I do think that if someone has never sewn before, or never sewn on stretch fabrics, that it's worth it for them to make a skirt and a leotard once to get a feel for construction. Some people have a rather difficult time getting used to working with stretch fabrics.

Scrap the practice pants, skirts, etc? Yes, I always prefer when my partner practices in the nude.

Anon: When your feathers get ruffled you need to pause for a moment and preen. Practicing in the nude is preposterous. Pause for a moment and take a deep breath I promise it will help clesar your mind of petty thoughts.

I know nothing about dressmaking but I do know a good place to start would be Chrisanne Dance Wear. If you look at this very moment at www.dancesport.uk.com look to your left, first up, and click there. The above mentioned is probably the best known suppliers in the world. My former partner used to buy the skirt part from there and make the upper part herself from a bride or brides maid paper pattern . This was a ballroom gown which at that time was the way to go with a lot of Ostrich Feathers around the bottom.

I think Owen means that you don't need anything to fancy for practice making the sport more expensive than it already is. In fact one teacher we went to wanted the lady to wear tights with a minimum of skirt around the rear. The reason for this was so that he could see what the knees and thighs were doing Also ankle warmers that might obscure his veiw of the ankles were out This was of course Latin. The man had to wear a solid colour preferably black. He wanted to see the silhouette and not a splash of colour.

Practice wear does work better than a lot of off the shelf clothing. And if you are going to make it, you need a pattern to cut out the fabric, even if the pattern is something you create yourself. You might be able to do a skirt with a nail on the wall and scissors, but not much else. There's also another good reason for making practice wear: it's good practice for making real costumes

Thank you that is exactly what I meant. "Keep the cost down". Practice is just that , practice.

Your best bet for a ballroom skirt would be a panel skirt, as opposed to a circle cut skirt which will expose your tush a little more often you would probably like. I personally like 8 panel skirts. If you go to any fabric store and look at their pattern books, you should be able to find a number of patters that you would like. If you want a really good pattern, go with Vogue or Butterick. However, Simplicity makes some good one's too on occasion. Hope this helps!

This is why I stopped responding to the inquiries about costumes. Look where you all are taking this, except for you Laura, who in my mind knows her stuff and knows it very well. I love your site and your work. I draft my own patterns, why, becuse I have taken many classes in both design and pattern making. This is not an easy thing to do. Please Krystyna, listen to Laura and take her advise on both the patterns she uses and the methods of construction she has so freely given on her website. You can't go wrong. Laura's website has taught me things that even my instructors could not help me with. If you are as lucky as I have been and you continue with your sewing classes you may run into an instructor who has worked in lycra and knit fabrics. These fabrics are a totally different animal when it comes to sewing, it takes time and patience and I am sure Laura will agree with me on that. Good luck

I am now having a good laugh. I just realized that the orignal inquiry about patterns is from a year ago! I am sure by now this women has moved on. Does make me wonder, she never did respond. I hope the bickering wasn't a total turnoff for her, which is why I stopped replying to begin with.