Come with me as I explore the goodness of handmade clothing made by Maria, and get to know more about Maria and what goes on behind the scenes!
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Tell us a bit about yourself and your family!
Hi, I am Maria Lucia Squillari, I live in Italy. I am 23 yeas old and currently live at home in my parent's big farmhouse.
I have 6 younger brothers and sisters.
my 19 year old sister currently helps me with packing and a little bit of the sewing.
I also have a boyfriend, with whom I love to spend time ^_^
What do you make?
I make clothes for women, and I also like to spin. I sell my handspuns at
http://www.etsy.com/shop/yarmee
When did you start creating, and why?
I have always loved creating, but it was only thanks to etsy that I finally was able to make money off of it. I have also gotten a lot better at it, by doing it so much.
Do you have any inspirations, or someone you find especially inspiring to you?
Etsy inspires me a lot, I love to see what others come up with. Also the process of selling my creation directly to the customer allows me to get a good feeling of where to direct my focus.
Tell us about your studio and creative process.
I sew in my bedroom, which over the past few years has slowly turned in to a more rational and functional workspace. I have two big big desks, a chest of drawers for the finished pieces, another small ones for sewing parts, elastics, bobins, ribbons, etc...
a closet for cloth and a smaller one for packing supplies and other stuff.
The fabric is the main focus in the creative process. I take out a piece and start imagining it in shapes, depending on my mood, the weather, a particular color combo I have in mind or theme I am developing at the moment.
then I start cutting and piecing together. I don't use patterns, except for the basic sleeve and armhole one, which I then adjust depending on the needs.
Do you have a favorite piece you created?
I tend to always love every piece as soon as I've made it and then slowly start liking it less as time goes by lol!
there is one though, the first dress I ever made, for a contest, which I love very much. It is made with handwoven bits of cloth I then sewed together and sculpted in to shape.
I also made myself a purse form a handwoven cloth I made and then detailed it with leather... I always use it and like it a lot.
Do you wear your art? Does that bring you sales?
I wear a few dresses, skirts and tops I made.. the bag... no, it has not brought me sales yet, but I don't mention I made them usually so that could be why :)
How did you find Etsy.com?
through a blog... completely by accident.
What is the best business advice you have ever been given?
I don't know... maybe keep in mind why you do it and don't stress too much?
Where else can we find you on the web?
hmm, I have some things up on artfire, on a site called http://shop.feyhandmade.com/
I have some photos up on flikr http://www.flickr.com/photos/14295206@N08/
Tell us a fun fact about yourself!
I am a bit moody, some days I can't stop sewing, I can do up to 8-9 hours straight, only to feel completely saturated and uninspired a couple days later and be convinced I never want to do it again. It confuses me sometimes, I am like this for a lot of things...but over the years I have learned to try not to overdo when I am particularly inspired and to take a nap when I am feeling so very disinspired. Usually it means I am tired or need a break.
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Maria, thank you so much for sharing with us! I hope you continue to create beautiful clothing for everyone to enjoy.
Everyone, please check out the lovely shop, larimeloom!
Craft on,
1 comment:
Oh wow you're amazingly talented! Love your designs! Keep up the good work!
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