Help making a gwahzee coat from a princess style dress

[Creaky Old Dancer]

Hi I have an old princess style front buttoned velvet dress... I could use some advice on how to change it into a gwahzee coat... only thing I need it by this weekend. Nothing like planning The dress is button down has long sleeves and a scoop neck. I'm thinking what I need to do is cut down the neck and open up the sleeves to about the elbow... Any advice greatly appreciated on best ways to do this and then some quick trimming advice on how to make not look like an old dress turned into a gwahzee coat. Thanks Creaks

 

[Mya]

Ok well i'm a Cabaret girl so i don't have much experience with trimming these types of costumes, but i absolutely love the ones on this site - maybe you can get some ideas from looking at their stuff?

Ghawazee Coat - Tribal Fusion Bellydance - Coin Bras, Tassel Belts & Fringe Belts - Tribal BellyDance costumes, Gypsy BellyDance Costumes, Ghawazee Coats

 

[Creaky Old Dancer]

Gwahzee coat

Thanks Mya - thats a good start for me - let's I have some really nice trim might have enough. Creaks Off to the sewing machine

 

[Creaky Old Dancer]

Gwahezee coat finished YAY!

Hi Cheart99 and Mya here is the coat along with the tiered skirt. Still doing some tweaking on the fit...

 

[Mya]

:clap:

 

[Shanazel]

Way to go, girl! I love the colors.

 

[Creaky Old Dancer]

gwahzee coat's finished

Thank you both

 

[~Diana~]

:shok: LOVE IT!!! :clap: Now if only I could make something that nice.

 

[Creaky Old Dancer]

ghwazee coat

Thanks

 

[nightdancer]

I thought you said you were old.

 

[Creaky Old Dancer]

gwahzee coat

:redface: thank you ... but i am old... it's just the portrait behind the sofa that's getting older looking. and you should have heard my ankles and knees in class this morning... :lol:

 

[Reen.Blom]

Awesome costume, you look gorgeous!!!!! Love it love it love it!!! Have lots of fun dancing!!!!

Mya, thank you for the link, that dress is stunning!!!

 

[AoIronoHana]

Thats gorgeous! I love the color!

 

[Creaky Old Dancer]

gwahzee coat

thank you thank you so much for your compliments. oh my think i might need a larger hat size.

 

[Shanazel]

A red hat, of course.

 

[Creaky Old Dancer]

gwahzee coat

Noooooo not a red hat... they made us eccentric old lady types respectable. Ruined purple and red combos, one of my favorites(especially after a stuffy old art teacher said they were bad and just never to be mixed:lol firmly will hold on to my groucho marx reasoning about the red hat ladies. so respectable that they rode on a town float for St. Patrick's Day Parade.

 

[Shanazel]

I also resent the Red Hat League's usurption of one of my favorite color combinations. They took it from glorious to trite, no doubt with the best intentions in the world. The road to hell and all that...

 

[sariola]

wooow! you made it yourself?! you look so good! and btw, i dont know where do you take all these ideas from give me some

 

[Creaky Old Dancer]

Gwahzee coat

Hi Sariola, thank you. The coat was from an old dress I had... I realized just how old when I saw how often it appeared in family albums. A princess style cut has similiar lines to a gwazhee and turkish coats... so Mya sent me a site and I looked at the picture. Then from the pictures I studied the lines of it.;luckily they had a back and side view. The I held my breathe wished myself luck and took a scissors to it. I don't use bought patterns cause they never make sense to me - I do use paper grocery bags. For ideas history books old fashion books,museum trips, and (also I'm an insomniac so I do a lot of creative visualizing to get to sleep) some time the material talks to me you know like sculptors say the piece of marble has the sculpture trapped in and they just chisel away what isn't the sculpture. then I try to sketch the idea to see how it breaks down to get the pattern pieces. Then look around to see if I have anything like those patterns that I can really look at to make the patterns. I mad the skirt which is one of those yeah this sounds easy no problem sort of thing - yeah right! Easy but really really finicky. Also check out costume making sites, dance costume sites I do... and usually the one I love the best isn't anywhere near my budget so I figure out how to make a copy. Hope this helps with where to find ideas. Creaks

 

[shiradotnet]

Looks like I'm too late to offer you any help, but just in case anyone else reading this thread wants to try it, there's an article on my web site that tells how to do it: Ask the Belly Dance Costume Goddess: Making a Ghawazee Coat

The photo of you in your finished costume looks great! congratulations!