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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.
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.
