costumes always have a little deliberate flaw somewhere because "only Allah creates perfection."

Souzan

Honestly? For me it's far too minor a thing to mess with the beading in any way. It would be hard to match the beading exactly, which for me would only mean I'd be replacing one slight imperfection with another slight imperfection.

If anyone's close enough to see that dart, then they're too damn close.

It doesn't bother me one bit. No one will be that close.

If it bothers you, sprinkle a few tiny crystals on the bra and be done with it.

I like anala's idea. The only other thing I might suggest is to tack the pleat down so that it doesn't catch the little bit of fringe when you are dancing. This is a wear and tear issue more than estetics.

{{{HUGS}}}

Doesn't bother me at all, "it will never be seen on a moving horse," as my mother used to say. But my first name isn't anal, lol.

If it bothers you, go ahead - it's important to feel confident in your costumes. But I'd be willing to bet no one would ever notice if you left it alone and didn't point it out to people.