Sunday, December 23, 2007

Happy Holidays!


Lowland Design wishes You


Saturday, December 1, 2007

Congratulations!!

Congratulations for Ashley who came third in the Oireachtas!



And second in her solo results!

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

A Rose is a rose is a rose...


Ashley's dress is coming along nicely. Her base fabric is a chocolate brown fabric with roses woven into it. Since Ashley loved roses, it was not hard to imagine what her dress was going to be like :-) She has spent the last year designing it and now it is finally being made...

Her top panels are shown below. The "pleat" panels will have pink satin with a lace overlay and a lovely pink organza ruffle.



Friday, November 9, 2007

Ready!

Susie's dress is finished just in time. She will come and pick it up tomorrow.
I love the green colors on this dress. It is so bright and fresh together! The cape is a sequinned tye-dye chiffon with 2 shades of green on it. You cannot really see the tye-dye pattern in the picture due to the flash, but it has more contrast with the base fabric in real life.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Susie's dress


Susie is going to the Oireachtas in Berlin and needs a new dress as her old one is sold! I am furiously working to meet the deadline...
Her teacher said that after the black and pink dress, she might need a different color. The green is very bright and cheerful. The base fabric has nice embroidered spirals and a slight two-tone effect.

Her panels (petal style) have been embroidered, stiffened and lined and are ready to receive the final satinstitching around the shaped edges. Then I can sew these panels together halfway and start on the back sections of the skirt.


**Please note that I am fully booked until january 2008 and can only accept new orders for delivery in february 2008**

Thursday, November 1, 2007

How-to satinstitch straight

Sometimes people ask on the web how they can transfer their designs onto the fabric of the dress. There are many ways to do this of course, and here I show one: the paper tissue method.

This method is particularly good when you have to embroider onto fabric when you have no edges of the applique to follow. In this example I need to do straight lines of satinstitching onto a pink area.


Firstly I have the area drawn out onto tissue paper and have marked all the stitching lines. The paper is then pinned onto the fabric and I stitch the outline with a large running stitch to hold it in place.
When the paper is in place I stitch out the lines I need to embroider and then I remove the paper. The stitchlines are now marked clearly (if you use a contrasting thread of course :-)



Now it is time to satinstitch the marked lines... perfectly straight!

Monday, October 29, 2007

For Sale...Noreen's dress.


This lovely warm cerise dress is now for sale. The dress was made in 2005. The base is a metallic cotton with a red metallic warp and cobalt blue weft, creating a deep cerise that changes slightly in tone as it reflects the light. Applique is done in holographic glittersquare, yellow satin and emerald metallic cotton. The lining is silver satin.
The design is bright with nice contrasts that show up well on the stage. It would be very nice as a first solo dress for prizewinner/intermediate.





The dress is very well cared for and in good shape. No signs of wear, no make-up and no odor! The bodice is fully lined in cotton and dress shields have always been worn woth the dress. Owner is asking 400 euro plus shipping from the Netherlands.

This dress needs to be sold! REDUCED to 210 GBP or best offer!!!
Measurements (taken from the dress):

Chest 87 cm
Waist 78 cm
Collarbone to waist 34 cm
Skirt 41 cm
Full dress length 75 cm
Sleeve 54 cm
Back neck bone to waist 41 cm
Shoulder to shoulder across the back 35 cm
chest front (armpit to armpit) 44 cm
neck to shouldercap 12 cm

Please email for more information; or leave a comment at this post.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Lisa Lubbe Memorial Feis


Katy and I danced today at the Lisa Lubbe memorial feis in Wassenaar, the Netherlands. Katy was thrilled with her new dress and I have to say, did really well in all her dances. Just look at all those trophies... Well done Katy!

Friday, October 26, 2007

Danielle's dress



This OTR dress is now sold and will be for Danielle from the US. She is very excited about it. Hopefully it will be finished the end of december, ready for delivery in january.

As soon as there will be a new OTR dress I will place this info on my blog.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Finished!



Very poor picture taken very quickly before I put this dress in a bag and brought it over to Katy. She says she loves it and it fits her really nicely. I am sure that this weekend at the feis I will have more chances to actually make a nice picture of her in it. Hopefully with a nice trophy to show!

Friday, October 19, 2007

Pinned together


Katy's dress is now finally taking shape. The back sections still need to be done, but I could not resist pinning the bodice and front skirt panels together to see how it will look. Next I will finish the bodice and set in the sleeves, make a sweetheart neckline in turquoise embroidery and think about the cape. It should be finished before next week when our school is having our annual Open feis.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Main embroidery done


I still need to add the ruffle on the skirt panels and also attach some sequins and organza flowers. Then these panels are ready to be stiffened. I am waiting to receive the lining fabric from Whitelodge. It was sent last week so I am sure it will arrive either today or tomorrow. Once the skirt is in this stage it does not alter much in appearance (as only stiffener is added), but when the (shaped) pleats are put in it will again be quite a difference!

***
Well, whadd'ya know??...as I am writing this post the package from Whitelodge with the lining fabric was delivered! :-) Talk about nice timing!

Monday, October 15, 2007

Black feis results!






I had a great time dancing at the black feis in Killarney. It was really nice, but also kindof weird to see everyone so similarly dressed. I loved the straight hair that some of the girls had and I myself showed off my naturally curly hair :-) I danced the best I could and finally got second-last by one point. I don't think I could have done any better than I did. I really gave it all, made no mistakes and tried to enjoy myself and smile on stage....and the smile on the picture says it all: I had a great feis!

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Ready to be embroidered


The applique is fixed onto the panels and I am ready to start the embroidery on this dress. The blue pleats will have a ruffled edge on the top sides. This morning I have ruffled all the yellow organza needed for this (who said dressmakers had the day off on sunday? :-) The hemline will be shaped, which means the pleats will not be able to move around. You cannot really see the blue flowers in the picture as it is taken with poor lighting, but they are really shiny turquoise. Once the embroidery has started they will pop out of the background due to the contrasting color.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

The pleating has started...


So I am well away on working on Katy's dress. I am currently pleating the fabric that will be on her skirt panels and sleeves. I have constructed a little "perfect pleater" to help me accomplish the task of setting all these pleats! It works really well :-)

After Katy's dress there are 4 more dresses to be finished, which means I am fully booked until January 2008.

***UPDATE***
Please note that the Ready-to-wear dress is rescheduled to be finished in DECEMBER, after I have completed all the rush-orders for the Oireachtasi in november.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Gaelic Games a.k.a. "black feis"


This weekend I will travel to Killarney to participate in the Gaelic Games feis!

The rules are: no dresses, no stiffener, no embroidery, no glitter... Only simple black skirts and tops or simple black dresses are allowed.
So, here is my outfit :-) Of course, I'll be wearing some tights to cover my ghostly white legs...

Please note that I will not be able to answer any emails with questions or requests from thursday 27th of sept to monday 1st of october.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

Congratulations!



Congratulations for Teresa on getting a first place at the Bonn Feis. Very well done!

Katy's dress


The next dress to be is going to be for Katy. The base fabric is a lovely sequinned petrol taft. The design has some lovely flowers on it that I really like. It will be a standard 3 panel dress with some pleated and ruffled details.

Next up is the cutting of the skirt applique and embroidery.

Friday, September 21, 2007

Booked full until december

Josef Mánes's The Dressmaker, The National Gallery of Prague



Due to the amount of custom rush-orders for the O's I am now fully booked until december 2007. Custom orders will be accepted for delivery in january 2008.

The Ready-to-wear dress will be pushed aside during the fulfillment of all my custom orders and completion will be have to be rescheduled to december.

Any updates will of course be placed on this blog.

Friday, September 7, 2007

OTR sold - For Danielle.


The embroidery on the front is done now. I am leaning towards a gold holographic lame from Whitelodge for the lining. The panels are not stiffened yet.
I forgot to mention before that the design is an exclusive and will not be repeated.


***Update26 oct***

This dress is now sold and will be for Danielle!

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Embroidery threads


I have finally located the correct color purple and the correct color gold for this ready-to-wear dress. It took me ages to get my supplier to have the right shades...but they are here! Updates on the embroidered panels will appear here in the next weeks!

This design is planned to be a ready-to-wear dress soon. I am currently finishing up the fabric choices. The black swirl fabric is a beautiful overlay with holo gold sewn sequins. The gold/lilac bits are a gold brocade and the light yellow a gold raised foil.
The sleeves might be changed. The lining is also not yet decided. The embroidery will be in gold and lilac and black.( You can click on the images to get a more detailed view)


This dress is planned to be finished in september 2007.
approx. 14-16 yr old
Bust 33"
waist 28"
Skirt 16"
Collarbone to waist 15"
(measurements are approximate)


Price: 1000 euro plus shipping from Holland.
Please email me if you are interested in this dress, or leave a comment on this page.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

For sale! (SOLD)



The base is made of falling rain satin. The applique is in a myriad of pink glitterdots. The pale pink has a lovely mother-of-pearl finish to it. Please email the owner for more information.
Price: 550 euro THIS DRESS IS NOW SOLD.

Saturday, July 7, 2007

Ready to wear design



This design is planned to be a ready-to-wear dress soon. I am currently finishing up the fabric choices. The black swirl fabric is a beautiful overlay with holo gold sewn sequins. The gold/lilac bits are a gold brocade and the light yellow a gold raised foil.
The sleeves might be changed, depending on what I find later this week. The lining is also not yet decided. The embroidery will be in gold and lilac and black. Below are two pictures of the dress pieces laid out (taken without and with flash to show the true sparkle under stage lights). You can click on the images to get a more detailed view.





This dress is planned to be finished by september 2007.
approx. 14-16 yr old
Bust 33"
waist 28"
Skirt 16"
Collarbone to waist 15"
(measurements are approximate)


Price: 1000 euro plus shipping from Holland.
Design-only: 45 euro.
Please email me if you are interested in this dress.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Red performance dress


This dress was made for a performance by irish dance group KYRA. We have several of these red dresses for our group. The girls of this group are in their teens and have been growing a lot since we first made these. So, we had to make some new ones and re-fit some older ones. This made me try out a new concept: a two piece ensemble. The skirt and top are separate, so that with future growthspurts, we can more easily adjust skirts that are too short and tops that need more room. It will also be possible to swap skirts and tops more easily within the group.
The sleeves were cut from an older dress that was too small. They are not perfect, but they did the job.
The underskirt is also separate and simply lining fabric with a ruffle of tulle attached. I think it enhances the "fairy-like" quality these dresses have.

Friday, June 15, 2007

New designs

I have had some ideas for new 4-panels and wrap dresses and am finally ready to start putting them together in a digital catalogue. Below is an example of my work. If you are interested in my designs, please email me






Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Me...in my tulip dress




I finally finished the dress and took a picture of me in it at the Redmond feis. I hope you all enjoy!

Monday, April 9, 2007

Congratulations!




The 31st of March the Redmond feis was held in Wassenaar. Lowland Design would like to congratulate Sian and Emma with their first place Trophies! Well done girls!

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Teresa



Just in time for the championships in Berlin. Good luck Teresa and I hope you do well!

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Moving on

Lynne has moved to Ireland. I wish her all the best in her new life, and she will be missed around here! We have had some great times together. We became friends, made dresses (becoming closer friends), shopped endlessly for fabrics and discussed everything about dancing and dresses almost daily... I will really miss her company.

But, we move on. So...here are some of the costumes for sale that we have worn during our yearly dance drama competition.

The first set is called "rain and sunshine". Simply white cotton A-line dresses that are painted with a celtic bird motif in blue and yellow. The kite capes are in theme, portraying swirling water and the rays of sunshine. The sleeves are sheer organza. The hemlines are adorned with a sequin band. Lynne and I had actually won the competition this year!


The second set are in a Medieval Theme. The dresses are a purple satin overlayed with a sheer metallic netting with a leaf pattern in purple and gold. The color of the leaves changes from gold to purple depending on the light. They have an organza cape draping from shoulder to shoulder. The belts are satin with embroidery and can be pinned to size. Lining in gold.
A decent 3rd place was accomplished this year :-)
(pictures will be uploaded soon)

Both dress sets are about a size 8 and 10 UK.

If you are interested in any of these dresses please email me!