Flamenco Skirt Carmen
If you have the pattern for a flamenco skirt with ruffles like the flamenco skirt pattern Carmen you’re all set. You know which pattern to use and how much fabric you need to make the ruffles.
But what if you don’t want your ruffles this way? Perhaps you prefer lots of small ruffles or you like less ruffles or really big ones. Or maybe you have a floor length flared skirt you’d like to transform into a flamenco skirt by adding ruffles.
If you ask me “How much fabric do I need to add ruffles to my skirt?”, the short answer will always be “that depends ..”.
Depends on what?
To start, it depends on how many meters of ruffles you need. And that depends on much flare your skirt has and how many ruffles you want. For one ruffle along the hem of a skirt you might need 2m of ruffles for a very narrow skirt and over 5m for a full circle skirt. Naturally, more ruffles = more fabric.
It also depends on the size of the ruffles you want. Larger ruffles tend to need (a lot) more fabric.
Another thing to think about is how much volume you want your ruffles to have – do you like lots of volume or just a gentle wave? I’ve briefly talked about this in a previous article. The smaller the inner circle of your ruffle the more volume your ruffle will have and the more fabric you’ll need.
Ready for some really simple maths? (don’t let the “m” word scare you 🙂 )
How many meters of ruffles do you need?
Flamenco skirt Carmen for example has 5 medium size ruffles, equally spread out from mid thigh to hem.
To make things easier I usually fold the skirt length wise (or use the side front + center front, or side back + center back pattern pieces) so I only have to measure 1/4 of the distance and multiply the measurement by 4 to get the length of each ruffle all around the skirt.
Either on the pattern pieces or on the actual skirt (mark and) measure along the lines of the ruffle positions and add the the lengths up to get the total number of meters.
For example:
Starting at the top ruffle you measure
ruffle 1: 0.45m x 4 = 1.8m
ruffle 2: 0.55m x 4 = 2.2m
ruffle 3: 0.65m x 4 = 2.4m
ruffle 4: 0.75m x 4 = 3m
ruffle 5: 0.85m x 4 = 3.4m
Total: 1.8 + 2.2 + 2.4 + 3 + 3.4 = 12.8m
We won’t worry about precision too much so we’ll round up and say we need 13m of ruffles.
Choose the ruffle pattern
The next step is deciding on size and volume of our ruffles. You want your ruffle to be at least a little bigger than the distance between the ruffles to make sure the ruffles overlap.
Once you know the ruffle size you can choose your ruffle pattern, with a very small inner circle for really full ruffles, a very large inner circle for just a hint of a wave or anthing inbetween:
Ruffles are simple shapes so it isn’t absolutely necessary to use a paper pattern. You could easily draw the circles onto the fabric with a measuring tape and tailor’s chalk. But for the number of ruffles you need for a flamenco skirt having a pattern ends up saving a lot of time and ensures that all the ruffles turn out the same.
How many circles do you need?
Once you’ve got your pattern you can measure the length of the inner circle. That’s the ruffle length you get from one circle, in theory .. for firm types of fabric like poplin that’s exactly what you get, for losely woven fabrics (for example chiffon) you’ll find your actual ruffle piece will be a fair bit longer. So for more exact calculations cut one circle from the fabric you will be using and measure that.
Using the medium volume ruffle pattern for flamenco skirt Carmen for example and crepe fabric lets say you get approx. 57cm of ruffle from one circle.
In order to make the 13m of ruffles we need: 13/0.57 = 23 circles (rounded)
How many circles fit on your fabric?
The last thing left to figure out is the best way to fit our circles onto the fabric.
First measure the diameter of the outer circle and add a little bit of margin (2-3cm is usually enough unless you have really slippery fabric, in which case you might give yourself a bit more) as well as the width of your fabric.
Most fabrics sold here in Spain are 150cm wide and the outer diameter + margin of our example ruffle is 50cm. That means I can fit 3 circles onto a 50cm wide fabric strip.
3 circles @ 0.57m of ruffle = approx. 1.70m of ruffle per 0.5m of fabric
To calculate the amount of fabric needed for all ruffles calculate:
You can replace Nº of circles with length of ruffles: total ruffle length (13m) multiplied by width of fabric strip, divided by ruffle length per fabric strip (1.70m) and get the same result.
Given that most flamenco costumes I make have lots of ruffles I tend to prefer efficient ways to cut them. I mostly use ruffle patterns that comfortably fit 2,3,4, or 5 circles on one fabric strip. But of course there is more than one way of doing things. In our example you could probably nest the circles and get away with a little less fabric but cutting would take longer. You get the idea and our simple example should get you started.
As always .. happy sewing! .. and let me know if you have any questions.
PS: If you are a Flamenco Dressmaking Customer there is a much easier way: The Ruffle Calculator
PPS: I cover the topic of ruffles in a lot more detail in the online course “Learn How to Sew a Bata de Cola – Step by Step from Start to Gorgeous Finish“. After all, what would a bata de cola be without ruffles? Click here to enroll.
