Esmeralda Dijk - Couture & Costumes

18/02/2023

Oops... I did it again!

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22/09/2022

‼️ BELANGRIJK ‼️
ALS JE BINNENKORT EEN AFSPRAAK GEPLAND HEBT STAAN:

Mijn werkplanner is helaas enkele dagen geleden uit mijn auto gestolen, waardoor ik al mijn afspraken kwijt ben. Zowel werk als privé.
Daarom wil ik iedereen die nog afspraken met mij heeft staan vragen graag z.s.m. contact met me op te nemen om deze nogmaals te bevestigen.
Om het zo overzichtelijk mogelijk te houden kan dit via mail naar 📧 [email protected] of via Whatsapp op 📞 0629904915.

Hopelijk kan ik zo teleurstellingen voorkomen en op de afgesproken dagen & tijden alsnog alle gemaakte afspraken met iedereen nakomen.

Heel erg bedankt!

29/04/2022

Eerder plaatste ik al een stukje over het kostuum project waaraan ik afgelopen week werkte:
Een samenwerking met Dansgezelschap Sally Maastricht & .
Ontzettend tof dat ik een bijdrage hieraan heb kunnen leveren 😎

En kijk dan! Wat hebben deze getalenteerde dansers tijdens Koningsdag een spektakel neergezet voor het oog van ons koningshuis, de energie spat er vanaf!

•••••

Earlier I posted about the costume project I spent my time on last week: A collaboration with Dansgezelschap Sally Maastricht & .
How very cool that I was able to contribute to this 😎

So have a look! What a spectacle these talented dancers put down in front of the Dutch royal family during Kingsday, such an energetic performance!

28/04/2022

Afgelopen week lag er een onverwachte spoed opdracht op mijn naaitafel en mocht ik werken voor SALLY Dansgezelschap Maastricht!

Met nog maar een krappe week te gaan, werden in mijn atelier alle zeilen bijgezet om de laatste hand te leggen aan kostuums voor hun fantastische dansers. Gister mochten zij namelijk tijdens Koningsdag dansen voor onze koninklijke familie, die tijdens hun bezoek aan Maastricht vergezeld werden door burgemeester Annemarie Penn-te Strake.

De prachtige folie print op de outfits werd gecreëerd door Studio Heey, zij liet zich hiervoor inspireren door ons kleurrijke Maastrichtse carnaval.

Een vruchtbare samenwerking waar ik met tevredenheid op terug kan kijken. Het was weliswaar een krappe deadline, maar het resultaat mag er zijn. I love it when a plan comes together!
Wij zijn dan ook bijzonder trots. Check zeker even de video van het optreden zelf in mijn volgende post!

•••••

Just last week a rush job for Sally Dansgezelschap Maastricht entered my workroom!

With only a week to go, I got to work on the finishing up of their amazing dancers costumes. Yesterday they got to perform for the Dutch royal family, who were accompanied by mayor Annemarue Penn - te Strake , during their Kingsday visit to Maastricht.

The gorgeous foil print was created by , she was inspired for the design by our colorful local carnival festivities.

Eventhough the deadline was thight, looking back we are so pleased with this satisfying result from a fruitful collaboration. I love it when a plan comes together!
We're so very proud! Make sure to also check the video of the performance itself, which I will post seperately!

07/03/2022

Last day of my break today...
So I'm taking a moment to reflect on the huge amount of work that got done just before my time off from work. And before all of last weeks local Carnival festivities got started. 🎉

In a spur of the moment decision during the week before, I suddenly felt like creating a whole new outfit for myself to wear during the Carnival celebrations. And it just had to be purple, a colour I adore but have rarely worked with in the past.
So I started creating this project on Tuesday, then finished it by Friday. Both a gown and a headdress, to fully complete the look. A massive hyperfocus moment for sure! 🔥

Luckily I had my intern around, whom assisted me with dying an insane yardage of fabric in just the right shade. She also did an amazing job helping me handsew lots & lots of applique onto the gown.
This eventually spared me enough time to create a new headpiece from scratch aswell, in addition to the dress.

Well OK, tbh, I ended up working untill 3 a.m. on Saturday morning to get it all finished 😅 but who's counting?
Once I'm in the zone, all time simply seizes to exist. Hyperfocus, remember?

Here's a first glimpse at the look for you guys, I can't wait to share pics of my full attire & my matching headdress one of these days aswell!

20/04/2021

My dearest clients & followers,

It has come to my attention I may not have been properly receiving all of my email messages lately (still trying to sort this out), which has recently led to a very unpleasant situation. 😥
For someone to imply I deliberately won't respond to their emails, whilst I'm trying to figure out what actually happened so I can set the record straight, is not how I'd have liked to find out about this. Yet exactly what happened...

Let me just say I take great pride in the work I do ❤ & also take my job very seriously for that matter.
Therefore, I do not take further implications suggesting I might be lying about receiving my messages lightly.
People not having the decency to hear me out, treating me crappy for something that is out of my control, is where I draw the line.

If anything, technology has failed me terribly & I regret this has even occurred. I'm definitely not the most technical person, so I don't have a clue how or why things got messed up. Ask me anything about fabrics though... ✂️🤣

I'm sure plenty of you can relate and have missed some of your messages at some point in time too.
So if you too have tried to get in touch with me & have not yet had a reply: I'm very sorry but chances are your email did not reach me. It is by no means my intention to ignore any messages, please re-send your inquiries so I can get back to you. 📧

And yes, it might sometimes take me some time to get back to you when the job demands crazy hours and tons of questions pop up simultaneously.
Human failure and unfortunate errors are a part of life, so cut me some slack here. Given the current situation (I will not use the C-word, but y'all know what I'm talking about), things are hard enough as they are already. Being a small business owner these days isn't easy, but I do my very best to keep up with everything.

That being said, I hope you enjoy this previous work of mine.
I recall the band Aerosmith mentioned pink being their favourite color once upon a time, and I think it works pretty well in this evening gown too 😉

Picture by wonderful photographer , my gown modelled by beauty .thiel & hair/make up by .

27/02/2021

Nu er langzaamaan weer wat meer kan en mag, neem ik in beperkte mate weer afspraken aan in mijn atelier. Uitsluitend één op één, met in acht name van de huidige veiligheidsvoorschriften.

Stap je dit jaar in het huwelijksbootje?
Voor 2021 heb ik nog beperkt plaats voor Bruidscouture opdrachten. Het vervaardigen van een ontwerp op maat neemt ca. 4 - 6 maanden in beslag.
Boek je afspraak tijdig, ik help je graag aan jouw unieke droomjurk!

02/10/2020

Joining in on Redthreaded's fun!

So meet the woman behind my brand, as I'm starting off October with a picture and a little introduction of myself.

Being a designer, I'm usually busy creating couture/ costume pieces for my clients, or occupied teaching my students how to make sewing magic happen. ✂️
I never say no to an opportunity to play dress up when I get a chance though.

Why leave all the good stuff hanging in the back of the closet, waiting for some special occasion, when you can look whimsical every single day? 🌠
Seems like a waste of a pretty awesome wardrobe to me.
Not to say my daily attire always looks like this when going out in public. I can be perfectly happy in some jeans and a sweater, and it all depends on my mood.

This picture was taken a while ago by my friend PH_Prykolota_Daria, and I'm wearing some of my current favourite costume pieces from my personal collection.

19/09/2020

For all you vintage lovers out there, I thought it would be nice to share some pics of a 1939 sewing book I was recently able to get my hands on. I'm a massive Book Geek and now own several of these vintage pattern books from different time periods. Hopefully I'll soon get a chance to try out some of these patterns. My business has been crazy busy lately. Designing & teaching is my fulltime job, so this will be my "Me-Time", creating a new fall/winter wardrobe for myself. I can't wait!

By the way, the colored one is from a seperate supplement that came extra in the box. What a great surprise!

08/09/2020

I haven't been posting much lately... I recently took a break from work and went on a short holiday. Before that work was crazy busy, and opening my business back up again afterwards has me back to teaching now.
My classes started past week and are fully booked. I've even started some extra sewing groups to be able to keep up with all students requesting a spot (you can still sign up for these, if you are in the Maastricht area).

Past Sunday I teamed up with and got to visit the beautiful "The Art of Lace" exhibition in TextielMuseum. It was the exhibit's very last day, and oh boy, I'm glad I didn't miss out on all the gorgeousness! I still need to get my pictures sorted, so I'll share some more later on, on my teaching page Mode Atelier Maastricht, for those of you that didn't get around to see it.

For now, have a lovely day filled with creativity! ❤

31/07/2020

How awesome is this set, currently being built by my colleague Esther Van de Pas? I'm proud to contribute to the project, as I am putting together some of the costumes that will be used within this setting. Hopefully I'll get to see some of it later on, when everything comes together.