Thread: How to dart an already made, heavily beaded belt?

I'm trying to help a friend fit her costume to her figure. She has an itty bitty waist and upper hips with a ghetto booty, and we are having heck getting this belt to look right on her. The top edge doesn't quit gaping until the belt is at an indecent place on her hips, but anything higher is extremely loose and gaping and ugly at the top. I know when you're MAKING a belt it's simple enough to put darts in before you decorate it, but what about one bought from Bellydance Store that's already heavily decorated? We can't exactly cut into all that.

If darting is not the answer, is there a better option?

I'm not as qualified as Eshta, but from my personal experience, I've had to remove the beading in the areas I needed the darts.


"The top edge doesn't quit gaping until the belt is at an indecent place on her hips,"

However, if you don't want to do that, perhaps you could add to the top of the belt?
(Something that will compliment the design. Perhaps a band with verticle ruching?)

I also have a ghetto fanny and out-of-proportion waist. When I purchase a beaded costume I simply take lots of small, tight stitches along the upper edge of the belt back. By lots I refer to hundreds of tiny stitches. I tie-off after each stitch. I remove the lining prior to making the tiny stitches. It seems like an endless process but it has been effective for every ready-made costume I have purchased. I usually watch a good DVD or listen to nice CD and start sewing.

Would elastic in a thread casing along the top edge help pull the belt in closer to the body?

Envying your hourglass shape, I have the opposite problem, too straight up and down and no fanny...cr.:

Shira has an article about adding darts to a beaded belt: Ask the Belly Dance Costume Goddess: Altering a Purchased Belt

But I agree with Dunyah -- adding a thread casing with elastic to the edges would be much simpler if the belt needs to be snugged up just a little bit. I would try the elastic before adding darts.

elastic on the top edge or a booty dam would be easiest
if the belt is big enough and you don't mind putting risking some bead loss/re-beading you could turn it into two pieces, and then angle the back piece so that it looks like this on her
front _/ back (less extreme angle on the back piece thought ^_~)

Thanks, guys!

Elastic along the top edge: are you picturing a small piece of elastic just at the center back, or multiple pieces spread across it? Because she is having gap issues from one side, all around the back, and over onto the other side. She's probably needing a LOT more snugging than you all are picturing, so I'm asking to see if that's viable considering this much needs to be taken up. If it ends up looking like a rumpled mess at the top, we're no better off. I'm picturing a piece of elastic at each side and another in the center back. When I go over to her house again I'll look hard at it for this possibility.

If the above references are to the technique I have attempted to use it would be one long piece of elastic from hip bone to hip bone. Ends of the elastic would be attached to the belt, the balance would be secured via a long row of cross stitches, the cross stitches would not go through the elastic. For those with less difference between lower and upper hip measurements the elastic might be successful. For someone with a larger bootay and much smaller waist (me, for instance), it simply created a lumpy, gathered mess. My belt also tended to ride-up on my rounded fanny, the elastic seemed to draw the belt upward. Not an appealing site. I determined that technique was not helpful for my body type.

Once I found my rhythm making the tiny stitches I was able to finish most of the stitches in less than an hour. Not fast but effective and very inexpensive. Plus the stitches were not obvious from the beaded area when wearing the belts.

If the elastic doesn't work you may have to pick off the beads around the areas you want to dart, put in darts and rebead. But what i would do would be start with a dart placed at the place where the gap is largest. See how that works and if good, do one in the same place on the other side of center back. Before you take beads off you might take detailed photo of the area before taking them off and before putting in the dart so that you can have a guide to rebeading. And of course after making the dart there will be less area to bead. Also you will need to remove the lining and dart it as well in the same place. In fact you could use the lining as a pattern and trace it on some stiff interfacing and then play with that before traking beads off the real blet.

I've done this before and it was very successful.

Souzan is describing perfectly how to fix it.

Originally Posted by Darbla

Thanks, guys!

Elastic along the top edge: are you picturing a small piece of elastic just at the center back, or multiple pieces spread across it? Because she is having gap issues from one side, all around the back, and over onto the other side. She's probably needing a LOT more snugging than you all are picturing, so I'm asking to see if that's viable considering this much needs to be taken up. If it ends up looking like a rumpled mess at the top, we're no better off. I'm picturing a piece of elastic at each side and another in the center back. When I go over to her house again I'll look hard at it for this possibility.

the elastic technique is basically the same as when you ease in a sleeve to an arm hole.

I have the same problem. My waist-to-hip ratio is 2:3, i.e. 45 inch lower hips/booty narrowing to 30 inch waist. Put that on a short torso, and you can imagine the pyramid shape I have to work with. While the curves look gorgeous, and people can compliment the "hourglass shape" (despite being somewhat squashed), there is no way I can make the elastic casing technique work on cupped belts. It either bunches up a little too much, or (worse effect) puckers and causes a little balloon in the small bit between the top edge of the belt and the fullest part of my butt. It will not follow, fit or flatter my shape.
The only way you are really going to fix the gaping properly is by unbeading, darting, and rebeading. Hopefully, if you unbead correctly, you won't need to rebead too much.
Sorry to say, I've given up on buying cupped butt belts. I either need to make them myself, get something that stretches, get something that sits above the curve of my backside, or custom order with very specific instructions/measurements!

Originally Posted by Darbla

Thanks, guys!
Elastic along the top edge: are you picturing a small piece of elastic just at the center back, or multiple pieces spread across it? Because she is having gap issues from one side, all around the back, and over onto the other side. She's probably needing a LOT more snugging than you all are picturing, so I'm asking to see if that's viable considering this much needs to be taken up. If it ends up looking like a rumpled mess at the top, we're no better off. I'm picturing a piece of elastic at each side and another in the center back. When I go over to her house again I'll look hard at it for this possibility.

I've taken a belt in 3 or 4 inches with thread casing elastic. I do it all the way around, but not all in one piece.
If it needs to be taken in more than that, then the other advice (surgery!) will work better.

I found this that is helpful. It's a detailed, step by step of what you all are describing with the elastic:

Costuming Tip: Elastic with Thread Casing - Belly Dance with Karolyne


Thanks, guys!

I did the elastic method on several belts, I got the best results when using a very firm and wide elastic and putting it all along the top edge.

Yup! Big 1" wide elastic all around... I make a casing out of thread.

OK, she bought the elastic today. Wish us luck. Thanks, girls!