How to make a mexican dance dress
How to Make a Frilly and Florid Mexican Dance Dress
Want to go to a Mexican dance festival, but don’t have a dress to wear? Fear not, because we are going to tell you how you can make a Mexican dance dress at home.
One of the most eye-catching and sensational dresses is the Mexican dance dress. These traditional dance dresses have many variations, depending on which of the state of Mexico that it hails from. If you are thinking of attending a traditional Mexican dance festival, then you should definitely wear a Mexican dance dress. Although there are many designs and styles of Mexican dance dresses, one of the most stunning and colorful dress is from the state of Jalisco in Mexico.
This traditional dress consists of a very wide skirt that flares from the hips with a fitted bodice. The skirt is twirly with a lot of flare and is embellished with ribbons of different colors sewed along the hemline. The bodice features ruffles and is floaty and feminine. One of the most important features of a Mexican dance dress is its flaring skirt which should be voluminous. If you don’t want to spend a huge amount of money in purchasing a Mexican dance dress, then the next best thing to do is to make one.
Looking at the pattern of a Mexican dance dress, most of you would think that it is very intricate and would require considerable sewing skills to make. In a way that is true. But there are ways in which you can make it with minimum effort. The first thing that you need to do is to make the flared skirt and the bodice separately and then sew them together to make a dress. The bodice need not be made from scratch and you can, in fact, fashion an old blouse or T-shirt into the bodice of the dress.
Things Required
- Cotton fabric, 3 yards (in a color and pattern of your choice)
- Knit fabric
- Sewing machine
- Thread
- Scissors
- Fitted T-shirt
- Wide Ribbons (in two to three colors)
Procedure
The first thing that you need to do is to purchase the cotton fabric. It is best that you choose two to three different colored cotton fabric to give the dress a more vibrant look.
Once you have all your supplies at hand, it is time to make the dance dress.
- Wear the fitted T-shirt (an off white one would be ideal), and mark a point, 6 inches from the bottom of the t-shirt. Next, cut the T-shirt where you had marked it and keep both pieces of fabric aside.
- Wrap the bottom past of the T-shirt over your waist and make sure that it is snug. If it is not tight, then pull the fabric to one side and mark it with pins.
- Sew the T-shirt band where you had marked it with pins. Fold the band in half and sew it again. This will make the waistband more durable and also give you a better fit.
- Next, measure your hip length and multiply it by 1.5. Write down the number that you arrive on a piece of paper. Cut a piece of knit fabric measuring this width and your desired skirt length. (around 35” for an ankle length skirt).
- Sew the sides of the knit fabric together. This will make the underskirt of the dress.
- Cut 8 strips of cotton fabric, each fabric strip measuring 5.
5” in width. The first fabric strip should measure about 1.5 times your hip measurement in length. The next strips to cut should measure 2 times your hip measurement and the rest should measure 3 times your hip measurement.
- Fold the first strip ¼ ” inside and sew a gathering stitch on one side. On the other side of the strip, hem the fabric for a finished look.
- Take both the edges of strip together and sew it to form a circle. Repeat the same procedure on all the other strips of fabric.
- Sew the first circular strip to the underskirt that you had made earlier and then sew it to the T-shirt waistband that you had made.
- Next, stitch the second circular strip of fabric on the underskirt, making sure that it is sewed in such a way that the underskirt is not visible.
- Sew the rest of the strips until you have an ankle length flared skirt.
- Finally, sew the T-shirt to the waist band of the skirt. To hide the stitches, apply fabric glue and adhere a long piece of colorful ribbon.
- Your Mexican dance dress is ready and you can embellish the bodice with rows of different colored ribbons that are sewed over it.
As you can see making a Mexican dance dress is not a hard task although it requires a bit of patience. But the results will be well worth it.
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How to Make a Mexican Dance Dress
By: Frieda Cramer
Updated On: September 29, 2017
Mexico’s colorful blend of European and Indian cultures is expressed in the traditional Mexican dance dress seen in the United States during a Folklorico festival. There is no one style, but many variations of color, skirt length and fullness.
Each of Mexico’s thirty-one states has its distinguishing cultural features represented in its dance costumes.
The predominant styles come from Jalisco, Vera Cruz, Sinaloa and Yucatan. If you are interested in finding out more about various styles and costs for a mexican dress, go to mariachiconnection.com.
The most well-known style of Mexican dance dress in the United States is from Jalisco. This dress features a full, colorful skirt bordered with rows of ribbons (or similar trim) and topped with a ruffled yoke, trimmed with ribbons or rickrack to complement the skirt. The skirt is also distinctive for its width. A dancer can hold the ends of each side of the skirt and pull them up like a fan, enhancing the swirling and graceful moves, making the fabric a fluid part of the dance.
Determine the style of dress you want. Are you a member of a dance troupe, just learning Folklorico dance, or want a costume for Cinco de Mayo? The type of use and frequency of wear will determine how much of an investment of time and money you want to make in your dress. What style of dress is appropriate: a swirling dance dress from Jalisco or a highly embroidered skirt and blouse from Yucatan?
Assess your sewing skills.
If you have experience constructing clothing and are not afraid to tackle a project using over twelve yards of fabric that requires precision application of dozens of yards of trim, then it may pay (in savings and satisfaction) to sew the dress yourself. You can find pattern sources online that carry Simplicity or Pattern Kingdom patterns. The sewing directions will be included in the pattern. Make sure you have plenty of workspace to accommodate the large pieces of fabric that make up the dress.
Choose the proper accessories. Before working on the dress, plan the type of accessories that are appropriate for the style you are sewing. If you are fortunate enough to have a Mexican community in your area, visit a dress shop or dressmaker. Many will specialize in making clothes for Folklorico dancers or Quinceanera parties (a traditional family celebration for a 15-year-old girl). Check the resource site for intricate combs, Mardi Gras–like glass bead necklaces called papillios, fans and dance shoes (think Mary Janes with square heels that you would see on a flamenco dancer).
Plan a month in advance. You will need that amount of time to find your pattern and material, construct the dress and locate accessories. But once you put it all together, you will have a beautiful and unique garment to dance in.
References
- www.mariachiconnection.com
Writer Bio
Frieda Cramer studied creative writing at Shoreline College and is pursuing a degree at the University of Washington. She served as editor of "Sprindrift" and has been published in "Spindrift," "Poets West," "Las Cruces," and the "National Paralegal Reporter." Cramer is a past board member of Washington Lawyers for the Arts.
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400 meters. Do-it-yourself Mexican costume for a boy
Sometimes you need to come to a holiday in costumes of different peoples of the world. Here, parents will have to carefully consider national costumes and choose one that will look spectacular, and which will be easier to make.
In the article we will consider the version of the Mexican New Year's costume. This outfit is more suitable for a boy. The costume actually consists of the upper part. You can wear any dark pants, even jeans will do.
Cape
One of the elements of the Mexican costume will be a striped poncho. This is a wool cape that the people of Mexico put on during the cold season. It is not difficult to make it, only you will need to purchase a striped dense matter, it is desirable that it be bright, it is possible with a geometric ornament. A double measurement from the child's shoulder to mid-thigh will suffice.
You can even make it shorter, but to cover the belt. The fabric is folded in half and a neckline is cut in the center at the fold. The neckline is trimmed with edging, and laces with pom-poms are tied. On the bottom edge of the Mexican costume, you need to sew a ribbon with fringe or tassels. The width of a poncho is the distance from the middle of one shoulder to the middle of the other.
The cape should hang down from the shoulders.
Vest
For a boy's Mexican costume, you can sew a vest instead of a poncho. The material is also taken striped. It is desirable that the traditional colors of Mexican national costumes be present. These are brown, red, black, yellow, orange, green. Also, complete with a vest, you need to make a red wide satin belt for the Mexican costume, which is tied to a bow on the side.
The vest is easy to sew, you can use a standard pattern. If you don’t have one, then take an old children’s vest and outline it on a newspaper, then cut out a pattern along the contour and sew all the details with inside seams. Any mother who has ever held a needle and thread in her hands can do this. No special skills are needed to sew a Mexican costume for a boy. So that the floors of the vest do not diverge in the dance, you can sew a bright lace with a pompom on each half and tie both halves together in a bow. Pants for this outfit are better to wear black.
On the side seams of the pants, you can sew a ribbon with pom-poms or tassels. A white loose-fitting shirt with wide sleeves on the cuffs is put on under the vest.
Belt
The Mexican costume needs a wide and bright belt. It is better to buy a piece of red satin. Cutting the belt is easy. This is a long strip folded in half. Sew the fabric on the wrong side so that the seams are not visible. The edges of the belt can be made at an angle. The belt for the Mexican costume is not completely sewn up so that it can be turned right side out. The remaining segment is closed with an inner seam, carefully so that the threads are not visible.
DIY sombrero
For such a New Year's outfit, a boy can pick up a wide hat in any store. There are a lot of them for the holiday, as well as hats for Santa Claus. Chinese industry is doing great before the holidays. But the hat does not always go well with the outfit, especially when you need a Mexican costume.
The first option for making a sombrero with your own hands will be as follows: you can buy a black hat and sew a red satin ribbon around.
Then the edge of the sombrero can be sheathed with a ribbon with pompons, picking it up, too, in red. Complete with a bright vest or poncho and a red belt, such a headdress will look great.
Sombrero from colored paper stripes
To make such a spectacular Mexican hat, you need to prepare sets of colored tissue paper in the brightest colors. As a basis, you can take a real straw hat, which is available in almost every closet. The height of the central part of the headdress can be increased by means of a truncated cone cut out of foam rubber. It needs to be glued, but it is better to grab it with stitches using a needle and a strong thread. Then we start decorating. Strips of paper are cut to the same width and the edges are thickly cut into "noodles". Then the entire surface of the hat is glued in layers with paper. You can sew it on.
Work begins at the brim of the headdress and ends at the top. The inside is left unchanged so that the hat does not rub the child's skin.
Homemade hat
If you don't have a hat at home, or it's new and beautiful, and you don't want to turn it into a sombrero, even for a while, don't be upset. You can perfectly make such a stylish ethnic hat for a Mexican costume with your own hands. To do this, you need a sheet of drawing paper, thick PVA glue or a glue gun, colored paper. A circle is drawn in the center on a piece of paper. After trying on the head, it can be adjusted. Further, using a compass or a round object (for example, a lid from a pan), draw the outer contours of the hat. The result was a blank in the form of a wheel. The next step is to fold the cone around the boy's head and the edges are fastened with a stapler. The bottom is cut along a straight line, the top of the figure is also cut. This cone is inserted from the inside of the "wheel" and glued from the inside with PVA glue and strips of paper. A round lid is cut out and glued to the top of the truncated cone.
It remains to cut a long sombrero band and attach it with paper strips.
