There is a Fashion God - Building a Tepee Part Tres

There is a fashion god. And I was not being punished to live in the same swimsuit and sarong forever.  With my earning’s from this weekend’s farmers market, I bought a new hot pink skirt and white peasant midriff top. They aren’t practical like last week’s purchases. They aren’t even sensible to work in the garden or campsite, but I just had to have something pretty.

I also selected several sarongs that are various shades of pink with hibiscus flowers on them. I added these to my few possessions to line the inside of my tent.  I spent the day sewing the sarongs on the inside of my tent. I had to be careful not to puncture the tarp with the needle. Otherwise, rain and unwelcome insects would be able to enter my new castle. I had to make sure that I sewed on the where the tarp had a seam.

This project brought out the showgirl in me. I found some shells on the beach that actually had holes already in them. They were nature’s beads. I sewed them together on the bottom of a piece of fabric from the sarong and made handles for the door (one on each side).

I was so into making my tepee beautiful, that I sewed all the way into darkness using a lantern. It reminded me of all the bellydance costumes I have sewn. I couldn’t help but think of bellydancing all those late nights at the Moroccan restaurant I worked at in the Village in NYC. The musicians and other bellydancers and I use to have so much fun every night.  We would dance on top of the tables and shake the audience up into a tizzy. I thought of the drum solos with just me and Hassam and I. We were so in synch that we would become one and give the best performances. We loved when the sheiks would come in and they would literally shower us with hundreds of dollars.

I laughed to myself about the time my finger cymbal unexpectantly came off, flew like a flying saucer and shattered a champagne glass to be received by cheers of applause. I thought about all the people that would deny my offer to dance with them, wandering why would you say no, just live life like its your last night! I would dance at so many private parties of the richest people in Manhattan. I would imagine myself to be an ancient dancer when I danced in their penthouse palaces. Memories kept me sewing into the night.

When I finished, I wanted to show someone my creation. My tepee was beautiful!