Beaded bellydance bra

I never got around to taking pictures of the dance costume bra I finished over the summer. This goes with the beaded bellydance belt I finished a while ago. I made the bra from a Kwik Sew pattern, using denim from old jeans, reinforced with stiff, fusible interfacing. The cups were then further reinforced with fusible fleece and two layers of buckram. I covered the finished bra with stretch velvet to match the belt. Then the beading began!


The motifs are all hand-beaded, one bead and sequin at a time. The motifs are a mix of glass seed beads of various clear and silvery tones, Swarovski crystals, and Czech glass beads, edged in sequins and more glass beads. The oval cabochons and the big triangular crystal on the top part are made of sew-on Swarovski crystals that were then caged with glass seed beads. The fringe is made with glass seed beads and three kinds of Swarovski crystals to make a pattern.


Under the fringe, I beaded a swirly design to match the design on the belt. It's hard to see in the picture, but this is a raised design. The fringe moves while I dance, of course, so this design peeks out under the swaying fringe.
The straps are too plain, and I'll probably do more beading there at some point. But the costume is wearable at this point -- in fact, I wore it for a performance in August, and it fit well and held up to the rigors of dancing. I also got a number of compliments from other dancers, so I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.