So, here I sit, surrounded by beautiful fabrics I have collected, been given, and love them all dearly.

And I am preparing to start creating pieces for an upcoming event in early March where I will hope to sell pieces I have created and put my heart and soul into, hoping the right combination of size, style and colour will find it’s happy new owner.

But it’s completely illogical to my nature.

I co-create.

I design for my clients, working hand in hand with them to bring a shared vision to life.  They give me a starting point, some silhouettes, so colours, some concepts, and then I let my creative juices flow, drawing up ideas and offering them their options based on budget, time, and any other relevant factors.

Every piece is an original, every piece is a creation born from energy combined by two of us.

Don’t get me wrong, I do believe my personally generated designs are lovely, and have great potential to be personalized by the person who purchases them, either with my help or with their own styling.

Most people don’t see  what I see. I have created pieces that I considered beautiful canvasses that can be reworked with beads or tailoring and made into completely awesome pieces. But people often only see them as too plain.

By keeping them plain, I keep them budget friendly, so that the dancer can choose how much more she wished to spend on embellishment.

This grey velvet became my costume, but started as a one piece baladi dress that had no beadwork.  Then I decide I would just rework it for myself – and it turned out to be my featured performance costume for my Halyma’s Bellydance DVD # 1.

In the early days of sewing for the Bazaar, I used to create pieces while thinking of specific dancers who might like them, and quite often, I was blessed with their agreement and purchase.  Since I would tend to make them in the correct size for that dancer, it worked out well.

But I started to feel like I was almost victimizing those dancers and coercing them into purchasing by using my powers for evil.

I have continued to create simple pieces, but found that, without focus on a specific dancer to inspire me, many of the pieces remain unsold.  So they will be heavily discounted at the upcoming event in hope that will find a new home.

I think I need my muses back.

So, if you come shopping on March 8th at the Dancers’ Bazaar and see something that looks like it was made for you, and it’s in your size – feel flattered – you probably inspired me 🙂

Details:

Dancers Bazaar, Sunday March 8th, 12 noon to 4 p.m., 250 McArthur, Knight’s of Columbus Hall. Free parking and free admission. Facebook event  Organizer’s website

And remember, if you actually want something custom made, that’s what I do – email me!