a little “hello”

If you’re reading this, hello. I’m Mara. This is the start of “MariaClaraPatterns” on Etsy, which is somewhat of an offshoot and a respite from my ‘main’ brand.

I wanted to get back to my roots as a sewer, when I basically lived and breathed mid-century fashion through my thrifted Taschen and Fairchild books. I’ve always been drawn to bright colors, wacky shapes, and swirling patterns for as long as I can remember. Which is ironic, really, considering about 70% of my closet is monochrome (the other 30% is curated vintage from the late ’60s to early ’70s).

At the time of writing, the diploma from my university’s Fashion Design & Merchandising program has been sitting in my years-old bag for the last several months since I graduated; I still don’t know where it should go just yet, but I’ve felt a persistent need to do right by it. Add my last few years of living in San Francisco and my lifelong obsession for the now-historical fashion worn by lifetime idols… and this was born.

I must admit that starting up a shop for the first time is daunting, despite the literal task of compiling vintage patterns for easy printing. Simply put, I just wanted to share what I initially digitized for myself, hoping that these listings are accessible for anyone who has the same interest in these fantastic fashion periods as I do.

With that being said…

My ‘production schedule’ for each listing will be approximately 1 month. “MariaClaraPatterns” is currently a one-woman operation, so none of those fast fashion-like speeds, and none of those phony AI-generated patterns!

Each month, 1 new pattern from either decade (1960s or 1970s) will be sold, and will correspond with your typical fashion seasons. The shop’s main focus will be patterns for sewing. Any listing of crochet or knitting patterns will be separately sold alongside a listing of a sewing pattern, in which case there may be 2 new patterns (one sewing, one crochet/knitting) for sale.

To end,

My other posts will be under ‘Updates’, where I will essentially include other extra content for each of the patterns that I sell through “MariaClaraPatterns”. That may include tutorials, WIP photos for the garment construction themselves (yes, I will make everything I list, and sew in the woven labels from the photograph above), or even a bit of history surrounding the design. That’s not set in stone just yet, but we’ll see.

Thanks for visiting the site!

mara