Ole!

Here's a little taste of my other big love - flamenco! At the end of each year, my fellow committed amateur flamenco dancers and I perform in the recital (yes, it's just like being a kid again, but more fun)! I usually make at least part of my costume, but this year I volunteered to make blouses for one of the classes I was in, and here is the result! 

I've been dancing with most of these ladies for a few years now, and we performed a classical number to the Habanera, from the opera Carmen, complete with castanets.

The blouses are based on this Burdastyle pattern. I found some plain red rayon for the main fabric, and managed to find the floral fabric for the ruffle without too much trouble - there are a lot of reds in the world! I was happy with the rayon, since the other budget friendly choice was polyester crepe, but man does it wrinkle! Good thing we were all very warm under the lights. I serged all the seams together (saving valuable time), and used the amazing 3-thread rolled edge setting to finish the sleeve and ruffle hems (which was another time & sanity saver). I attached the ruffle and made a casing at the same time, and used elastic in the neck edge to keep the blouses feeling loose and fluid, and adjustable for each of us.

Note the rolled edge on the ruffle!

We all had a blast performing, and I'm already looking forward to next year!