Creagh team, “The North Star”, will take to the stage in Junk Kouture regional final

The design is called ‘The North Star’ because it is a beautiful star that can be seen on every clear night.

The message of the dress is to raise awareness on light pollution, as there are less and less stars visible in the sky every year. Light pollution relates to the sustainable development goal number 15, life on land, because of its awful effects on ecosystems and biodiversity in Ireland and around the world. Examples of this would be light pollution has heavily influenced migrating birds' migration patterns feeding and breeding patterns. Light pollution has also affected bugs and other invertebrates' ability to navigate, breeding, feeding, the ability to hatch at the correct time and it increases predation. It is clear that light pollution messes with ecosystems and a variety of organism's biological clocks. Light pollution contributes to the increasing CO2 in the atmosphere. Lighting accounts for 15% of global electricity consumption and 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. To raise more awareness about light pollution through this outfit, there are stars made of CDs and DVDs gradually as we moved to the bottom of the dress there are less stars to be seen. The design of the dress was influenced by old elegant styles with bold silhouettes and draping. The team looked at Dior dresses from the 50s for the shape of the dress so focusing on geometric shapes like circles, and triangles was important. The painting ‘starry night’ by Vincent van Gogh was inspiration for the design of the dress. The use of colours found in the night sky, like shades of blues, purples and black and there are smaller details on the dress influenced by starry night and geometric shapes. Many different skills were used to create the dress, including sewing with the machine and by hand, painting, draping crocheting and even drilling. They learned about the numerous effects of light pollution on the planet and about the sustainable development goals. It was a challenge to make something wearable at first, but they learned along the way how to use our creative skills to make the outfit and the importance of sharing ideas, brainstorming, using the time wisely and planning ahead to make the whole outfit come together.

For this outfit, the materials that were used are:

* 15 plastic shopping bags, used as the main body on the dress and train. The bags were sourced from our homes. They were easy to move in, can change colour with some paint and are great for techniques like draping. It was easy to sew the bags by machines and by hand too.

* Three of dad’s unworn ties. Two ties lined with a thick plastic bag were used for sleeves that look like a shawl and one tie with used for a belt.

* A broken mesh curtain was easy to drape with around the top and the skirt. It was also sewed on the sleeves and the hat.

* Six CDs and five DVDs turned into pointed stars by drilling holes and tying them with strips of plastic shopping bags and sewing them onto the dress by hand.

* Acrylic paint and PVA glue.

* An old T-shirt, that was tailored for the top of the dress.

* Cardboard and copper wires were materials supplied from the art classroom by the teacher, Mrs Brown. Cardboard was used for the hat and the circular tutu part of the skirt. Copper wires were small circular stars and crocheted pieces.

* Old Fairy lights were sourced by a friend who had too many and was willing to donate one. They were sewed on by hand to the hat.