Because it's so hard to find a bata de cola dress ready-made, I'm often asked for help on how to make your own.
Unfortunately, making a bata de cola dress is not for the faint-hearted. Even my regular flamenco dressmaker, who makes wonderful ruffled flamenco dresses, finds them difficult. Getting the fall of the ruffles right is a challenge, even for an experienced seamstress!
If you're determined to give it a try, this Folkwear pattern (right) is the only bata de cola pattern that I know of. Although it's not designed by a flamenco professional, the basic shape is there.
However, as you can see from the photo, the front is very short. You must adapt the pattern to make the front and sides longer, because you can't control the cola if you can't reach the hem with your foot.
You'll need to make the cola longer too, and add stiffening.
A good guide is that the back seam from your waist to the tip of the cola should be roughly equivalent to your height.
Folkwear Bata de Cola Pattern on eBay
I used this pattern to make the bata de cola skirt. It is an attractive style, but does not move properly. I added 3 feet to the train, and it needs to be lengthened in the front in order for the foot to have enough skirt to catch to kick & manouver the train properly.
Thanks for the response, Lori. You’ve made me realize I didn’t make that clear enough in my description – I’ll see if I can reword it.
Yes, you do need to add more length at the front and sides and add more ruffles to the train. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be any pattern in existence which already has those features.
I’ve been making flamenco costumes for many years and the bata de cola has to be custom made for the dancer in order to work properly, since it IS a dress that is for a specific dance. The guideline you gave (waist to height measurement) is a good guideline, however some dances (as with a male partner) require a very long cola since he will often use the cola as well in the performaqnce. The fabric/shape/weight have to be correct or the cola, when kicked, will flip over–big error. Not mentioned is the ‘cancan’, usually ordered from Spain, which is cut into approx 4-5″ strips, ruffled, and sewn to the underside of the skirt. The skirt lining and ‘cancan’ colors should match or you get a wierd look when the cola is lifted in the air during the dance. There is much time, effort and knowledge in constructing a bata de cola (hence the huge price tags for even a USED dress/skirt which would still need to be altered). You’re correct: it ISN’T for the faint of heart but when you see the finished product on stage and it does what it’s supposed to do, it’s great.
Thanks Juanita for such an informative comment! I’ve learned two new things – one, I’ve never seen a dance where the male partner uses the cola, it sounds interesting. Second, I’d never heard of the “cancan” and didn’t know you could order it from Spain. I’ve always struggled to find a good solution for stiffening the cola and tried all kinds of alternatives – now I know I needed the “cancan” all along!
Sorry it’s taken me so long to reply but I’ve had a very busy flamenco season and now i can relax. To see an excellent example of a dance in which the male dancers utilizes the dress of his partner, go to youtube and watch the Timo Nunez and Pamela Lourant performances from Santa Barbara california (red dress and white dress videos). A beautiful, tall couple to watch.
Since sewing the cancan to the dress is so difficult (you cannot ‘catch’ the top ruffles when you are stiching the cancan) and takes so much time, a friend made one by first sewing the cancan to the cola lining and then attaching it TO the skirt. Then of course you need to stitch it together all over so it doesn’t ‘balloon’. Can’t say how it worked though because i didn’t get to see the finished product.
That sounds like a great tip, Juanita. I watched the videos – that white dress is fabulous! I’ve posted one of them on this post so readers can see what you’re talking about.
Making a bata de cola is a lot of work, however with a bit of patience and a lot of time and will you can make it. I do professional batas de cola for living and I have to say that is one of the greatest works in the world… I enjoy it greatly, however making your own bata and wear it on the stage is exhilarating!!! I usually have batas de cola ready to go and recently decided to sell copies of my master pattern to other businesses since i saw the frustration in many costumers when they realize that a pro bata must fit like a glove so even with perfect measurements the bodice must be perfect before you can start adding the ruffles and the can can underneath…once the ruffles are on, there is no way to make important adjustments in any other way but by hand… check out my website for what i might have available…inventory changes all the time and a basic pro bata can start in 800 dllrs…http://batadecola.webs.com If you are making your own and need to know how to build the cola shoot me an e mail i will be glad to show you how to attach the volantes
Good luck!
I’m sure quite a lot of my readers will be thrilled to read your post and hurrying to check out your website! It is almost impossible to find a good pattern, and equally hard to find a dressmaker who understands how to make a bata de cola. thanks for posting.