How to Make Godets for a Flamenco Skirt
I have always found making godets to be a real headache. These two videos give a good explanation of how it's done, though I'm still not totally clear on how to get the sides of the godet the right size!
The important thing to note is that a godet is never a triangle: the hem is always slightly rounded. Some people start with a quarter-circle, which means the hem needs a lot of adjustment when you're finished, because it hangs down a long way in the center. The dressmaker in these videos makes a much shallower curve, but doesn't explain how to make sure the sides are going to fit the slit.
Bata de Cola Pattern
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
 Flamenco Dress Practice Skirt Folkwear Pattern xs XL  US $19.95
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 Flamenco Dress Practice Skirt FOLKWEAR Pattern USA Mehrgrößenschnittmuster US $26.18
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Professional Flamenco Dresses
As a student, the sensible place to buy your performance wardrobe is on the second-hand market or on eBay - unless you have the skills to sew your own.
However there will come a time when you need a professional-quality dress tailor-made for you.
Unfortunately, the best Spanish flamenco dressmakers have been slow to create a web presence and offer their costumes to international buyers.
I'm pleased to say that Silvia Arcavin of Keflamenka is now online and offering her beautifully designed costumes to overseas customers. It's a rare opportunity to buy an authentic flamenco dress from a reputable Madrid store. You'll find her website at Keflamenka.com
Dressmaking: Flamenco Patterns for Skirt
Making your own flamenco skirt is tempting, but it's not that easy. The multiple panels and long hem mean you'll be sewing for hours! For practice and student recitals, a skirt like the Bal Togs flamenco skirt is perfect and only costs around $40 (see picture on right), so it's hard to see why you would give yourself so much grief!
Even if you're up for all that work, it's almost impossible to find a ready-made pattern. Go to your local fabric store and you may find some labelled 'flamenco skirt' - but chances are they're for fancy dress, and won't have nearly enough material for dancing, unless you don't mind showing your knickers!
If you really want to make your own, buy an ordinary 6-panelled skirt pattern. If you can find one with godets (triangles of material around the hem to make it flounce), even better. Godets in streetwear are normally quite small, so you'll probably need to make them longer for a flamenco skirt.
If you have an ordinary 6-panel skirt pattern, there are a few ways to modify it:
Option 1 - Shorten the pattern to just below the knee, then add ruffles to the hem. The number of ruffles will depend on how deep you make them.
# 2 - flared panel
This style will be similar to a sevillanas style skirt - just be careful it's not too tight around the thighs for dancing. If the original pattern was A-line rather than dead straight, it should be fine.
Option 2 - Flare the pattern for each skirt panel out at the base (see pic), then cut and sew as normal.
Option 3 - Add your own godets. Cut and sew the skirt as per the pattern, but leave the seams open from just above the knee. Measure the length of the slit, then cut godets of material with that as the length. Be warned - inserting the godets takes practice, and getting a straight hem once the dress is finished can be a challenge!
Dressmaking: how to make sleeves you can dance in
I've been lucky to have access to a specialist flamenco dressmaker for most of my flamenco outfits - but once or twice, I've had to resort to an ordinary dressmaker, with mixed results. 
Don't get me wrong, a good bridal dressmaker will know exactly how to go about making you a beautiful flamenco dress, given a few photos and the right material - but there's one place where she's almost guaranteed to get it wrong.
The sleeves.
When you're dancing, you have to move your arms through a far wider range than you do in everyday life. Both times I've had dresses made by non-specialists, I've been unable to get my arms above my head!
The easy solution is to choose a sleeveless design, of course. Or choose a cape or puff style instead of the tight elbow length version.
You'll also reduce the problem by using a stretch fabric - if not for the whole dress, at least for the sleeves (for instance, you could have lace sleeves in the same color, made of stretch lace).
If you're determined to have tight sleeves in the same fabric as the dress, you'll need to allow more ease in the armpit area. If you have an existing dress that's too tight, you can achieve this by adding a diamond-shaped gusset.
Dressmaking: how to choose fabric for a flamenco dress
Flamenco skirts and dresses require a lot of material - allow 2 metres (2.5 yards) for a simple skirt and 3 or 4 metres for a dress. That much fabric is heavy! Bear that in mind when buying fabric to make a flamenco dress, and look for materials that are on the lighter side.
Don't go too far, though - very light material won't move well (or will fly up too easily!), unless you add a lot of ruffles to add weight at the hem. It may also be see-through - and voila, you have to add a lining, which adds to the weight, so you're back where you started.
Many professionally-made dresses have a cotton lining, for strength and sweat absorption - but make your own decision as to whether you need one. Modern polyester fabrics hold their shape much better and don't really need a lining to support them, especially if you reinforce your seams.
As for sweat absorption - if you wear a separate cotton-lycra cami under your dress, it will absorb sweat just as well, and is easier to wash - and you don't have to worry about it shrinking out of synch with the dress. If the dress has sleeves, you can also sew sweat guards under the arms.
Bargain Flamenco Dresses
As we all know, flamenco dresses are horribly expensive. Of course, we offer some good value flamenco dresses here on Dress for Flamenco, but what if you don't like buying online?
One option is to go to Spain. I know that sounds like an expensive solution, but what a marvellous excuse to take a flamenco holiday! If you book yourself into a course at one of the flamenco schools, you can kill two birds with one stone, so you can still say you saved money 
Schedule your visit to just after the Feria de Abril in Sevilla, and you'll find some bargains in the flamenco stores in Andalusia. Flamenco dancers follow fashion as much as the rest of us, and the stores sell off this season's styles at a discount. Back home in your own country, no one will know you're wearing last year's style, and you'll have an authentic flamenco dress at a fraction of the price.
Incidentally, if you decide to go to Seville for the Feria and stay for the sales, make sure you have accommodation before you go. During the Feria, hotels book out far in advance (and are very expensive).
Photo by Robven
Flamenco Skirt Styles
Flamenco skirts can be cut several different ways. The best skirts for flamenco are slim-fitting around the hips and flare generously towards the hem. This is usually achieved by using panels, which are very narrow near the waist and get wider as they go down to the hem.
Some skirts have more v-shaped panels (called godets) added round the hem for even more width. A nice touch is to have the godets in a different fabric, which accentuates the movement to the hem. A popular combination is a plain fabric for the skirt, with toning polka-dotted godets (or vice versa).
Another option is a circle skirt, but avoid styles where the circle starts at the waist - the bulk of fabric around the waistline isn't flattering, and it's not a flamenco look!. Instead, choose a skirt that starts on the hip (rociera), or one with a tight-fitting basque around the hips and the circle starting from the bottom edge of the basque.
Flamenco Hair Ornaments
Traditionally, female flamenco dancers wear their hair long - and that's one tradition that doesn't appear to have changed in nuevo flamenco. It's rare to see a flamenca with a short hair style!
Also traditional is the use of hair ornamentation. The stereotypical image of a flamenco dancer is a women with a red rose and an ornate comb in her hair. Contemporary dancers may wear no ornaments at all, but if you're in a more traditional school, chances are you will still be expected to put your hair up and decorate it appropriately.
The simplest decoration is a beautiful fake rose - or perhaps two or three in a cluster. Make sure they're well secured by several pins!
I don't recommend using hair combs unless you can be sure they're anchored securely - I've seen too many of them fall out on stage, causing a hazard for other performers. If you're dancing up on a stage, they're not that visible anyway.
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Photo credit: Hair comb by iliturgitana, flamenco roses by Elliott Moore
Cheap Flamenco Skirts?
Flamenco costumes can be expensive, and if you're just taking your first class, you probably aren't ready to invest in a genuine flamenco skirt.
Unfortunately, High Street gypsy-style or Boho tiered skirt may look suitable for flamenco, but they often don't have enough material (unless they're a circle skirt, in which case they'll have that bulky-round-the-waist look).
As you progress in flamenco, you'll discover that the skirt isn't just something that hangs down around you - you'll be asked to pick up an edge of the skirt in each hand and move it around as you dance. While holding the skirt, you may have to put your hands on your hips, or swing one hand in front of you and one behind at waist level. If the skirt doesn't have enough fabric, these moves will reveal all of your thighs and, quite likely, more of your butt than you'd like! In fact, even proper flamenco skirts tend to lift up with the momentum of the movement in fast dances - I've been surprised how much leg I've shown in pictures of performances! So dancing in a skirt that doesn't cover your legs, even when you're moving slowly, isn't a good idea.
A compromise is to wear a pair of leggings under a boho skirt for practice, so it doesn't matter if your legs are on display when you lift the hem - in fact, quite a few teachers use this option. Personally I don't like this idea unless you're into nuevo flamenco (where the skirt is lighter and isn't used so much). If you get too used to dancing in pants, it's quite an adjustment to get used to dancing in a heavy skirt.
So when buying an ordinary skirt to use for flamenco, remember to pick up the hem and move it around when you try it on. Look in the mirror and make sure you're not revealing more than you want to!
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Photo credit: Nessa Land
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