Lowland Design irish dance dresses

Lowland design is moving on

2010-10-12T07:05:00.005+02:00

Dear all,

Since last year priorities within my personal situation have changed. Therefore Lowland design will no longer accept orders for custom made dresses. Activities will be kept to a minimum, with an occasional ready to wear dress.

I encourage all people in mainland europe to visit the website of Burg Design. Sylvia makes beautiful dresses with the highest quality. I have worked together with her on many projects and can truly recommend her!

http://www.burgdesign.nl

Black velvet Ready-to-wear dress

2009-04-22T07:47:00.001+02:00

This little velvet irish dance dress will be suitable for a child in the range of 9-11 years. The sleeves will be the same lace as on the neckline and the (soft) cape will me made of this fabric as well. The lining will be a gold holographic shimmer lame (from whitelodge fabrics).

Black velvet and white lace with golden embroidery.

-Dress measurements-

Bust: 27.5"
Waist (natural): 25.5"
Lowered waist: 28"
shoulder to waist seam: 15"
skirtlength: 13""
Overall length (shoulder to hem): 28"

Asking 850 euro plus shipping / $1099 US plus shipping

Please email me at lowlanddesign@hotmail.com for more information or leave a comment below.

Tara at the feis!

2009-04-19T22:28:00.003+02:00

Here is a picture of Tara showing her Trophy and medal she won at the Redmond Feis in Holland. Congratulations Tara!

And another one:

Tara

2009-04-14T07:41:00.004+02:00

The next dress will be for a very special young lady called Tara. She is a wonderful dancer from the Redmond school and is working very hard to move up in her dancing. If all is well, she should be receiving her dress this saturday for the Redmond Feis.

The bodice and the pleat panels will be made from a gorgeous and lush red velvet. The white sleeves and panels will be made from white falling rain satin (whitelodge fabrics).

Lace on irish dance dresses 3 - For Kelly

2009-04-14T07:30:00.003+02:00

After all the hard work on the panels and the dress itself, this is the final product:

The yoke was shaped in the same manner as the small panels were. It continues around to the back of the neck and meets at the zipper. The panels were placed on a short upper skirt and two layers of ruffles were added to the skirt. The bottom ruffle is carrying the border motif from the organza fabric. Since the ruffle was made of a straight piece, the border was just cut from the fabric, placed on the (finished) edge of the ruffle and embroidered on at the top scallop.

I hope this dress shows you what you can do with a beautiful piece of lace fabric. Kelly and I both love the result!

Remember this one?

2009-04-05T17:52:00.003+02:00

Last year Nadine asked me to make her a solo dress. We talked about it for a while and came up with the following design:

We searched the internet and found a gorgeous light pink taft for the base, some white lace for the yoke and sleeves and burdundy velvet for the panels. To top it off I ordered the holo sequin chiffon from whitelodge fabrics to create the roses and get some sparkle into the dress. The colors all combined beautifully and we were all set to go...

and then disaster struck and Nadine broke her foot!!

Long story short, she is up and running (and dancing) again and has finally received her dress just in time for the WIDA Europeans the 18th of April.

GOOD LUCK NADINE!!!!

lace on irish dance dresses- part 2

2009-03-22T16:48:00.010+01:00

For the next custom dress, I am working with a highly embroidered and sequined organza lace. The fabric itself is just gorgeous and has great potential. It can be used as it is for the cape or perhaps a few panels, or the border and the hearts can be cut out and used to be pieced together in a different pattern.

The dress I am making with this fabric has a green velvet as the base fabric in the same shade that is the green in the lace. Combined with a gold/beige thread for the embroidery, it will look like a perfect match.
Since the border is so wide and lovely, it is used as-is for the border on the sleeves. The border is cut from the fabric, backed and hand-sewn in place on the sleeve.

The skirt will be decorated with small 'panels' also made from the organza lace. The hearts were cut out in different ways to break up the pattern and add some interest to the shape. In the picture you can see the separate elements cut from the fabric, and how they look together. They were basted on top of eachother with a few hand stitches in beige thread. Nearly impossible to see already. The green lines of the edges will be re-embroidered and around the outline the matching green satin stitch will fill in the gap that exists at the sides of the heart-shape.

These appliques will be backed with some stiffener and a gold satin fabric and then embroidered/sewn onto the circular skirt piece.

Here is a picture of the panels ready to be stitched onto the dress:

to be continued...

For Sale

2009-03-20T20:34:00.007+01:00

Dress 1:

This is a sweet and elegant little dress perfect for a beginning championship dancer. Would fit a tall, slim 9 to 11 years old. Classic three-panel dress made by Lowland Design from Holland in April 2007. Worn only for 4 feisannas. Dress has slightly dropped-waist. Bodice is made from iceblue spandex with sparkly dots of glitter material. Applique in pink satin and silver holo foil. Kickpleats are lined in bubblegum pink tornado foil jersey, underskirt in silver holographic foil. There is room to let out in the sideseams. Dress is in excellent condition. Two pants in matching colours are included.

Measurements (taken from the dress)
Chest: 25 inch
Natural waist of dancer: 22.5 inch
Dropped waist: 25 inch
Sleeves: 20 inch
Skirt length: 15 inch
Bodice length: 14.5 inch
Full length:29.5 inch
shoulder to shoulder across back: 12 inch.

Price €300 plus shipping from Germany.
Please email the seller for more information.

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Dress2:

Lovely Sue McMullan of London dress. Bodice of red velvet with elegant embroidery and applications in gold and red sequin. Sleeves made of white embroidered tulle underlay with white satin, lovely details on the sleeves. 4 panel skirt in red, white and gold, very nice embroidery on the panels, the small panels are made with white sewn on sequins, frill is made out of white cotton and red satin ribbon, underskirt in red/white polka dots. Dress comes complete with two different capes, a simple white one made out of the embroidered tulle and a flashy one made of red sequin tulle and red satin, matching knickers, padded hairband, lovely seperate white 2 layer tutu and a red long dress bag from Melaine Murphy. Dress was made in March 2008, DD wore it for 4 Feisannas, she did an enormous growth spurt, 15cm (6 inches) during a year, so we bought the tutu to elongate the skirt. Dress is in very good condition, one little mark on the cotton frill on the backside where her shoe upkicked dress, not noticeable only under really close inspection.

Measurements ( in inches )
Chest 26
Natural waist 23
Dropped waist ( at bodice/skirt seam ) 23.5
Bodice length from shoulder to waist seam 14.5
Skirt length from waist seam to hem 13
Sleeve length from shoulder to hem 21.5
Front full length-center neck to hem 27

Asking €600 plus shipping from Germany.
Please email the seller for more information.

Lace fabric on ID dresses-part 1

2009-03-15T14:34:00.015+01:00

Lace on irish dance dresses is used on all parts of the dress like the sleeves, the panels, the cape or a soft underskirt. Most of the time the lace is used as-is, or it is combined with a backing fabric as an overlay to create interesting patterns and sparkle. A trend that is currently rising is the use of lace appliques to replace the embroideries on the bodice or skirt or to combine patches of lace with embroidery work to create a nice pattern.
Some of the "readymade'" applique lace pieces out there made for beauty pageant-, ballet- or wedding dresses are very suitable for this purpose.

When you cannot find what you need however, you might want to look for fabrics with elegant embroideries in repeating patterns that you can cut out and create your own lace appliques.

The process used to shape and mould the fabric or cut lace pieces is a very well know technique in couture dresses. Many wedding dresses or evening gowns with stunning lace borders or allover designs are usually "pieced" together from a border or straight piece of lace fabric to suit the designers' needs. Patterns can be made by adding shapes together, overlapping them or shaping them to follow a border or neckline. You don't need much lace to spice up a dress. Half a yard of lace pieced together and appliqued on a bodice or skirt can already have a great effect on the look of a finished dress.

When choosing a fine lace to work with, like Alencon or Chantilly lace it is often overwhelming to choose from all the options available. To choose the right fabric for the job, you need to ask yourself how you want to use the lace. When applying it as an overlay you need to look at the allover effect the fabric is giving you. When using only parts of the lace, you need to check if the fabric provides you with nice shapes or patterns to be cut out and pieced onto the dress. Most-if not all- laces have repetitive patterns, but not all of them are suitable for Irish dance dresses. (Be careful not to make your irish dance dress look like an altered wedding dress). Try to imagine how certain patterns from the fabric would look on your dress and if that suits your taste. The scallops and patterns from the fabric need to match the rest of the design and the person who is wearing it. Designs that are too small will be lost and designs that are too large will overwhelm the dancer.

When choosing your fabric, examine the borders that are present on the lace. Borders are usually more elaborately embellished than the main fabric and will no doubt be used most frequently on your dress. Full and wide borders provide great opportunities to cover the cuffs of a sleeve, the waistline of a bodice or be shaped to follow the neckline. Sometimes choosing a lace galloon (a narrow border piece of lace) might prove to be a wiser choice than an allover lace fabric. When using a lace as a theme in a dress, it might be an option to consider matching laces together to benefit most from the embellishments on the fabric. If, for instance, you are using a white allover lace for the bodice or skirt, you might be able to match this with a lace galloon in the same style and color to provide you with more border "yardage". It might be difficult to match special colors, but it is worth looking for if it means not having to buy another yard or two of the allover fabric only to have more border fabric.

To try and make a good estimate on the yardage needed, it is wise to shop for the lace with a set of paper or muslin pattern pieces. With the pattern pieces put under the lace, you can precisely see how large certain patterns will be and where they could be placed.

After determining the place of the lace on your irish dance dress, you can cut out the pieces. When using individual motifs, you need to trim the net fabric close to your motif edges, but you need to leave a tiny amount of netting to keep the threads making up the motif in place. If you do cut through the cording or the chain stitching holding beads, sequins or pearls, try and secure these by hand sewing or with a tiny amount of tacky glue.

Lace can be used transparent or underlined with a second fabric to create nice contrast. If you want to preserve the transparent quality of the lace, but the fabric itself is quite delicate, then using organza in a matching color to stabilize the lace is a great option (the organza will make the lace slightly more opaque). You can also use different shades of organza to intensify a certain color. If you have an orange lace for example, it can be made more red, orange, white or yellow by trying out different colored backgrounds.

Hand stitching your lace will give you the best control and most invisible result. Even though very labour intensive, the piecing of lace by hand will disturb the lace the least and the tiny stitches will be almost invisible. When using corded lace you can follow the lines of the cording to attach your piece. Heavily embroidered laces with wide satin stitch lines are best machine stitched in place with a matching thread covering the original satin stitch.
Straight borders can be cut and re-stitched to follow curves. For sharp curves you need to cut deeper into the lace and either spread or overlap the lace to create the desired curve. Re-stitch the lace following the design either by hand or with the machine and cut away any excess from the bottom layer. When piecing shapes together make sure that the topmost piece has the more pleasing shape to follow. Remember that you can add small patches or shapes to motifs already present in the lace to make a shape more pleasing.

Another embroidery set for irish dance dresses

2009-01-24T09:27:00.005+01:00

I now have a second set of embroidery elements available through the Taoknitter site. This set consists of several elements suitable to make up a complete solo dress. They can be used in different ways to make necklines, sleeves and panels. Below is an example of what a dress could look like when using elements from this embroidery design set.

The panel of above example in more detail:

All prices for Lowland Design Embroidery files include a professional design fee and the licensing fee for use of the design on one dress only. Available in ART, PES, PEC, HUS, VP3, DST, EXP, XXX, EMB and others.
Please email taoknitter@gmail.com for further information.

Digitized Design for embroidery machines

2009-01-22T15:47:00.003+01:00

I am very happy to announce that from today, Lowland Design will be offering irish dance dress designs available in digizited format. These digitized designs can be used on embroidery machines to create your own solo dress! Right now there is one set of knotwork available already at the Taoknitter website. Go check it out here! or look at the pictures below for an example of a knotwork panel.

I will be offering many more designs up for sale in the near future. Knotwork panels, borders, necklines and loose elements that can all be used to make up your own design. For more information please visit the Taoknitter Arts website.

Happy New Year!

2008-12-21T21:31:00.005+01:00

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Oireachtas Amazing!

2008-12-02T20:03:00.011+01:00

This weekend the Oireachtas na hEorpa were held in Zoetermeer, the Netherlands. I have danced in the Senior Ladies Open Championships and was lucky enough to get 4th place! I really did not expect to do so well and I could not be any happier!!

The weekend was long and sleep has been short, but it was great seeing all my senior ladies dancing friends. Lucie Samcova got an amazing 4th place in the Qualifiers for the Worlds and I wish her all the luck in Philadelphia in 2009!

Also great fun having a stall to show off my work and sharing it with my dressmaking friend and colleague: Sylvia from Burgdesign:

We had a great time sitting and hanging around, drinking coffee. Another dutch dressmaker also showed her face: Kirsten aka Cluich from Dance.net! Very nice of her to drop by and say hello. We were having quite a Tea Party!

Finally, a picture of me in my new solo dress for 2009:

If you spot me at the All Irelands in february, come say hello!

For Lucie

2008-11-27T08:31:00.003+01:00

No posts or pictures of this dress when it was still under construction. I simply did not have the time! I've been working day and night to get this dress finished so that Lucie has something to wear at our Oireachtas this weekend. It was finished late last night and I took a quick picture with my phone camera just to show (and I did promise myself no more dresses leaving the house without a picture!). So, a bit blurry and dark and not the best quality, but here is it is from sketch to reality:

Now it is Lucie her turn to stay up all night to glue all the crystals to her dress! I'm sure it will be all sparkly when I see it again on saturday :-)

Dress alterations

2008-11-16T18:36:00.005+01:00

Many dresses from a few years ago do not have the elongated bodices everyone asks for nowadays and this usually leaves the skirt too long. The following is an example of a simple alteration that can be done to a (second hand) dress that might not fit in the lower skirt-area.

BEFORE:

In the before pic you can see that the upper body seems to fit, but the skirt is too long. The skirt is also a bit too wide and heavy and is collapsing on itself in the front (which needs to be a stiff, straight panel, not a wobbly one).
I decided to take the length of the hem and re-stitch the hemline in a black satinstitch. The front panel was also re-stiffened when I opened it up at the hem, making it nice and crisp again.

AFTER:

The nice thing about this dress is that is was made "economical". There are ties in the back that can cinch in the waist and the cuffs on the sleeves can be adjusted up or down. This dress was made with growing children and multiple years of usage in mind.

Thank you Debbie, for letting me work on your dress. I hope you will love and wear it for a long time!

FOR SALE

2008-11-10T14:09:00.004+01:00

I have just listed 2 new dresses for sale!

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Lovely 4-panel dress, made by Annelies Danton worn by an intermediate/open dancer of mainland Europe. Made of bluegreen silk with holographic silver, blue and pink glitterdot applique. Hot-pink and silverholographic thread is used for the applique. The sleeves are stunning and eye-catching green and silverglitter flowers with white lining. Lining of the dress is off-white. Pleats give a special effect of blue holographic glitterdot when being kicked out. Including hearpiece in blue, silver and hot-pink. Bloomers can be made with the extra lining material. Dress was made for a quite tall, 175 cm, girl of 14 years and has been worn about 8 times.

Measurements ( in inches )
Chest 33
Natural waist -- (please ask the seller for this measurement)
Bodice length from shoulder to waist seam 18
Skirt length from waist seam to hem 17
Sleeve length from shoulder to hem 24
Shoulder seam to shoulder seam across top of back 15
Back full length-top of zip to hem 34
There is let down room in the back near the zipper

Asking €400 shipping included within The Netherlands, overseas shipping extra. Please email the seller with any questions.

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Nice, sparkling turquoise velvet 3-panel dress with hot-pink, yellow, black, white and silver rainbow glitterdot applique. Applique is embroided with silver and hot-pink metal thread. Lining is white with hot-pink lamé. Headpiece with crystals included.

Measurements ( in inches )
Chest 30
Natural waist 27
Bodice length from shoulder to waist seam 16
Skirt length from waist seam to hem 17
Sleeve length from shoulder to hem 23
Shoulder seam to shoulder seam across top of back 12
Back full length-top of zip to hem 30

Asking €275 shipping included within The Netherlands, overseas shipping extra. Please email the seller with any questions.

There is no such thing....

2008-11-07T20:51:00.003+01:00

As too much **BLING** !!!

Just to show you the bodice of my new solo dress with the crystals on :-)

Ilse in her new dress

2008-11-02T22:56:00.002+01:00

Needless to say, she looks very happy in it :-)

For Ilse

2008-10-27T21:22:00.003+01:00

This is going to be a very bright dress for a lovely, sweet and blonde little dancer!

Work is well underway and she will be picking it up next weekend. I promise to take a picture before the dress leaves the house this time :-)

Anita in Vienna

2008-10-21T18:38:00.004+02:00

Anita in her new solodress:

Congrats on your 7th placement in the Trophy Competition!

For Sale on the sidebar

2008-10-14T22:59:00.005+02:00

I have added the dresses currently for sale on the right sidebar of the blog. When you click the "more info" link it will take you to the original post with all the details and pictures of that particular dress. You can also click on the pictures to see a larger version.
Currently, we have 3 secondhand dresses up for grabs!

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Purple, Copper and cream adult solo dress for sale -750 euro

Click here for more info

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Lilac and turquoise (adult) solo for sale - asking 380 euro

Click here for more info

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Cerise solo for sale -asking 400 euro

Click here for more info

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A little update...

2008-10-07T08:56:00.004+02:00

All that needs to be done now is the installment of the zipper in the back skirt. I do hope that today will be a merciful day and that process will be just as smooth as the attachment of the skirt to the underbodice (it went like a dream...baste, baste, baste!). Sewing in zippers is not my favorite thing- and sewing them in velvet is my least favorite thing :-) I'm sure that with a lot of hand sewing I will manage though.

For those who cannot wait to see Anita in her new dress in Vienna (or those who will be at the All Scots instead), here is a little update on what the dress will look like when finished. I cannot stress enough that the velvet looks so much more vibrant in real life and is a very intense raspberry-reddish-cerise color. It is just that my old camera cannot capture the true color and richness of it!

Anita came in yesterday to make a puffy headband to go with the dress and to put crystals on her dress. It looks so beautiful with all the sparkles! I am deliberately not taking a picture of the finished dress on the dressform as I feel she first needs to "debut" it in Vienna this weekend. She told me she might get some professional photos taken of her in it and then I will of course place them on the blog.

Best of luck dancing this weekend Anita!

For Anita

2008-09-29T22:36:00.003+02:00

Anita's dress is going to be all new style: Velvet bodice with buttons and 5 panels with knotwork embroidery. What I really love about the design -made by Anita herself- is the collar and the double lines of stitching. The design is really suitable for an adult dancer and very classy and the color of the velvet is so rich and it looks really gorgeous!
As I mentioned before the metallic silver thread is difficult to work with, but very worth the trouble. Now that I have finally worked out how to tame it, this dress is coming along just fine. Anita will make her debut in her new outfit at the Vienna Feis the 11th and 12th of October.

Taming metallic embroidery thread

2008-09-16T16:52:00.007+02:00

Metallic embroidery thread is a bit of a different beast than the normal embroidery threads. First of all, it is made of completely different fibers and second of all, the structure and thickness differ. All of this makes the behavior of metallics a bit frustrating when dealing with it in your sewing machine.

The biggest problem when trying to do a nice satin stitch in this kind of thread is the breakage. It just seems to want to break *all* the time....
Metallic threads are thinner and less sturdy. Therefore, any snag or tension problem in the thread will cause it to break easily. The inherent problem is that metallic tread has a slight stiffness and twist that make it very easy for the thread to supertwist
(twist upon itself) and cause problems between the tension discs or thread guides on the sewing machine. Unlike normal thread, it insists upon going it's own way and needs a slight tension from the spool to the machine and the tensions discs to be guided properly and behave itself. If it is rolling off the spool too loosely, it will start curling wildly around every loop and hook. Complex super-twisted knots will form in seconds, your needle stalls or pulls up all the bobbin threads like a birds nest and then the machine comes to a halt. If you are lucky the threads snap and you can just pull out your work and clean it up. If unlucky, your needle might break and you have to open up the bobbin house to clean up the tangled mess.
Sounds familiar?

The key to working under these circumstances is tension and twist control. If the spool is put horizontally when unravelling the thread, supertwisting in much less likely to occur. Some sewing machines already have a horizontal spool holder, but they can only carry small spools. For those of us that use the bigger spools or do not have the horizontal holder, you will have to find an alternative way of feeding the thread.
Many sewists lay the spool down in a box and just let it roll in there. This is usually a very good way of dealing with the problem and works for small and medium sized spools.
I use a very big spool myself, and putting it in a box like that causes too much friction when the spool turns to unravel. Thus the tension in the thread becomes too high and I start pulling up the bobbin again. Also, because the rolling occurs in little "shocks" instead of a steady roll, the tension becomes too uneven and this causes problems in the stitching as well, like gaps and missed stitches -not to mention the dreaded supertwisting.

I heard some people hang their spools in all sorts of contraptions to get the desired tension-effect and eliminate the supertwisting. Some even have the thread span from across half their sewing room before it is fed into the machine :-). Some people also make a board with horizontal pins that can function as spool holders.

To solve my problem I hung mine on a cotton thread above my machine. The spool unravelled perfectly with very few twisting problems. The only thing I needed to be careful of was to hang it in a slight angle from the sewing machine. Otherwise the thread would work itself off the spool and would get tangled on the cotton thread. I guess a simple spacer or disc added at the top of the spool would take care of that easily, but this worked as well. Elegant is perhaps not the correct term for it, but if it works...it works!

How to make pleats on an irish dance dress

2008-09-07T00:45:00.004+02:00

I have many people emailing me with questions on irish dance dress construction. I try to explain as much as I can, to help to eradicate the myth that these dresses are somehow 'easy' or quick to make... :-) Sometimes I get a question that keeps coming up again and again and from now on I will try to answer these through my blog.

So, many people ask me about the pleated fringe on the hemlines of the 'swoop' or wrap dresses.

Question #1: "where can I buy pleated fabric or fringe to attach to my dress? "

Answer - Only a few specialized fabric stores will carry pre-pleated fabric. It is expensive, almost never can be found in the right fabric/color/width and did I mention it was expensive?

Question#2: "Ok, so I cannot find/buy pre-pleated fabric. / It is too expensive for my budget. / It is not the right size/shape/fabric........ What do all those dressmakers do?

Answer - They pleat it themselves - You have several options for this :

1. Some specialists in drycleaning might also offer a pleating service. In this case you find this specialist, give them the fabric and have it pleated.

2. (Buy a pleater board and) pleat your own fabric

3. Make your own pleater board and pleat your own fabric.

Question#3: "I think I want to make my own pleated fabric....how do I do this?"

Answer - Either you buy the perfect pleater from Clothilde and follow the instructions, or you download this pdf explaining roughly how to make your own board.
Of course, you can always just pleat the fabric "freehand", going one pleat at a time, pressing each time you make a fold.

Run out of fabric? Just pleat a second piece and join the fabric in the inner folds of the pleat. It will be invisible from the right side of the dress.

Was this post helpful? Please let me know by leaving a comment!

FOR SALE -Red performance dress

2008-08-06T07:44:00.007+02:00

This dress is currently being finished and is BRAND NEW.

****SOLD!!*****

Red velour and white lace with golden accents. Lining is white satin, cape is white satin. The dress has a soft skirt that is embroidered all around the hemline. See picture below for a better impression of the deep red color and the sleeve material.

This is a perfect dress for irish dance performances, beginner dancers, or showdancers!

Actual dress measurements:

Bust: 94 cm -- 37"
Waist (natural): 76 cm -- 30"
Lowered waist: 92 cm -- 36"
shoulder to natural waist: 42 cm -- 16.5"
shoulder to lowered waist: 48 cm -- 18.5"
skirtlength: 36 cm -- 14"
Overall length (shoulder to hem): 84 cm -- 33"

If you are 2.5cm or 1 inch smaller in bust and waist this dress will fit you perfectly!

*****SALE PENDING****

Asking 225 euro plus shipping from the Netherlands.
Please email me for more details, or leave a comment below.

Red color without flash with sleeve material:

Purple, copper and cream solo for sale

2008-07-07T09:34:00.008+02:00

Elegant solo, suitable for primary/intermediate. One-off design by Lowland Design, made in 2006. The base fabric is a unique purple polyshantung, that changes colour from reddish to blueish purple, depending on the light.
Applique is done in cream embroidered organza with silver dots, orange metallic silk and white bridal satin. Lining of the skirt is satin, same colour as the organza. Bodice is fully lined with cotton. Dress comes with tiara backing, puffy headband and Antonio Pacelli dress bag. No bloomers, since it was worn with tights.
Dress was taking in due to weight loss and can easily be taken out again: approx. 1.5-2" around chest and lowered waist, 3" around natural waist.

Chest: 38.50 inch (97.79 cm)
Waist: 32.50 inch (82.55 cm)
Skirt Length: 19.00 inch (48.26 cm)
Sleeve Length: 25.00 inch (63.50 cm)
Neck (top of zipper) to waist: 16.00 inch (40.64 cm)
Shoulder to shoulder (across back): 16.00 inch (40.64 cm)
Overall Length of Dress: 32.50 inch (82.55 cm)

Condition: Very Good
Price: €750.00 EUR plus shipping
Location: Netherlands
Includes: Dress Cover
Includes: Tiara/Crown

This picture conveys the true dress colors best:

Picture from 2006, before it was taken in:

Please email with any questions or leave a comment below.

Congratulations!

2008-07-03T14:21:00.005+02:00

Janna and Magdalena, congratulations on your great 3rd & 4th placement!

Tulip solo for sale!

2008-06-24T21:48:00.007+02:00

Elegant 4 panel, 2-piece dress with tulip design. The base is made of lilac taft with a stitched texture. Applique is silver sewn sequin and turquoise lame. The sleeves and cape are a white taft with silver stitched sequin pattern. Lining is silver holographic lame and the pleat panels have silver holographic "cracked glass" squares.
Dress was made in 2006 by Lowland Design and has been worn 8 times.
Comes with extra base, applique and skirt lining fabric pieces. comes with a tiara liner/crown. I have no bloomers, but these can be made with the extra lining fabric provided.
There is some light wear on one of the applique flowers in the back pleats of the skirt. This is not noticable from stage (or closer) as this part is hidden in the skirt pleat.

To fit a dancer with sizes:

Bust:36
waist:30
skirt:17
sleeve: 23
collarbone to natural waist: 15

Asking 380 euro plus shipping from the Netherlands. I'm open to offers. This dress can be seen and tried on at the Munich Feis (Germany) this weekend!

Please email me or leave a comment for more pictures or info on this dress.

Sabrina & Magdalena

2008-06-07T17:44:00.004+02:00

Finally have some time to post on the blog! Truth is I have been quite busy with school skirts, alterations and 2 dress orders to be finished this saturday. The red and pink dress is for Sabrina and the orange for Magdalena. They were already ordered some time ago and got picked up today by one of the two dancers. I was so busy finishing off the details I nearly forgot to take a picture! Unfortunately, I have no picture of the orange one completely finished. The sleeves are just pinned on in the picture below, and I have no pic of the backside, sorry! Every time I do these I forget to take pictures...luckily, this time I was reminded by the dancers themselves they would really like to see what they were going to get before the pickup :-)

Next one up is a blue one :-)

multipanel pattern drafting

2008-04-21T10:26:00.007+02:00

There have been a lot of requests on the boards lately on how to draw a multipanel skirt pattern. I have taken the liberty of showing the basic recipe that I use to draw my panels. It is available as a pdf-document for the price of $1 US (payable through paypal). This is not a ready-to-use pattern - It is a method I use to draw my own patterns. In the example I show a 4-panel being drawn, but this concept can apply to any number of panels!

If you are interested in the pdf, please send me an email and I will contact you.

For Nadine

2008-01-22T08:56:00.001+01:00

To be ready for the WIDA championships in March...

Danielle's dress is ready!

2008-01-16T21:10:00.000+01:00

Here is just a quick picture taken of the finished dress right before it was shipped off to the USA.
A little info:
The base fabrics is a black swirl fabric is a mesh overlay with gold sequins. Underneath the black overlay is a standard black satin.
The purple brocade is used for the panels and back skirt. The lining of the dress is holographic gold shimmer lame. All these were bought in England, from whitelodgefabric.com as is the sequined lace for the sleeves.The gold foil with dots for the applique came from a local dutch fabric market.
The inside of the sleeves was lined with a cream satin to give some support to the sleeves and balance the color of the yellow/gold lace.
The panels are done in a car-wash-hem style.

Happy Holidays!

2007-12-23T23:16:00.000+01:00

Lowland Design wishes You

Congratulations!!

2007-12-01T23:42:00.000+01:00

Congratulations for Ashley who came third in the Oireachtas!

And second in her solo results!

A Rose is a rose is a rose...

2007-11-14T12:09:00.000+01:00

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.

Ready!

2007-11-09T16:59:00.000+01:00

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.

Susie's dress

2007-11-06T21:33:00.000+01:00

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**

How-to satinstitch straight

2007-11-01T08:42:00.000+01:00

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!

For Sale...Noreen's dress.

2007-10-29T20:21:00.001+01:00

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.

Lisa Lubbe Memorial Feis

2007-10-28T20:02:00.000+01:00

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!

Danielle's dress

2007-10-26T13:15:00.000+02:00

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.

Finished!

2007-10-25T22:02:00.000+02:00

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!

Pinned together

2007-10-19T10:52:00.000+02:00

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.

Main embroidery done

2007-10-16T14:14:00.000+02:00

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!

Black feis results!

2007-10-15T22:00:00.000+02:00

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!

Ready to be embroidered

2007-10-14T20:22:00.000+02:00

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.

The pleating has started...

2007-10-09T18:44:00.000+02:00

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.

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

2007-09-26T12:17:00.000+02:00

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.

Congratulations!

2007-09-23T22:50:00.000+02:00

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

Katy's dress

2007-09-23T12:05:00.000+02:00

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.

Booked full until december

2007-09-21T14:57:00.000+02:00

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.

OTR sold - For Danielle.

2007-09-07T21:00:00.000+02:00

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!

Embroidery threads

2007-08-29T11:15:00.000+02:00

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.

For sale! (SOLD)

2007-07-17T22:55:00.000+02:00

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.

Ready to wear design

2007-07-07T23:53:00.000+02:00

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.

Red performance dress

2007-06-25T11:44:00.000+02:00

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.

New designs

2007-06-15T23:46:00.000+02:00

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

Me...in my tulip dress

2007-04-11T23:13:00.000+02:00

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

Congratulations!

2007-04-09T19:27:00.000+02:00

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!

Teresa

2007-04-03T17:38:00.000+02:00

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

Moving on

2007-02-14T15:54:00.000+01:00

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!

Fabric sale page online

2007-01-21T13:22:00.000+01:00

I have started a fabric stash page for all those little remnants left over from past dresses. These cuts of fabric are between 100 cm and 150 cm, so perfect for applique!

Please check back one in a while to see updates and new fabrics listed. I have also added a link in the menu on the right.

Go to Fabric Stash Page

New dress for ME! :-D

2007-01-17T13:33:00.000+01:00

***PLEASE NOTE** This design is Copyrighted**

Well, the gold dress had to go and I had long planned this new dress! I wanted something with flowers - to fit in with the latest trends - and I wanted it to reflect myselft a bit.

Flowers + Dutch girl = Tulip dress.

I also wanted sewn sequin and lilac. With all those ideas in my head, I had designed a few options...but time was passing by and no start on my solo dress yet. So, another fashion trend emerged: wrap dresses and 4-panels. I tried to picture myself in a wrap, but I could not make it work, so I adapted my ideas and design to make a 4 panel dress. I am very happy with the result and I think it will be a fab dress!
Just to make you see what it will be like in real fabrics, here is a little pic of the bodice in the works:

More updates to follow!

What you need to know to become an ID dressmaker

2007-01-07T15:44:00.000+01:00

Several dressmakers have created a guide or "How to" resource to share their insights in ID dressmaking with others. These guides are wonderful for those who are starting or have just started to make their first dress. They are also a very good resource for those who wish to improve their dressmaking skills. I thought it might be useful to list them here.

I would like to give a big THANK YOU to all the dressmakers patient and kind enough to write down their process. I know they saved me many years of research!

Basic dressmaking/construction guides:
Anita Moyes Dancing on Eire dressmaking guide
Alwen Garden Earthly Delights
Colleens of Canberra Some considerations before making an ID dress

Patterns with instructions:
Pat from Irish Threads
Susan Gowin at Feisdress

Construction issues:
Diary of a daft dressmaker -Part 1
Diary of a daft dressmaker -Part 2
Diary of a daft dressmaker -Part 3

Ask all your questions on:
Celtic Flame Dressmaker's Board
FAQ-link dressmaker's board

Designs:
Colleens' of Canberra

Small glossary of typical ID fabrics

These are all I can think of right now from the top of my head. If I have missed any, please let me know and I will add them!

Anita

2007-01-05T08:40:00.000+01:00

Dressmaking is addictive and also contagious :-) When Anita was looking for a new solo, she already had ideas on design, colors and fabrics. Anita and I live very close together and after a joint fabric search, more involvement in the dress was a very logical next step :-) I am grateful for Anita her help on this solo dress. She has interfaced most of the fabrics of the dress using a common household iron....while sitting/kneeling on the floor for hours (as I was already using the ironing board and have no space elsewhere to deal with large cuts of fabric). She also cut out most of her own applique.
Anita her first dress was purple, and after dancing in the green dress for a while, she longed to have a purple dress again. The base fabric is a two-tone fabric of burgundy and blueish purple. She looks more purple or burgundy depending on your point of view and how her dress catches the light. I love this fabric and I think she looks great in this color! I also think the lace gives it a very nice touch.

Hawaii

2007-01-04T18:27:00.000+01:00

This dress was soon nicknamed "Hawaii". Lynne and I had spotted the fabric on our monthly fabric search. I immediately loved the printing, but wasn't sure if it would also suit an irish dance dress. We both agreed it would need some shine to it, and decided that an overlay of 'candy' organza would do. The organza also has a little bit of a crinkle, so it catches the light in a nice way. To create some contrast a blue organza was used as well. This was also my first adventure with the "patch" method. I had already designed the shape earlier, but never knew what to do with it. Once I combined the fabric with a paper test-patch I discovered it would work really well together.

Making a dress with patches is difficult to do. There has been some discussion on the Voy boards about how easy it is for dressmakers to just create 50+ patches and "scatter" them around a dress.* This is not how it works*. Ok, you do make the 50+ patches, but you have to take very good care in how you arrange them to make it look balanced and flattering. In fact, I think it took me more time to find a good arrangement for these patches than it took me to embroider them onto the dress. It is the same process as a "normal" way of designing a dress, only you use repetitive shapes. This limits you in what you can do with your empty spaces on the dress. In a 'traditional' design you can make up a new shape or adjust one to make sure the space is used correctly. With patches, you have to stick to your chosen shapes and often a limited range in size. Just something to consider before you start your own Patch-dress :-)

Golden Girl

2007-01-04T12:57:00.000+01:00

I have literally "dreamed" up the design and colors of this next solo dress. After a great feis I kept dreaming about the dances I did that weekend (a syndrome shared by many dancers), only I saw myself dressed in a different solo costume this time. To get the detail of the design, I kind of had to dream the dream over a few times :-) To my amazement that actually worked and the result is the sketch in yellow and lilac.
I was a bit afraid to make this design, as it had many pointy bits on the hemline and loads of diamond shapes and I could only think of the huge amount of work it would bring me! I had no idea about fabrics yet until I saw a golden lace fabric with sequins on it. At that moment I just knew this dress would supercede the old one by far and I would really have to polish up my dancing skills to match the dancer with the dress :-D
The base was a metallic gold cotton (same material as the cerise and the green dress - as you can see quite popular with me). The golden lace was used for the sleeves, bodice inserts and panels, and also for the cape. I just tried to get as much of it on the dress as I could! For the applique fabrics I used a black jersey with holographic dots, white falling rain satin, purple lycra with silver pindots and lilac satin. The lining and kickpleats have a funky checkerboard in white and lilac.
This dress was made during the come-back of the soft draped capes and I decided a soft cape would do the lace fabric more justice. I am really happy with the result!

Susie

2006-12-30T15:02:00.000+01:00

I made this dress last April (2006) for a lovely girl from Germany. Susie danced in the WIDA European championships in Amsterdam and got this wonderful trophy! Congratulations! It always makes me very proud when a dancer who wears one of my creations does well. The design I used is made by Susan Gowin and came from the Colleens of Canberra site. 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 (Lynne picked up this fabric in Ireland calling me on the phone: "look, it's pink, it's nice, do you want it?").
Susie got this dress only the day before she was dancing in the Championships. She was very calm under the circumstances :-) I only had to alter the length of the bodice a bit. I live close to Amsterdam and she was actually staying in a hotel only 1 mile away from me! After the fitting I got on my bicycle, rode home, altered the dress and cycled back to the hotel all in the same time Susie was having her dinner :-)

Sian

2006-12-30T14:57:00.001+01:00

A dress between primary and intermediate, with a touch of traditional design. The base is made of a lilac satin. Applique in a variety of holographic jerseys and satin. Lining in a holographic pink swirl design.
What I like most about the dress is the hemline. I just really like the pointy shapes. It kinda makes the dress a bit stronger eventhough it has all those sweet candy colors. This dress was a dream to put together. I do not think I ever broke a needle on this one! Good thing about it is that the girl it is for is dancing in my school, and I can see this dress in action every feis :-) It has been updated since, with a few strung sequins around the hemline and some scattered rhinestones. A tutu might even be added if it gets too short in the near future (in which case I will re-post a picture).

Oh Boy!

2006-12-30T14:55:00.000+01:00

A new machine. I had to get one. I really, really loved the old one, but it just wasn't meeting expectations anymore. I mean, I had to sew faster, more quiet, and I really needed that elusive 7mm wide stitch. A little more power and a little more room under the presser foot to get that horrible bulk of vilene under the machine. It would make the dressmaking life so much easier! So I made the switch. I promised myself another Janome, so I got another Janome. The newest, most powerful, (most expensive) Janome 6500P. And boy, do I love this machine!

The ice dress

2006-12-29T13:50:00.000+01:00

This dress is truly one of the most sparkly I made. It has holographics on it from top to bottom. The design is a Lowland Design original. The base is a lovely white velour with holo dots on it. The applique is made out of blue metallic silk, turquoise falling rain satin, and gold holographic and lilac holographic shimmer lame. The inserts in the bodice and on the panels are a blue holo spandex with gold accents in it. The underskirt is also made of gold holo shimmer lame.

The picture is a bit small and dark, but I could not get the shine of the fabrics on camera any other way. I was also quite rushed trying to get this dress to the post office.
In the middle of the production of this dress I had to make the switch from my old sewing machine to my new sewing machine. I really wished I had my new machine before I started on this one. It made the finishing of the hemline soooooo much easier!

Jade

2006-12-29T12:53:00.000+01:00

I love this dress. The design, the colors, the fabrics... everything! I had secretly planned it for myself as a new solo dress, but someone from the UK also fell in love with the design :-)
For me it was a first time making someone other than myself such a 'flashy' dress with the works (shaped pleats and hemline). It was a great experience to work on something of championship level.
The base of the dress is made of the black metallic silk from Whitelodge Fabric (one of my favorite places to shop for dress fabrics). The blues are square holo dots and the silver is a holographic foil of some kind. The underskirt is made of a fabric called 'heavenly mermaid'. You can see why :-)

A machine to be proud of

2006-12-29T12:27:00.000+01:00

I had to get my own sewing machine. Bashing the borrowed machines of others producing these dresses is just not a nice thing to do. So what does one do? Visit the OSMG (short for "old-sewing-machine-guy") and his shop. There, I bought a Janome 415 for a few hundred euro. Brand spanking new, and it was mine to mistreat and distress in any way I saw fit.
That little machine taught me a lot about how to treat a sewing machine. It never gave out on me. Of course, the occasional needle would break, I would jam too much stiffener under the presser foot so it would seize and the needle would not move up or down anymore...but those are all minor things. Looking back I think it is amazing it survived my "care". (clean the bobbin house of lint? Is that necessary??)
I was very impressed with my Janome and the nice satin stitch it gave. It did not have a wider stitch than 5 mm, but I still decided if I was going to upgrade - it was gonna be another Janome.

My second dress, going solo for the first time.

2006-12-29T09:27:00.000+01:00

After I had danced for a year in my Paul Keith solo costume, I decided I needed a new. I had worked on some dresses together with Lynne, who I did the embroidery on the black velvet dress for. We had been making dresses together for dancers in our school. Everytime I was the "embroiderer" and she was the seamstress that put the dresses together and did most of the construction work. So, after she explained to me what a lining was and how to make one, I felt I could now make my own championship solo....Boy, that was a lot more work than I had anticipated! I wanted it all, shaped hemline, shaped pleats, and sewn sequin. At that moment shaped pleats were completely new and mysterious to small time dress-making-hobbyists like me. The fashion trends in fabrics were also rapidly changing!

I was still borrowing the neighbours machine and I would cringe if somebody would do to my machine what I did to hers at the time (of course, she had no idea). Specially the battle of embroidering the shaped hemline and the sewn sequin is still a vivid memory. I cannot remember how many times the thread or the needle have broken during the construction of that dress...
I DO remember the lovely people of Voy's Celtic Flame Dressmakers Board . I would not have been able to make dresses without them. They are a wonderful bunch of dressmakers willing to help and share their knowledge with everyone who needs it.

When the dress was finished it was quite to my satisfaction. More importantly, I was now able to make a dress from start to finish, completely by myself (not counting the many hours spent on Voy and on the phone asking Lynne how to work out that puzzling lining :-)

The dress base is made of a green metallic cotton mixture. The applique is in black chiffon sequin, silver holographic foil, holo dots on black knit, cerise glitterdot and purple sequin on stretch fabric (never, ever get this kind of sequin to put on your dress!!! It is horrible to work with). The lining was a black knit that had green and purplish/cerise metallic effect on it.

Growing into a business

2006-12-29T08:00:00.000+01:00

Dressmaking is addictive. Once you start, you will probably not stop. The following pictures are the proof of that statement :-)

Lynne got herself a new solodress. I made a design for her according to her taste and did the embroiderywork. She chose all her own fabrics and put the dress together. I simply love the way it suits her. Very elegant and perfect for an adult beginner.
We did not want to "overdo" it with putting in a shaped hemline (a new fashion trend that was still only reserved for Intermediates and Open Champs). The purple border was an alternative to create a more interesting hemline without shaping it.

Many adults were still wearing 'Riverdance' -style costumes in stretch velvet. In mainland Europe there are a lot of adult irish dancers that also dance in competitions. Yet none of them were wearing a "real" solo dress.
Anita was the first customer to order from Lowland Design and this is her second solo dress. The base is made of a dark green taft and the applique is in copper foil and silver and mint green satin. To give her a bit of a flash, we took a gold satin for the lining.

My designing skills were growing and I have always tried to keep a balance with the 'celtic feel' . The cerise dress is a perfect example of my earlier stage in design work. I am a firm believer of using larger shapes to create an attractive dress with stage-appeal. In dresses today, there is a stunning amount of detail and although it's pretty, not everything is suitable for larger distance between the dancer and the adjudicator (JMHO). Of course, it's the dancing that is judged -not the dress.
But if we stay with the point about contrast we can clearly see I did my best to get it. All the primary colors are there, large shapes, shiny with different textures...this dress has it all! It was the first dress (except from my own solo) I got to put a holographic glitterdot on as applique. When first approving the design, the customer wasn't too sure about it. She did not want the dress to become a "Vegas" number. If we only knew then how the fashion was going to change!

My first entry

2006-12-28T15:20:00.000+01:00

OK... I have decided a blog would be easier to keep up than my own static website ( www.lowlanddesign.com ). I hope to show off my work in this blog, and would like to believe the people visiting will enjoy the dresses I have to show them.
I will soon start to add some pictures of my recent work. Older ones first and then work up to my most recent projects.

To start things off, here is the first dress I ever worked on. The lovely lady in the picture is Lynne. She has shown me that you *can* make your own solo dress. If she would not have made this, I certainly would have never dared to start the dressmaking adventure.

Lynne in her new dress, designed and made by her,
embroidered by me :-)