Here I enjoy more space and the inspiration of flamenco classes all around me.

The new studio is easy to find taking bus Nº 31 and getting off at Plaza San Miguel Bajo.

The address:

Plaza San Miguel Bajo Nº9

Albaicin

18010 Granada

Please drop in when you are in Granada!

Esther Marin - La Chumbera, Granada

Check out some Youtube videos of dancers wearing flamenco dresses made by Flamencreaciones =>
Eva Manzano - Teatro Isabel la Catolica, Granada
Eva Manzano - Arcos de la Frontera
Irene Peña - Teatro Isabel la Catolica
Ingrid Rojas Vargas - Ireland
Eiko Watanabe - Granada
Tres Buleros - Albaizin, Granada
Olga Rueda - Los Tarantos, Granada
Juana Larretta - Albaizin, Granada

Enjoy!

Have you been thinking of getting a sewing machine but didn’t know what to look out for, given the many different brands, styles, models and prices available nowadays? It’s understandable. After all, the sewing machine is one of the most hefty investments you’ll probably buy for your sewing room and hence it’s natural to feel a little anxious and lost with all the information available.

To help you with this, here are some guidelines to look out for when choosing a suitable sewing machine:

(1) Plan The Usage of The Sewing Machine

Ask yourself, what do you intend to use the sewing machine for? Is it for sewing new shirts for your husband, making quilts for the baby or embroidering elaborate designs on your new hankies? Whatever your specific reason may be, always remember this. Sewing machines are designed for different purposes and getting one that meet your requirements is the crux of a good buying decision. Don’t get something just because your neighbour has one or you’ll end up with a white elephant!

Next, take a look at the space available in your sewing room or the corner of your house where you’ll be placing the sewing machine. Is it large or small? Are there electrical ports available? Knowing this will in turn help you decide if you need a sewing machine that’s electric, mechanical, computerized, compact or simply serge.

(2) Research On the Brands & Models Available

Once you’ve a general idea of what you probably need, research on the brands or models of sewing machines which specializes in that. For example, if embroidery’s your thing, Googling for that will direct you to brands like Husqvarna Viking etc. Check out the models they offer, their features and of course, the price ranges.

Take a look at some of the customer’s feedback to see if there’s anything particular to feel good or bad about a certain model.

(3) Decide On Your Budget

By this time, you’ll have a general idea of how much the sewing machines that fulfill your needs, costs. Decide how much you can and are willing to spend. The range can vary from under $100 for a basic model to over $7,000 for a machine that does almost everything except cutting out your fabric. Be firm and don’t fall into the trap of buying something because you think you “might” need them. Go for something you know you’ll definitely use once you hand over your credit card to the cashier!

(4) Test Out the Machine(s)

Shortlist a few sewing machines you may want to buy and pop by for a trial at the nearest local dealer. Or the place of someone whom you know owns the machine. Test out the stitches and features that you’ll be using with samples of fabric you work on most often.

At the same time, check out with your friend or the dealer about its durability, warranty, ease of replacing parts, cost of servicing, upgrades etc. If you’re checking with a dealer, do remember to ask if they offer free sewing classes as a purchase bonus.

(5) Make The Purchase

Once you’ve decide which machine to get, making the purchase is the easiest part. You can buy it from your local dealer or online via reputed distributors. Some online distributors offer great discounts or bargains because of their lower operating costs. However, do make sure such savings are not overridden by an unfair return policy or hefty shipping costs. Know your rights so that you’ll have a much enjoyable online purchasing experience!

Caroline Sanders writes for a living. If you’re looking to pick up Singer Sewing Machines or other brands, check out this Sewing Machines specialty store.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Caroline_P_Sanders http://EzineArticles.com/?5-Effective-Steps-to-Buying-a-Sewing-Machine&id=1389589

Patricia Guerrero

So you want to make your own flamenco dress. Great! Unless you are making a sleeveless flamenco dress though you face a challenge:

If you cut and sew your sleeves the same way you would for an ordinary dress lifting your arms either leads to the whole dress moving up or, if your dress is very fitted (as flamenco dresses usually are), you simply won’t be able to lift your arms the way you need to for flamenco dancing.

How can you achieve a tight fitting dress with narrow sleeves that allow all those elegant flamenco arm movements?

You need to change the angle at which the sleeve is sewn into the garment.

If you lay a normal dress flat on a table you will see that the sleeves are sewn in at an angle of somewhere around 45º from the centre front line of the dress. For a flamenco dress you need to change this angle more towards a 90º angle:

In order to change the angle of the sleeve you need to alter the shape of your sleeve pattern piece from to .

In this image you’ll see exactly where the two shapes differ:

The length of the sleeve part that will be sewn to the dress is not altered so you can sew in the new sleeve the same way you would sew the normal sleeve. I have however found that moving the seam about 0.75 - 1cm inwards toward the neckline as shown here => provides some extra comfort and freedom of movement.

You will see that this fairly simple change to the sleeve pattern makes a big difference to the way you can move in your flamenco dress. Have fun sewing and let me know how you go. Of course, if you have any questions I am happy to help.

There are two basic types of ruffles: Circular ruffles and gathered ruffles. As fashion changes one or the other type becomes more popular. Most of the ruffles I make at the moment are circular ruffles. You will find them at the hem of skirts and dresses but sleeves and necklines also often sport ruffles. They come in a huge variety of shapes and sizes. Which type, size and how many ruffles you choose for any particular outfit depends on the effect you are trying to achieve. Just keep in mind:

• The bigger the ruffles are and the more volume they have at the bottom the heavier your flamenco outfit will be and, of course, the more fabric you will need.

Circular ruffles, as the name suggests, are cut from circles. Two, in fact - a larger circle and a smaller one cut out of the middle of the large one. You end up with a kind of doughnut shape

Circular ruffle pattern

Then you cut the resulting ring open (along the blue line in the drawing) and, after finishing both edges, sew the inner edge (orange in the drawing) to the garment. The edge sewn to the garment is smaller than the outer edge - this is what creates the flare we are after. The bigger the difference of the two circles’ diameter the more flare is created. For lots of volume cut the inner circle small For a soft, wavy effect cut a bigger inner circle

To calculate how many circles you need for your ruffle measure the hem of your skirt (or wherever the ruffle goes), for example 4m. Then measure the diameter of the inner circle of your ruffle and divide the length of the hem by this measurement. In our example, lets say we want to use the big ruffle shown in the drawing above, we divide 4m by 0.5m and find that we will need to cut 8 circles and sew them together to form the required 4m ruffle.

Gathered ruffles are cut from one or several rectangular pieces of fabric, joined at the short edge, where one long edge is gathered to create the ruffle. For the gathering I use a special presser foot on my sewing machine. If you plan to gather fabric more than once or twice I can only recommend you check whether there is one available for your sewing machine. It really takes the hassle out of the task. You can of course create gathered ruffles by hand or using the normal functionality of your sewing machine. For instructions check out this tutorial. Similar to circular ruffles, the more you gather the more flare you achieve and the longer your fabric strip must be (usually somewhere between 1.5 to 3 times the desired length).

You can cut a narrow strip and gather it in the middle or a wider strip and gather close to the long edge. This latter type you can sew to your garment with both long edges showing or, especially if the ruffle is sewn directly to the hem of your skirt, only show the bottom gathered part like in the picture of the black ruffles above.

Ruffle Finish

Finish the edge of the ruffle you will be sewing to the garment the same way as the rest of your flamenco dress: use a serger (or overlocker) or your sewing machine’s zic-zac stitch etc. To give the visible part of the ruffles a nice finish there are again two basic options:

• a tight rolled hem stitch using a serger (overlocker). This is what I do in most cases or

• finish the ruffle with a bias binding. You can also attach some lace or a small ruffle.

There are unlimited options. Play with contrasting fabrics for the actual ruffles, finish the ruffles in contrasting colours, combine ruffle types and sizes, attach ruffles horizontally or vertically, create ruffles by gathering the inner edge of a circular ruffle for extra volume etc. Just let your imagination run wild or check out the Photos page for inspiration and, most importantly, have fun!

A bata de cola can be a skirt or a dress. A skirt is more practical for classes and rehearsals, both skirt and dress look great on stage. I will concentrate on the skirt part since it is there where the bata de cola differs from other flamenco outfits.

The skirt consists of 6 panels with the back part ending in a “cola” i.e. tail. Pattern pieces look something like this: .The “cola” can be longer or shorter but most often the length of the back seam, from waist to the end of the “cola”, will be a little more than the dancer’s height.

Looks aren’t everything; a bata de cola needs to be fit for dancing. To make sure it allows for the required movements and doesn’t flip over a few points need to be taken into consideration:

• Material
  A bata de cola is generally fully lined, right to the “tip of the tail”, in order to achieve the necessary stiffness and weight. Fabric choice is up to you but keep in mind that a light weight outer fabric requires a heavier material for the lining, perhaps even two layers of lining. If the bata de cola doesn’t have enough “body” it will collapse and flip over while dancing. Check out Flamenco Fabrics in Granada - What to Buy for more tips on choosing fabric.

• Weight
  A bata de cola needs some weight. Without it it won’t move well. On the other hand, if it is too heavy it becomes difficult to dance with. What exact weight is right is a matter of personal preference.

• Cut
  The skirt must fit snugly around the hips. If it is too lose it is difficult to move the cola. How tight it should be below the hip depends on your dance technique. Some of my clients move the cola only with the lower part of the leg and therefore prefer the skirt tight, others need more space in order to dance comfortably. Trial and error is again the way to go. The same is true for length and shape of the cola but consider - the longer and bigger the cola the more difficult it is to dance.

• Length
  I have already talked about the length of the cola. Another important point to look at is the length at the side. It needs to cover the shoe when you lift your leg out to the side. This is how you move the cola and if the skirt is too short at this point dancing will be more difficult. If it is too long though you might step on it (and there goes the elegance …)

• Ruffles
  How many and what kind of ruffles you have on the outside is up to you. For a practice skirt you probably don’t want too many though. Ruffles add volume and weight. An extra ruffle is often a solution when the bata de cola is a little too light or not stiff enough. In most cases, ruffles are made of two layers to give them some lift and add to the stiffness of the cola. For the same reason a bata de cola has ruffles, usually made from tulle or some other stiff material, on the underside .

Every dancer is different and each one has to figure out what works best for her. It often takes some experimenting until everything is right. But it is worth the effort, don’t you think?

In the new Reviews category of my blog I would like to present the ones that have proven most useful to me and explain why.

When I consider buying any book I heavily rely on other people’s reviews and I am pretty sure that I am not the only one who does. So, if you are a sewing beginner or expert, stay tuned or, better still, subscribe to my RSS Feed

I will keep adding posts that may help you navigate through the jungle of sewing books and choose the one that is right for you.

The first time I skimmed through the pages I knew this would become one of my favourite books.

David Page Coffin wrote the book because when he was tired of wearing ready-made shirts that didn’t fit and decided to have a go at making his own he couldn’t find a good resource to help him. He had to learn by trial and error and wanted to spare other sewing enthusiasts the painful process.

In the first section (“Shirts Examined”) he explains materials used to make shirts, the tools you will need and the details of a classic shirt.

Then we are moving on to the section about “Patternmaking” where David Page Coffin explains what makes a shirt fit and how to develop a shirt pattern. He briefly looks at adjusting a commercial pattern, drafting your own, copying an existing shirt and a method combined of those three that he calls the drape method. I always draft my own patterns so I never followed this method closely but I found many helpful hints when trying to solve fitting problems. For me, the part on sleeves is one of the most valuable in the entire book. What I learnt there I apply in every garment with sleeves I make.

The next section covers “Shirt Construction”. Here, David Page Coffin teaches all the techniques needed to make a shirt (cuffs, collars, sleeve plackets, flat felled seams and more) in detail. He has made lots of shirts so he knows exactly where things are tricky and shows the best method to achieve the desired result. It pays to follow his advice to practice all of them before attempting to make your first shirt.

Eventually, we are “Sewing it all Together” – a step by step guide to help you through the sequence of tasks required to sew your shirt. Following it avoids the frustration of having completed some part just to realise that something else needed to be done first.

The last section of the book is full of ideas for variations of the classic shirt which you can pick up or use as a starting point for your own designs.

David Page Coffin’s book is certainly not aimed at people new to sewing but it is without a doubt one of the most valuable sewing resources I have found, not only for making shirts.

Check it out at Amazon

Violeta Ruiz

Have you ever wondered what a flamenco dress looks like from the inside or what makes it different from an ordinary dress? Perhaps you are thinking of making one yourself? Let me show you.

First of all, there is no limit to your imagination. You can wear what ever you like and feel comfortable in. But there are of course typical flamenco outfits. Fashion changes in the flamenco world too so I will talk about the type of flamenco dress I’m currently making for my clients.

• Tight or Wide?
  Flamenco dresses are very fitted until somewhere below the hip, sometimes as far as the knee area - anything from to - and flare out towards the hem. Tops and dresses usually have “princess seams” to achieve the close fit.
  The narrower the skirt the more elegant and flattering it looks but the more it limits your freedom of movement. So if your style of dancing involves wide steps and you don’t want to lift your skirt each time you’ll be better off keeping it a bit loser (or choose an elastic fabric).
• Sleeves Or Sleeveless?
  Most flamenco dresses or tops have sleeves, reaching either to a point just above the elbow, just below the elbow or to the wrist. Sleeveless dresses or tops are great too and will often be combined with short blouses or jackets when summer is over. Sleeves tend to be very narrow so the shoulder area and the actual sleeve needs to be cut differently from a “normal” dress to ensure that you can move your arms the way you need to in flamenco dance. (if you want to know exactly how to do that please contact me and I’m happy to explain)
• Plunging Necklines?
  The most common neckline shapes are V-shape, square, sweetheart and round. How low you go depends on your taste and figure. Too high a neckline is rarely flattering but one that is too low might make you feel uncomfortable when you lean forward to pick up your skirt while dancing. Tops or dresses cut low at the back look great but the straps or shoulder part might end up where you don’t want them when you drop your shoulders while dancing.
• How Long?
  In general, a flamenco skirt should cover at least part of the shoe. Most dancers prefer skirts that reach to the middle of the heel of the shoe. But there are always some who want their skirts to almost reach the floor and others who are worried about stepping onto the skirt while dancing and therefore wear it a bit shorter.

Continue reading What Makes a Flamenco Dress (Part 2)

Manuela La Malita

Continuing the article What Makes A Flamenco Dress (Part 1) here are some more points on what makes a typical flamenco dress:

• What’s On The Inside?
  Since you will be dancing and therefore sweating your flamenco dress generally needs to be lined (only practice skirts and blouses/shirts go without). The most commonly used material is a fine, soft cotton or poplin lining. Lining and fabric pieces are cut the same, joined and then both layers are treated as one when the dress is sewn . In most cases the lining only reaches to where the skirt flare or the ruffles start in order to not take away from the skirt’s flowing movement and to prevent the lining from showing when the dancer lifts the skirt.
• What About Ruffles?
  Ruffles are very “typical flamenco” and most outfits will have them. There are two types of ruffles: circular ruffles (cut a circle and cut a smaller circle out of the middle, then sew the inner edge to the garment ) and gathered ruffles (cut a long rectangular strip of fabric and gather one long edge ) How big and how many ruffles an outfit will have depends on your taste and where you want to wear your skirt - for classes one or no ruffles will be fine, for a performance most dancers want some more. Often the hem of sleeves will also be finished with one or more ruffles. To finish the outer edge of the ruffles I mostly use the overlocker to make a “rolled hem” and sometimes a bias binding.
  When deciding on number and size of ruffles take into account that more ruffles = more weight, bigger ruffles = more weight. If you have a skirt with a lot of flare and add a lot of and/or big ruffles your skirt may end up weighing more than you feel comfortable to dance in.
• What About Godets?
  A godet is a pie slice shaped piece of fabric that is inserted into a skirt (mostly the seams) to give extra flare at the hem A skirt can have many godets, resulting in lots of extra flare or for example only one in the back seam. They are quite common in flamenco skirts and are a great way to let your imagination run free - using contrasting fabrics, ruffles etc.
• What Fabrics To Use?
  I’ve covered this topic in a separate article: Flamenco Fabrics in Granada - What to Buy
• What About Patterns?
  As far as I know it is difficult or impossible to buy commercial patterns specific to flamenco dresses. if you are interested check out the Patterns page and get one custom made for you.

Well, from my point of view these are the most important points. If you feel I have missed something you want to know or want more detail on anything covered here please leave a comment or contact me directly.