Thread: Could I make a costume similar to this?

I love this "simple" Bella bra and belt set I saw for sale here on Bhuz a while back. Would it be possible to make something similar? I guess what I mean is, would it be doable as a first-time costume-making project?

I'm a fairly experienced seamstress, and even sewed some beads on my wedding dress (which I didn't make), although I've never sewed clothing for myself before.

It looks like the bra and belt are covered in silver metalskin, then is trimmed with 1) some sort of twisted/braided bugle-bead trim, 2) the flat, wide, sequin "ribbon" areas, 3) the paisley appliques, and 4) the fringe. Is that basically it?

Last question: would I actually save money trying to make this myself? I have no idea how much something like this might cost to buy new from Bella, but I assume it's out of my price range right now.

It's beautiful!

Bellas usually range between $500 and $1100. If you can make it cheaper will probably depend on if you can get good deals on beads and material and if you are going for super quality or not. It is going to take time though, loooong time...

It is not ready made trim on the costume. All the beads are sewn on directly. I think the paisleys are also beaded directly on the fabric.
I can recommend to practice beading on smaller things first, to get the lines straight etc.

Shushanna's costume page is great. Lots of tips on what to do. Especially the beading "doodle pad" thing.

Shushanna Designs: Beading

If I were you I'd start with a less intimidating project to practice and to see that I could actually get through it, but if this is what you are burning to do then GO FOR IT!

It wouldn't be expensive to make, perhaps $100. Basic Bella design. Gisela was right stating it will be a serious time investment. If you have the patience and the time, go for it.

Sent a PM.

You'll never know unless you try! Some of the talented ladies on Bhuz make costumes that are dead ringers for expensive designer costumes. Some of the nicest costumes I've ever "seen" were handmade and pictured in the "What are you working on?" threads. It can be done!
That being said, you will not get the same look as a Bella using pre-made trims. One could likely make something very similar in style with pre-made trims, but I wouldn't expect it to turn out with as opulent of a look. That neck piece alone might take me in the range of up to 8 hours to make (I'm unskilled and slow), and I can't even begin to think of how long it might take me to hand string all of that belt & bra fringe. So a lot depends on how "similar" you want it to be, and how much time and patience you want to invest.
Keep us posted on your progress if you decide to dive in!

If you've never done anything like this before - try making a small beaded accessory to see if you have the patience to finish a whole costume, this will give you an idea on how long it will approximately take to make. Happy sewing!

I second a lot of the advice here already.

There are a few people on here that have blogged their costume making process, and that's well worth checking out to see what you might be letting yourself in for!

It looks do-able, as long as you have the patience and realistic expectations on the finished product ( I remember getting so frustrated with my first ever costume project because I just didn't feel it was good enough - but I relaxed about it when I realized that it was a bit silly to expect a pro-looking costume when I'd never beaded anything before in my life!)

Give it a go, you might surprise yourself! Good luck xx

Unless you have a high degree of sewing and crafting skills, this is not a starter project. I'd classify it as at least "intermediate" in terms of sewing ability for BD, and "advanced" for GP sewing.

Originally Posted by Alexa

I'm a fairly experienced seamstress, and even sewed some beads on my wedding dress (which I didn't make), although I've never sewed clothing for myself before.

What is your seamstress experience if it is not clothing? Home dec?

What will you use for your patterns? If you've never sewed any clothing, not having a pattern and instructions can be an issue. If you've never worked with stretch fabric, this will also add to the challenge, since stretch fabric can be more difficult to work with than a stable woven.

It looks like the bra and belt are covered in silver metalskin, then is trimmed with 1) some sort of twisted/braided bugle-bead trim,

The beads are not separate trim.

2) the flat, wide, sequin "ribbon" areas,

For this particular costume, you could probably cheat and use slung sequins, but even that is not a trivial attachment for so much trim.

3) the paisley appliques, and 4) the fringe.

Some folks make separate appliques and fringe, and others work directly on the costume. When you're making your own, you can go either way, regardless of what the ME design houses do.

Last question: would I actually save money trying to make this myself? I have no idea how much something like this might cost to buy new from Bella, but I assume it's out of my price range right now.

In terms of material, the price on the receipt will be cheaper than buying, assuming you can find the supplies you need. (e.g., I can't say I've ever seen those little diamond beads at the end of the fringe, but I haven't been looking for them.) In terms of your time, no, it probably will not be cheaper. Your time is worth money, even if you don't think of it this way. Personally, I would start with a more modest costume and work up to one of this skill level. Even though it looks like less to invest in these materials than buy a ready-made costume, it is still a lot of money to spend, only to find that it's harder than you thought, you had to rebuy to finish or redo some parts, and you overbought on others. I'd start with costume separates (like a skirt or harem pants), or perhaps a galabeya with an embellished neckline first. If you've got your heart set on a bra and belt, maybe a better choice would be to buy a sequined "blank" like Scheherezade Imports' BBB set and get your feet wet decorating one of those.

I have to admit I have a bit of a problem with the idea of ripping off a copy of a designer's work. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but it's also theft of intellectual property. It's not really ethical to "borrow" Bella's ideas too literally, no matter how wonderful they are.

Thank you all SO MUCH for your replies! Please, keep 'em coming!

Tourbeau, to answer your questions, I have sewn clothing for my kids, not me. And cloth diapers, and dog coats for my Whippet. Fit is obviously not as big an issue with many of these items, although you might think twice about putting on a poor-fitting diaper! A different ball of wax, though, I understand. I know my way around things like stretch fabrics, though.

I don't intend to try to make it look exactly like Bella's. I actually probably won't use those diamond beads, pearls, or paisleys. I'm just looking at the basic elements of the design and trying to figure out how to put something similar together. I don't really see any other way a beginner like me could get started than to use something I find beautiful as inspiration.

It's good advice to have realistic expectations and start small, but I'm going to throw an alternate perspective out there.

Personally, I've never been good at starting small. If my first homemade costume project had been appropriate to my very low skill level, I would likely never have finished it because I would have felt that I was working on something that, in the end, wouldn't be worth wearing. So instead I tackled a design I really, really wanted to own and resigned myself to going as slowly as I needed to to make it work. That costume took me over two years to complete, but I am very happy with it, and I think it stands up well to my other costumes.

So, if you want to start big, I say go for it! It sounds like you already know your way around a needle and thread, which will be a big advantage. It will be time-consuming, so the cost to you will likely equal that of a real Bella, paid in minutes rather than money, but, if you have time to spare, that's not necessarily a problem.

On a practical note, I would also suggest having a look at Kyria's pink Turkish costume for inspiration.

I'm no help the only needles i work with are nurse related lol..but that sure is a pretty costume

Originally Posted by Alexa

Tourbeau, to answer your questions, I have sewn clothing for my kids, not me. And cloth diapers, and dog coats for my Whippet. Fit is obviously not as big an issue with many of these items, although you might think twice about putting on a poor-fitting diaper! A different ball of wax, though, I understand. I know my way around things like stretch fabrics, though.

Ah, thanks for clearing that up. I was assuming when you said you hadn't made clothes for yourself that it also meant you hadn't made clothes for anyone else, either. That changes things, although I confess that with all the sewing I've done, I still don't find anything quite as frustrating as costume sewing. In general, the fabrics are more challenging, the fit is often less forgiving, and the expectation that you need to create a professional-looking product is higher. If you're going to invest a lot of time and expensive materials in a project, you don't want someone saying, "Oh, did you make that? It's nice..." because you ended up with a HOMEmade-looking, not HANDmade-looking, result.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ozmas...es/84299390665

Ozma is an awesome resource!

Alexa, have you had opportunities to examine professional costumes up close and to try them on to learn how they fit?

If not, I would really not tackle this project before having such opportunities. Even if you turn out to be gifted at beading and design, the infrastructure of professional costumes is best understood by looking at them closely, feeling them, wearing them, dancing in them. Also, comparing poor-fitting costumes (generally the cheaper, non-designer ones) to well-fitting costumes (generally the high-priced designer ones).

In terms of purchasing a costume, the swap pages are a good place. Bella bra/belt sets come up every now and again. Bellas hold their value well, but bra/belt sets are not as favored as full costumes, so you might be able to score a deal.

Every single costume that I own (save the one I have for sale right now which was traded with a friend) came from the bhuz swap pages! They have lots of good dancer mojo in them!

wow, tons of good advice here! I wanted to add a couple of things:

1. if you have friends/dancers who own a Bella costume, ask if you can have a good look at their costume. Feeling the fabric and looking at the beading will give you a better understanding on why her costumes look so opulent. I'm guessing that you want to make a costume that looks as luxurious as a Bella, but on your skill level and budget.

2. decide what to keep and what you want to change. There are so many variables that you can definitely make a unique and stunning costume that sort of looks like a Bella while it actually isn't. For example:

-fabric base. Bella bra/belt sets are usually covered in plain lycra or stretch velvet. You can decide to go with chiffon, printed lycra, or holographic 3d lycra. I chose the last one for my project because I wanted a slightly different look and feel

- sequins. Bella uses holographic sequins most of the time, round, about 4-6 mm in diameter. You can use cupped sequins, non-holographic, bigger or smaller. Work with what you can find.

- beads. Bella works with 2 mm bugle silver lined bugle beads that reflect a lot of light. I used silver lined czech 4 mm bugle beads that do not reflect much light, so the fringe falls differently and the beading looks different.

- beading pattern. Bella uses specific design elements. Get a drawing pad and pencil out and doodle around. Start by looking at Bella costumes and try to make your own unique design.

In short, you can make a costume that looks like a Bella without it being a copy of one of her costumes. and it will make you much happier if you put all this effort in the preparation, so you'll end up with a costume that is perfect for you. Like other people said though, it takes a lot of time. The cost for my costume was app. 200 euro and most of it was spent on the AB crystals and the 3d holographic lycra.

I agree 100% w/ what Ainsley said. I myself in the past year have been making costumes that were originally inspired by Bellas and Sims but are different based on my body type/what style costume I'm going for. I've made them all - velvet bedlahs, circle skirts, mermaid skirts, minimalist silk costumes ... just this past year from being bit by the costume-making bug.

Personally when I started I had zero sewing experience. As in it was a challenge and almost garunteed blood loss when I would try to sew on a button. My first costume venture was a costume I had had been dying to make (I was afraid for months but finally bit the bullet)... I guess if you had to describe what it looks like, youd prolly say it was something in between a Bella, Johara, Suhaila, and of course with my own personal touches. It does take patience but if you start with the right materials (good bra cups, pellon, grossgrain ribbon), you will be fine. It really just looks more daunting than it actually is. And given the wonders of the internet, the price for ordering supplies really does amount to next to nothing.

Just be prepared to go through the ugly phases (sort of like a costumes teenage years) and maybe a bit of frustration here and there (I've had to rebead paiseley designs multiple times when they weren't perfect for the spot). But when you are done you will feel so accomplished, have a custom-made unique design that no one else has, and have spent less than $100 for it all. It really is a great, worthwhile experience that I can't say enough about. I'm 100% addicted... particularly cause I like good craftmanship (garunteed if you do it yourself), unique designs that no one else has, and a perfect fit for my body (no adjusting the hooks or padding the bra).

if it doesn't get done, at least you can say you tried... and then stick with ones on Bhuz or ordering yourself from the designer!

I think anything is possible in the costume design world, it does depend on your patience level...

If you can find appliques that are similar to the designs on the bra and belt, you can make a good costume that echoes the feel of the bella. Plus that will save you time and frustration. Keep in mind appliques can get expensive, so price things out first.

Also, making that beaded fringe will take a long time. I just finished a project with beaded swags and that took a lot of time and patience on my part (I'm a pretty patient person). If you think a shorter fringe is ok you may find something at your local fabric store that is pre-strung.

I think the idea of making an accessory first is a great idea. If you end up not making the bella inspired costume you can still use the accessory for another costume

i would also email bella,

if you want JUST a simple bra and belt i know she makes them more inexpensively! (i have a gold BB no skirt or anyhting im waiting for her to finish and it was less then my first hanan BB set!)

My advice is that...don't make costumes to save money. Make them because you enjoy being creative and you're crafty...if you go for good materiel, Swarovski crystals, and yards and yards of fabric, it might cost as much as a brand new Bella! Speaking from personal experience...

Good luck with your project! I made a bedlah several years ago when I was first dancing because I didn’t have the money to buy one. I managed to spend less than $20 on supplies, but it took forever to make! I know I’ll never be able to find beads for that cheap again, but I can’t say I’ve spent more than $50 on any of the bedlahs I’ve made. Then again, I just use beads and sequins, I usually convert an old bra with shot elastic, and I try to get my interfacing and fabric on sale.

I do recommend buying your fringe because beading it yourself takes forever. Otherwise, get a bead spinner. Actually, use a bead spinner no matter what. It will cut down on the time it takes to bead substantially!

Like Mekyria suggest, draw your plan first. If you can draw it, you can bead it! I like to draw it on paper first, and then after the top and belt are construction, I’ll draw on the fabric and do the main designs/outlines first.