The Plan, it changes

So I had a plan for my belly dance costume. The shape of it was kinda vintage 40s inspired, a bra and belt set with a long trumpet skirt.

Here is a VERY rough sketch of what I was thinking (I can't draw for crap)



Black velvet with silver accents; the plan for the bra/belt decoration was a very cool geometric art deco design. I even started making some of the beaded appliques for the belt portion.

And then I visited my parents and my mother was going through her jewelry and I saw this necklace...



I had to steal...er....borrow it from her. And am now basing the costume on it. It is hard to see in the photo, but it has gorgeous mother of pearl stones. Still keeping the shape of the old plan, but the decoration is all changing to a more organic flower based design. And I have this pinkish shimmery fabric in the stash that I have had for 10+ years that goes perfectly with the mother of pearl that I think I will use as the base of the belt and then use the black velvet for the flowers on top of that. The skirt and the bra will still be black velvet.

I am building the flowers and gathering supplies. I will post a bit later on how I am doing the flowers, after I actually finish one and make sure it is actually going to work!

I am also beading the entire skirt with heavier scatter beading at the bottom with it transitioning to less beading at the top. There will probably be about 30 hours or so of beading in the skirt alone, based on what I have done so far. My lunch hours are being well spent these days!