How we make it:
Handmade with love & reclaimed fabric.
Why are all of our items limited edition?
Our fabrics are reclaimed.
We source them from warehouses that plan on throwing them away to landfills.
Since they aren’t made from scratch, we can’t promise you that they’re coming back.
Our process
01 Fabric Selection
With the advent of fast fashion, it’s been common for warehouses to throw away their excess fabrics to end up as waste in landfills. At Dance by Lina, we’re committed to being as sustainable and eco-friendly as possible, which is why we source our fabric from these warehouses so that their leftovers aren’t thrown away. Lina is incredibly passionate about fabric and their different textures -- she goes to multiple warehouses, and sometimes even countries, twice a month -- and doesn’t want them to go to waste. By using these excess fabrics, she’s able to give them a second chance at life with each sale she makes.
02 Sketching
Since our fabric selection is limited to whatever the warehouse has, we take the fabric from them, wash it, and draw inspiration from the fabric itself. It’s with the fabric that Lina imagines what it could be used for. From there, she sketches out her ideas. She also draws inspiration from her own experiences as a former professional dancer and current dance teacher. Like any bunhead, she loves buying dancewear, and so she would look at what she already owns and would think about what could be improved and what she wants as a dancer herself.
03 Pattern Making
After Lina finishes conceptualizing what the finished product would be, she then shows it to her seamstresses. Together, they collaborate on pattern making to find a pattern that has no or minimal excess fabric in order to reduce waste. It’s because of this principle that Lina actually decided to stop producing some of her best-selling pieces (if you’re looking for the Abigail or Natascha skirt), because the cut of these designs resulted in leftover fabrics that they couldn’t find a way to use.
04 Cutting & Sewing
Once Lina and her seamstresses have made a pattern, her seamstresses hand sew each and every piece with love and care. When she was starting out, Lina actually used to sew all the products by herself from her own bedroom. This is why everything was “handmade with love.” Although she doesn’t sew everything anymore, she passed on her passion to her seamstresses, and they, in turn, pass on that love to you whenever you receive an item.
05 Hand washing
Then, each item is hand washed. An organic, hypoallergenic special scent is also placed into each product so that they’re ready to wear once you receive your parcel! Ever since she was a child, Lina was always so excited to open that package that came in the mail. She loved the thrill of being able to wear her brand new dancewear to her next class or rehearsal, just as it came. It made her happy, and so when she started the brand, she made sure that you would get that same experience, too!
06 Quality Control
Finally, the most important step. Before shipping, Lina would check each item to make sure that they meet her standards. Hand making dancewear does leave some room for human error -- but it’s a lot like dancing. It’s the personal, human aspect that makes it memorable and beautiful. It’ll never truly be perfect, but it can be excellent. This is why she meticulously measures each hem, inspects every seam and cut, and for skirts, checks the stretch of the waistband before packing it up for shipping.
07 Packaging & Shipping
The last step before the item gets to your doorstep. Cloth labels are sewn on to each product, then tags are attached using a reclaimed mesh fabric. These tags make a good bookmark, too! After, everything’s packed in a ziplock bag, and then FedEx’s standard paper and plastic packaging. For now, this is the most we could do in terms of eco-friendly packaging — Lina decided on the ziplock so that you can reuse it for your other items! We’re still researching on more alternatives, though. Finally, we top it off with a postcard and a handwritten note from Lina herself.
