Tutorial: Serouel M'douar - Algerian Urban Costume

So this part of the costume, the pants, are really easy, but it took me ages to find that out, because I couldn't find any desriptions of the cut of these particular pants (serouel in Algerian) that I never happened to see with my own eyes - all I had were photographs. 

The name - serouel m'douar - could have been a useful hint, if I had asked somebody. So the meaning of the name (m'douar means nothing else than "round") became clear to me after a couple of samples that I had tried to make. So here's the description.

You need upholstery fabric which is usually around 3 meters wide. Or you sew a piece which is at least twice as wide as the required length of your serouel (Does that make sense? Lenght: approx 1m; width 2-3m. It depends, how volouminous your serouel should look like and it depends of course on the characteristics of the fabric, stiif or soft, thick or thin).

Now fold your fabric twice. 

Cut out a quarter of a circle, or, if your serouel, like in this case, is longer than wide then the waist is the broadest part and the pants become slimmer towards the ankles in a rounded shape. A small piece between the feet is alredy united.

If you unfold the fabric now you should have a

two semicircular pieces eventually connected on the rounded side.

Pleat the waist, or simply gather it (pleats look less bulky).

Se the side seams and leave generous holes where you feet should go (leave at least 40 cm between them, otherwise you will not be able to walk!) 

Almost done. Waistband and hem at the feet are still missing, but the idea is clear.

Algerian Urban Costume Step 1: Research

It is one of the worst of my habits not to finish one project before starting the next one... so here I am again.

My fingers have been itching a long time for this and since the other dancing ladies have expressed their interest to work on Algerian Andalusian Dance I am heading to this adventure right now.

The costume-to-be should represent the festive attire of a high-class lady from Algier roughly in the middle of the 19th century in order to create a choreography on classical Algerian Andaloussi Music (explanation will follow...)

The fabulous book of Leyla Belkaid: Costumes d'Algerie, Edtions du Layeur, Paris 2003 offers deep historical explanations and many historical photographs related to this issue.

Below are a couple of variations of a late 19th- early 20th century style of indoor clothing.

 

The first part to explore were the trousers. This particular style is called "serouel m'douar" and is used also nowadays with a slightly different silhouette; as modern ladies want to look more slim they use less and more delicate fabric.

For the historical garments thick and heavy jaquard textiles have been used for the trousers, most probably silk. Nowadays you can use upholstery fabric which has similar characteristics and is relatively cheap.
And here you can see a modern serouel m'douar:

(picture credit: here.)

In the next post I will show you how to sew such a serouel.

Putting Things into Order ...

... is not my favourite issue. But thinking of my two blogs I had to make a small correction. I have moved everything oriental dance related to Anarkali, which is also my dance nickname. So from now on you will find all my musings about costume making here. On Saffron Yellow I will put everything which is not dance related, my other crafting activities and the mummy related things. So if you are interested... just follow both of them!

On Reconstructing: What is "Authentic" in Ethnic Dance?

Now that the Kalbeliya costume is finally finished I have collected so many ideas in my head that I am working now not on one "historical" costume, but on two simultaneously.

(N.B.: Rereading this article I have the impression to have written an anti-tribal-fusion statement. I do not at all disrespect any kind of fusion work, on the contrary, it has it's own charm and is an artform in itself! But it has a totally different background than what I am trying to do in this moment.)

When I say "historical" costume this means that I do an accurate research on a specific region and a certain time period. Then I usually choose a whole outfit that I try to reproduce including accessoires like headpieces, shoes and jewellery. On this base I choose the matching music to form a dance out of that.
But when it comes to reconstruction there are a lot of different levels of historical accuracy to follow. How much must my work adhere to them?

Thinking of my next projects these are the questions I posed to myslf and also how to answer them for myself - regarding only my own work right now. I do not want to make any absolute judgements, I just want to clear my ideas in order to achieve a round and coherent outcome!

Modern  version of a traditional Algerian costume  - from a magazine of the famous Algerian Designer Samira Bezaouia Sadek

Can I mix pieces of different outfits?
The answer is difficult. As documentary material may be scarce I will be forced to invent something in any case. BUT - and this is crucial for me - I want to have a coherent work, this means, that if I borrow pieces (and, when it comes to dances, movements) from another, similar source, I want to make sure that the pieces will not loose their initial meaning by being put into an alien surrounding. This may sound really cryptic. I mean, that the pieces should match and should not be used out of their  context regarding religion, social strata and regional peculiarity. So I would not combine, e.g. a peasant woman's apron with an urban headpiece.
Mixing signs of different religious or ethnic communities is not only a sign of a certain ignorance; it might even be regarded as an insult to a member of those. So be very careful with eclectic compositions and have always your audience in mind.
The gender aspect is also very important in non westernized societies. Although I see a certain shift in contemporary ethnic stage dance and costuming (e. g. in some of the new pieces of the sukhilshvilebi from Georgia) I'd rather leave those challenges of their own society to them. As an outsider I can never be sure what denotation it will create on the indigenous audience.
Whenever we approach and try to appropriate a different culture we should be very careful not to destroy the whole systems of meanings that holds it, otherwise we risk to act not only out of ignorance but in a colonialistic way.
This is what I mean by "authentic".

I know this sound sooo conservative! But where is my free artistic expression?! you may ask.

I find a lot of it even in this cautious approach. Some of the freedom comes simply out of material renouncement. I adore, for example, handloomed textiles, and love the very few scarfs that I own. But historical garments need a lot more fabric than our modern ones. And I would have to order them from India, and that is pricey. So, in this case I am very relaxed. I use modern, even synthetic, fabrics when I think they match the styling. I use my sewing machine, I use zippers, fabric glue, faux pearls, acrylic beads, glitter, and so on.
And I also adopt and combine modern crafting techniques which are completely non related to the historical background of a costume. So on a balkan style coat I will put not only the traditional gold work, but also holographic sequins and Japanese inspired Kanzashi flowers.

Random material for goldwork on an velvet coat

Last not least the music I like to use gives me the directions, how to incorporate modern techniques into an authentic dance costume and piece.

These are so far the limitations I put on myself for my work right now. And after that - I will probably make a completely crazy fusion thing! :-)

What is your opinion about all that? Please share!

Completed! The Kalbelia Adventure

I can't believe it. The Kalbelia costume is ready - after months of stitching and using up kilometers of trims. You can see the humble beginnings here. 

But now step by step - if you plan to make a costume like this yourself. Actually this costume was not very expensive in materials - I used very simple things that you can even find in your stash. But it was probably the most time-consuming project I ever made.

You need for the skirt:

2 (!) 3-tiers circular cotton skirts

The skirt you can see in the first post is actually only the first half of what I made. Then I realized that the skirt had to be wider so that it swirls beautifully.

Lots (!) of trims and ribbons. Cheap satin ribbons are the best. I cannot name the exact amount I used, but I used at least 25m of each colour.   

Eventually some repurposed fabric in bright colours - in this case for the blue stripes on the skirt and the yellow pieces on the shirt with the cut-out diamonds.

In my first post I explained how I cut out the diamonds - actually a second time I'd probably first cut the diamonds out and add the white rickrack trim with hand stitches first before stitching it on the skirt with the machine. But it works both ways.
The sequins have been glued on the skirt with fabric glue - you could sew them as well, of course, but I didn't want to spend much time.

Then you'll need an already existing cotton blouse. I added some more length with some more cloth - this is optional.
The microbeaded stripes were the most expensive parts of the costume. Maybe I'll try to make them myself one day, beadweaving shouldn't be that complicated. The patterns are simple and you can make those stripes using a beadloom or even without.
The veil is made of very simple synthetic organdy and I just I added a silver fringed trim and a green ribbon for contrast.
So this is the result of months of research, and of stitching. We are just waiting for the next performance!

Tutorial: Chinese Inspired Headpiece

 The last dance I created was a chinese inspired ribbon dance -  I made it for a dance show of my dear friend and colleague Claudina; she just launched her fabulous veil dance instuctional DVD (view the trailer here!) and so I decided to do something that could match the program.
So the dance and the costume were more or less ready, and I wanted to add some more 'bling' to the quite simple dress. I did some research how to make the base for the headpiece; it has to look somehow like this:

So cut out the plastic base and bond it together with masking tape. Sometimes you can even use a tennis cap turned upside down. As you will cover it with fabric later it doesn't matter if the masking tape is visible.
After that cut the fabric generously in the shape of the base and glue it on the surface. Then fold the fabric along the edges and glue the overlap on the back side. Keep the fabric in place with pins and let dry.

 

Now the most tricky part is done and you just have to glue or stitch the decoration on the base. The pieces dangeling from the temples are made of earrings with some red tassels. The golden lace balls are a part of christmas decoration. I made Kanzashi flowers with fabric scarps from the costume and added also some fabric orchids and severy jewellery pieces. I can only recommend the Kanzashi flower makers from Clover. They are cheap and so easy to use, you can't go wrong! Fabric yoyos are also very easy to make and look gorgeous in the ensemble.

A broad elastic strap holds the crown on the head. If you do backbends make sure that you secure it additionally with bobby pins.

Working on...

... the english version of the shop!

Up to now, offers are available on the German site.
Have a look on the side bar and enjoy!

Upcoming Shop Launch: Sneak Peek

(Au nom de la Rose: Earrings with Japanes Tensha Beads)

After long hesitation (will I really make it? do the pictures look good enough?), even longer preparations when the girls were sleeping, often long before dawn - now, finally, my new DaWanda shop will soon open its gates!

Zakuro - Jewellery for the Soul * Poetic Design

will offer hand made Jewellery from Romantic to Oriental - following my passion for glass beads and glitter. I use Bohemian glass beads, African vintage trade beads, Chinese laqueur beads (cinnamon), Tibet silver findings, Japanese Tensha beads, baroque freshwater pearls, handmade recycled glass beads from Ghana, and many more...

And soon also accessoires such as shawls from Japanese Kimono silk and Obi brocade, vintage Saree silk with Zardosi embroidery, Ethnic Kantha stitching...

Stay tuned for a lot of inspiration and lovely gifts!

(Long necklace with Fluorite cubes, baroque pearls and Bohemian glass beads)

(Earrings with sparkling crystals with Aurea-borealis finishing, antique copper findings and a shimmering freshwater pearl in fading rosé)

(Earrings with North-African "Hamza" findings - apotropaic symbol)

Crochet Necklace Summer Series

Last week I created a new series with crochet necklaces. It was so much fun making them! I used coloured copper wire and sparkling czech glassbeads.

The necklaces have two or three strands and suit day outfit as well as an evening gown. The crocheted wire makes them look very airy, but combined with delicate freshwater pearls they have a very elegant and precious look.

This last piece I love best - wire is light grey and I have combined it with pale salmon freshwater pearls, iridescent white and grey czech beads and some light brown crackled glass beads.

A New Chapter?

In this somehow challenging period of my life - I lost my job a big international company after going in maternity leave - I now constantly try to reinvent myself, not only professionally. I think I found an excellent hint on decor8 (thank you!!) and ordered Lisa Sonora Beam's amazing book. It arrived a few days ago and I am sooo happy about it! Here I found exactly what I needed: Step-by step instructions how to put together my scattered business ideas, how to improve them, and everything in a creative, humorous and feminine way. I already had attended highly complex workshops on entrepreneurship before I started to work as a freelancer translator, but with all the excellent explanations I got I ould not overcome my fears - of not being able to do this on myself (after all I have no economic formation at all being maybe an excellent scholar, but not a businesswoman), fear of not being qualified to do exactly this because my academic degree of Classical Studies is of no help if I interpret a court case or a police questioning, fear of exposing myself trying to get noticed on the market, fear of getting stuck, because I work from home with all the family around me, and so on. But this book provides a lot of extreme useful hints how to manage these "weak points" people generally have if they enter business world from another direction, and, most important of all, I gained the comforting insight that I am not the only one batteling the monsters of new challenges!
And, last not least, I gained something else, too, which maybe is even more important than anything else: I retrieved a part of myself that has been buried for a long time - the joy of painting, of creating moods with colours and to experiment with forms. I used to do this a lot in my teens (alas, it's almost 20 years!), it was a sacred activity then for me, but somehow I got trapped between too many books and lost the key to it. Following a sudden impetus I unearthed a box that had survived miraculously half a dozen relocations:

Look what I found! Water colours, calligraphy ink from red to sepia, pens in all sizes and shapes, charcoal crayons, gold and silver finish a a set of tempera colours and paint brushes from Prague - I had lmost forgotten this strange trip with my first boy friend only 2-3 years after the collapse of the iron curtain, where there was nothing to buy except from musical notes (for him) and art supplies (for me). It were times when I used to get deeply immersed into painting, experiencing wonderful bliss while trying to capture this fugacious beauty I felt watching a landscape or visualizing images from books I had read.
I had almost tears in my eyes from the emotions that arose in me and I was really exited when I decided to try using them again - would there still be usable colour in the tubes? Would I still be able to hold a brush? Would the result communicate anything at all to me? What a flurry in my head and my heart!
On the pic there is also an old novel from Soviet times - I chose it as the raw material for my new journal I want to keep from now on because of it's "oriental" content...
Yes, the path is steep, icy and slippery - but the light I'm following is so beatyful and encouraging!

Nature's art work

In East Germany we have been suffering the coldest period in the past 22 years these days with up to -20°C (BRRRR) in our little town.
But look at the awesome artwork it has produced! I discovered it while I was taking my daughter to the playschool at sunrise. It made the hoarfrost look pale pink, a wonderful contrast to the blue sky. What a beautiful lace has come out!

Merry Christmas and scented gifts ;-)

Literally in the nick of time the gifts were ready ;-) I wanted to say "Thank you" to several people that had helped me a lot during last year, with the baby, with their support and so on... Finally I found a small company in Liguria, Italy that produces precious 100% pure olive oil cosmetics, pure luxury for body, mind and soul. I ordered 4 1kg bars, cut them into slices (don't ask me how many pieces I ruined until I realized that it is much easier to cut them if you lay the bars on the heating for half an hour or so...) and wrapped them into coloured banderoles which I had created just for this occasion.

Here they are all together put on a portuguese vintage tile. And now one by one:

Merry Christmas to you everybody! May you have a lovely and peaceful celebration full of happiness with all your beloved ones! Thanks for reading and support!

Kimono Eyeglasses Chords

Here are the first examples of Kimono Silk crafting from my atelier ;-)
Made from original vintage Kimono silk in light blue, two of chirimen silk with some small printings in shibori (tie-dye) style, the third one has a structured surface with small waves and momji (maple leave) patterns.
I have affixed small rubbel loops for the eyeglasses; the chords match perfectly with a light coloured summer outfit . You can wear your (sun) glasses around your neck when you don't need them or you protect your glasses from very agile baby-hands... oh, I know that problem ;-)
All my stuff you can find in my Dawanda store soon... keep in touch!

Little pieces of happiness

About one year ago my life has changed radically with the birth of my little daughter. I learned to stay at home ;-) instead of hopping from one dancing seminary to the next. But where could I find now a little bit of beauty to add to the every day routine? I needed a new hobby - and I found BEADS! What wonderful invention, surely as old as mankind. In past times you could buy almost a whole continent with this tiny colouful and sparkling treasures, nowadays you can steal at least a woman's heart... So I began collecting shimmering freshwater pearls from China, handmade lampwork beads from India, antique Venetian beads for the African traders, Bohemian vintage glass beads in Jugendstil design, multicoloured millefiori beads, stones with vigorous colours like turquoise or garnet, or softly shimmering moonstones, amethystes and corals in rosé. And what a bliss to put them toghether, inventing stories for all the combinations of melancholic princes, glorious peacocks and the mysterious whispers behind the courtains of a Moghul palace. In the glaze of a handmade bead I imagined stories of long silkroad travels, arid deserts and dangerous mountain paths... and so on ;-) So I spent some time in the early morning, at sunrise, when my family was still sleeping, feeding my fantasy with colours and putting toghether necklaces and earrings - each one with its own story. The pics show some examples. Unfortunately the sunrise now in autumn is already too late for that; I will have to find another solution now to colour up the rainy days of German fall....

Baby-Babouches

Today I made these cute baby-babouches for her ;-) For the beadwork made with small glass beads and sequins I chose a design that reminds me of the patterns used by the Kabyle women in Algeria - the wonderful country my husband comes from.