We are going to show you nine simple sewing techniques that will not only enhance your dance costume, but will make your life so much easier.
The first technique we are going to show you is sewing appliqués on to a garment. Appliqués will give you a lot of volume. You can use it on a bra to give a little more coverage, or to hang over the edge of a garment to give your stomach area more coverage or even on your skirt. However you use it, an appliqué can tie the whole piece together. It is a great look that can give your costume a lot of oomph for just a little bit of work.
The second topic will be pins and needles. We will talk about a number of different needles, their sizes and explain how each is used. This technique is a great little informational tool.
Showing you how and when to sew snaps or hooks and eyes onto your costume is next. There are a number of different types of snaps and hooks and eyes. Knowing how and when to use them is a great skill to have. You never know when you are going to need to replace a snap or a hook and eye on one of your costumes.
Sewing buttons on a costume is similar to sewing on snaps or hooks and eyes. They come in many sizes, colors and either two hole buttons, four hole buttons or shank buttons. Knowing how to sew buttons on a costume is a great skill that can also become handy in your personal wardrobe. When dealing with dance costumes, sewing buttons on a costume will normally be decorative or replacing buttons that have fallen off.
We are now going to show you how to sew buttons onto a garment. It is a really great skill to learn. It can create a dramatic impact and completely change the look of a costume. Plus you never know when you are going to need to sew on a button that has fallen off.
How to ruch a skirt is the next method of enhancing your costume that we are going to show you. Basically, ruching is gathering up material. We are going to use a skirt for this demonstration but you could ruch a skirt, a dress, a top or any other garment you wish. One reason you would want to ruch a skirt is that it gives fantastic impact with a great deal of movement and keeps a lot of flow in the skirt.
In addition to ruching a skirt, we are going to show you how to ruch a top. It is a wonderful way to take a simple sports bra and make it look unique and custom. Instead of a boring circular neckline, the neckline will have a soft, rounded “vee” and gives it texture and depth by gathering it up. That is all that ruching is – it is simply “gathering up.”
The method used to sew a skirt to briefs or shorts is probably the most basic of the techniques that we are showing you. This method will also work for a number of things such as tacking down parts of a garment that might move out of place while dancing and distract the judge. For instance, if you do not tack down a skirt that is supposed to be at the hips, it will want to move to the smallest part of the hips and either move up to the waist or down below the hips even if that is not where you want it to be. It is very simple to sew the skirt to shorts or a brief; however, it will have the most impact of any technique that you will learn.
In this last section, we will show you how to perform several simple alterations to your dance costume. This “technique” actually consists of a number of different related items. One is hemming up a pair of shorts. Another is a simple method of adjusting a skirt that is too big. We are going to show you how to take in that skirt by creating a pleat in the back of the skirt that looks like it was supposed to be there all along. We are also going to show you how to take a sports bra and turn it into a halter. Sometimes a bra will be a little tight and you just need to loosen it up a little bit. This is a great way to solve that problem. Fixing a hole in a costume is another trick we are going to show you. Every dancer has had that moment where they have a hole and they need a way to fix it fast that will also be strong.
1. Sewing Appliqués on Garments
Sewing appliqués on garments is very easy to do and we are going to show you how. For our demonstration, we will use a top. However, you could also sew an appliqué on a skirt, dress, shorts or briefs. When you are done sewing the appliqué to your garment, you will be astonished at how simple it is and how elegant that garment looks.
2. All About Pins and Needles
In this section, we are going to tell you about pins and needles. There are many different needles available. Check out the information we are going to give you and you will find out a great deal about them.
3. Sewing Snaps or Hooks and Eyes on Your Dance Costume.
In this section, we will be instructing you on how to sew snaps and hooks and eyes. There are different types of snaps and hooks and eye and they each require a slightly different technique. But, there are great tricks to learn in this section.
4. Sewing Buttons on Your Dance Costume
We are now going to show you how to sew buttons onto a garment. It is a really great skill to learn. It can create a dramatic impact and completely change the look of a costume. Plus you never know when you are going to need to sew on a button that has fallen off.
5. Sewing Chains on a Dance Costume
This section is to show you how to sew a decorative chain on your costume. One reason you would want to do this is to give you something that would create a military look. If you want the military feel, look for gold shank buttons with a military design on them to add to the chains. This is the perfect look to give you that military feel.
6. Ruching a Skirt
We will now show you a simple technique called “ruching.” This is basically gathering the material up. We are going to show you this technique using a skirt but it could be used on almost any garment. This is a great method if you want to show a little leg. We suggest you use it on the side of the garment where you are going to be doing the most kicking. It is a great look if you are looking for something that is a little saucy but you still want to keep it elegant.
7. Ruching a Top
In addition to ruching a skirt as we did above, you can ruch the hem or side of a top or a dress. In this demonstration, we are going to ruch a top. It is a great technique to give it a little bit of texture and a little bit of oomph. Wherever you put it, your eye will be drawn right to that spot.
8. Ruching a Top
In addition to ruching a skirt as we did above, you can ruch the hem or side of a top or a dress. In this demonstration, we are going to ruch a top. It is a great technique to give it a little bit of texture and a little bit of oomph. Wherever you put it, your eye will be drawn right to that spot.
9. How to do Simple Alterations
In this section, we are going to show you four techniques to alter your garments by hand. They will come in handy if you need to make quick changes at the last minute. These are four quick tips that can work in an emergency or you could even leave them in place if you want. These techniques may also be helpful in other circumstances.
