Meet Your Neighbor - Sash Couture

Me wearing the Infinity Dress (teal)
Who are you?

My name is Dagmar Klosenski, I was born in Austria and I moved to beautiful Maine in 2002. I met my husband 2000 in Ireland, he spent some time with me in Vienna (6 month) and I visited him in the states 2 times, before I finally moved here.  My shop is Sash Couture on Etsy, and I specialize in couture bridal gowns designed by me.

I am working right now on a Collection that is the embodiment of luxury, featuring sumptuous natural fabrics and elaborate, hand-finished details.
For brides who prefer a less dramatic gown, this couture collection reflects the designer’s signature style of wonderful Grecian Gowns and Vintage Inspired Dresses.
Mortantsch, Austria
The Sash Couture Dresses are richly designed in European and American tradition and couture craftsmanship. Designs are created from elegant silk fabrics, such as luxurious silk satin, eco silk, peace silk, organza and silk chiffon, you also can choose cotton, organic cotton and vegan friendly fabric. Each gown is made to order and produced in our own Studios.
I design dresses, coats and any kind of clothing since over 25 years. I also will be with the customer from the idea to the finished product and guides designs and style ideas to make them come true, so you will receive the best dress you can think off.
Beverly makes wedding dresses, couture dresses, costumes and more since over 40 years. Her meticulous ways of executing her work has made her the go to person for any garment. Her quality of work and friendly disposition have earned the trust and comradely of our customers.
Vintage Style Ruffle Bolero
Bonnie is a professionally trained dressmaker. She creates clothing for clients since over 35 years. She also is superb in creating, recreating, redesigning and reinventing pattern and designs. Her work is of finest quality.
Paola is a highly skilled pattern maker and dressmaker since over 20 years and creates stunning couture dresses and anything beautiful you can imagine. She is used to sew super luxurious fabric and all her dresses are gorgeous and unique.
Together, the ladies of  Sash Couture  partake in bringing smiles to clients with the most complex and beautiful creations.
Our customers are able to create their dream wedding dress with us as well.. They  will be involved in choosing the fabric, design and color. We will show the different possibilities and provide them with sketches and drawings.
DREAM A DREAM WITH US AND HAVE A UNIQUE DRESS MADE JUST FOR YOU.


Tell us a little about your family.

My husband and my kids
I learned to create and make dresses from my mom, she is a dressmaker (a very good one). My 2 sisters and I always had dresses soo adorable, because of her skills, and at that time period, it was actually cheaper to make your own dresses then to buy them (now a days it is the oposite).
My father was a blacksmith, but very, very creative, he tought me to draw and to sketch. He was a very big part of my life, sadly enough, he was murdered 1978 (i was just 10 years old!!!). I will miss him my whole life.
I do have a family my own now, Sam and Shauna are my angels (sometimes not gggg), it is perfect to have a Boy and a Girl and ... they are 4 years old twins Yeah...Thank god, I am able to multitask....at least, I think so.
Matt, my husband, works hard to make it possible to be a stay at home mom. My business experience makes it possible, to work hard (and hopefully successful) on my business.
I LOVE vintage styles from the Edwardian and Victorian times, 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's. Those are my most influencial time periods and i love to "tweak" things a bit around to give it MY touch.


Where are you in Maine and what’s it like?

Maine
I am in Lebanon, Maine and our house is almost in the middle of the woods, we have around 3 acres and it is a blast to live here. I love to plant more flowers and have a garden, one of these days. I love nature, hiking and so do my kids and my hubby...Maine is a great state for any kind of adventures. We also are a fishing and hunting family (the kids and I love fishing, my husband is the hunter).

Are you a native Mainer? If so, what’s kept you? If not, what brought you here?
As I wrote before, my husband is responsible for me living in Maine ha ha ha.
I do enjoy it a lot, I grew up in a little village, which is what I really loooooved. I am a huge nature lover and animal lover as well.

How long have you been making your craft and what got you into it?
It always was in my blood. I always created dresses and outfits for myself and for friends (mostly in Austria). Since I am a stay at home mom, I started making girls dresses and sold them on local fairs. The interest grew and people wanted more, so I started working with Beverly and then it kind a took off. I started thinking more towards cocktail and evening dresses and landed at creating unique couture wedding dresses.

Do you feel your craft is related to where you live?
I actually do, because I visit a lot of historic houses around this area and I think, that started the bug.

How has being a part of the Etsy Maine Team helped you?
For right now, I think, it will help me in getting better known in Maine. I am selling mostly on the west coast, but also in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Austria, Germany and England. I actually designed a whole wedding party here in Maine, the wedding will be in July 2011. I am so happy, because it is an victorian style dress.

What are some of your favorite shops on Etsy?
Uh, I have so many favorite stores and I have a lot of Etsy people actually helping me with supplies (crochet, fabric flowers, feathers, images, editing, fabric, logo design and more).

Where do you see yourself and your Etsy shop in the future?
I am hoping to grow more to be able, to guarantee my partners and myself to generate money for our private live and not just for business. Right now, we are reinvesting everything to guarantee, that we can grow and launching our own line by end of this year.
Where can we find you online and locally?
 
I don't have any brick and mortar shops, but my customers meet me or my dressmakers in our studios. I also travel to my customers and we skype a lot.

Thanks Dagmar for sharing a little about yourself and how the wonderful state you live in helps you create!  
Be sure to check out all the other awesome Maine artisans on Etsy, by searching "maineteam".