Hippy-news of a sort.

So I made myself a new hip-thing, as a sort of test-run for a new kind of HipScrap.

It's my medallions, attached to a belt, with extra ribbon.

 I showed you all the medallions I was working on in an earlier post - this is what I have done with them so far. What I did was hand pleat some satin blanket binding in black, and attach that to the medallions, as a second layer of ruffle, making them larger. Then I hand pleated and sewed some green ('dark peacock') satin blanket binding to an existing camel-colored sequined belt that I was given recently. I attached the medallions to each end, and also added a length of the same green grosgrain ribbon I used for the first layer of pleating on the medallions. I added the ribbon because the existing ties, although tie-able around my waist, weren't long enough for my taste. I made matching bead accents for each tie-end, so that the camel ties can just dangle prettily, and not look totally incongruous. This piece isn't totally finished yet, but I did wear it to belly dance class on Saturday morning, to see if I liked how it looked at work. It looked good, but I think it is also going to become a chainette belt. I'm now trying to decide if I want to go with hand-stringing chainette to the belt, to get the look i want, or if I want to just buy some of the door-length chainette trim I've seen, dye it to match, and then just sew the strip on and trim it to the desired length. I can always save the cutoff bits for other projects. I'm thinking I want camel colored chainette, maybe with a mix of the dark peacock color and black as well.

Two posts ago, I showed you all a photo of some bandannas that a friend gave me to use for HipScraps, with the condition that she get to keep a particular one for herself. Since then I have been inspired as far as what I want to do to both her HipScrap, and another one. I posted a pic of the trim I wished to use  for the one she hadn't chosen for herself, and now she wants both! These will become side projects, since I won't be able to spend a bunch of time on them that should be devoted to ones I plan on actually selling, but that's okay since she's going to help purchase all of the trims, and that means she has to save up.

Both of them will by Gypsy-inspired, and may end up being far larger than the regular HipScrap - larger than the Plus. She and I will have to have a fitting to be sure. These will be renaissance garb for her mostly - though she has mentioned that she might come to belly dance class if she has a HipScrap! (Muahahah! She WILL be assimilated!)

There's a belly dance workshop coming up with Ashara - I'm trying to decide if I ought to go - am I ready for a master class? I feel as if I barely know belly dance basics. But it might be a lot of fun, and I will learn a lot, no doubt. I just worry that i fI do go, will I be able to cope? As it is I usually can't stay on my feet for one hour of regular class, and I don't want to be rude and constantly run and sit down while she is trying to teach.

Oh, to close this post I will leave you with a sketch of an idea I have for a new HipScrap style/shape:

This would be a two-piece HipScrap, with an abbreviated regular HipScrap back, and a rectangular front panel. it would tie at the sides with D-rings for loops. The double lines are where tassel trim would be attached. Let me know what you think - I'm always willing to hear your input!