Spiderlily Patterns

Like the rest of the Divas, I’m always on the lookout for new pattern companies that offer a fresh and different perspective from the Big 4.  Etsy is one of my favorite sites for handmade items and recently I found Spiderlily Patterns. Both of my almost-teenage-daughters love the knit top on the right (I just bought this pattern so you’ll see it made up very shortly.)  Amy Mello is the designer behind Spiderlily Patterns, and pattern drafting is something she truly loves.  She has been sewing for seven years and has taken classes in pattern making, design and construction from the New York Fashion Academy in Seattle, WA, Fashion Careers College in San Diego, CA and at the International Academy of Design and Technology in Chicago, IL.   She began Spiderlily Patterns in January of 2008 and describes her work this way “My influences come first from nature and my personal experiences and then from runway collections.  My designs have a modern vintage feel that focuses on femininity and uniqueness.  I love to make the female form look beautiful.”   Amy is also building a website that focuses on her more artistic wearable art pieces that she has not yet shared with the public  One thing that immediately struck me about Amy’s work is her good grasp of what sewers look for in terms of the pattern envelope information and technical drawings.  The yardage and skill level requirements are well laid out and easy to understand.  She uses a combination of Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and In Design software for her technical drawings and illustrated instructions, but the patterns themselves, a la Marfy, are drafted by hand and each size is traced out individually and not nested on top of each other. Right now Amy is working on new designs for woven fabrics and her goal is to make Spiderlily Patterns a fill time business.  I for one am really looking frward to seeing more of her work!