Featured Crafter: Mia from PiccolinaDesigns

In this Featured Crafter, we hear from Mia from PiccolinaDesigns. Read on to hear the unique place where Mia finds her inspiration for her gorgeous children’s clothing designs.

A bit about yourself:

The basics… I am a practicing interior designer with an unquenchable thirst for all things ‘design’. The loves of my life are my totally rad-tastic husband, James and my amazing daughter, Madeline (a.k.a Maddie-Cakes, a.k.a. Madzilla, a.k.a. Future Heartbreaker/ Pulitzer Prize Winner/ Well-Adjusted Human Being).

Design… I have always had a passion for creativity. I was the kid in class who would get in trouble for doodling in her notebook, and the ‘go-to’ girl for the mural you wanted on your backpack or school t-shirts. I was recruited into theatrical set design in high school, which inspired my interest into architecture and led to my career as an interior designer.

My favorite things… a good book, inspiring design and architecture, hot chocolate and a fire on a freezing, cold Nebraska day, dancing with my husband, laughing with my daughter, French pasteries at Le Quartier bakery, and a cup of coffee with a good friend.

Where can I find you?

www.piccolinadesigns.etsy.com
www.piccolinadesigns.com

What first got you interested in your craft?

When I discovered I was pregnant with my daughter, I began looking for modern children’s clothing and was surprised to find that there weren’t a lot of options. It inspired me to pull out my sewing machine and start making them myself. When she was about six months old, and becoming a mobile maniac, I decided to purchase her a tutu for a six month photo shoot. I had a vision in my mind of what I wanted, but could not find what I was looking for… and it spiraled from there. I had several friends and family members with young daughters who were endowed with tutu gifts, and I began getting orders through word of mouth. I recently launched my website and Etsy site, and it has been a wonderful experience. The craft community is so supportive of each other, and have helped make it a smooth transition into the online business. It is extremely rewarding when someone falls in love with something you design. It is what drives you to design something else, and to evolve into a better designer.

Please describe your creative process (how, when, materials, etc).

The “Signature Peacock Tutu” was my first design, and was inspired by the rich and sophisticated colors of the peacock feather. With a feather in hand, I pulled tulle colors directly from the peacock feather, and added several layers of shimmer tulle to mimic the iridescent shine of the feather and added thin ribbons into the layers of tulle, to give it a more airy, delicate quality.

Many of my designs have been inspired by children’s books. The “Olivia Tutu” was inspired by “Olivia” by Ian Falconer. I loved the stark black, white and red color scheme of his books, and the precocious little pig who has a wild imagination. So, I designed a tutu in the Olivia color scheme, with some attitude. I imagined what SHE would pick, if given a choice.

Basically, I begin with a vision of how I want a design to look, and I will do several iterations until it meets my expectations. With a background in art and architecture, I try to layer colors, textures, etc. as much as possible. Even in a ’simple pink’ tutu, I include at least three tones of color to give it depth.

Apart from creating things, what do you do?

I have an extremely busy toddler, who is an every day adventure. We take trips to the zoo, hikes at the state park, and go swimming at the lake. We read books. My days are full of family, friends and the joy of unexpected things waiting to happen.

Is there anything else you’d like to share?

Thank you for taking the time to create your site! As I mentioned before, the craft community is an incredibly welcoming group of talented people. It was such an unexpected surprise to have the welcome this community has provided, and I couldn’t be more happy to be a part of it.