Sara Titone’s Daydream Weaver brand creates wearable and hangable designs that combine the bohemian look of macramé with clean, timeless modern styles.
Growing up sailing with her dad, Sara Titone says she became fascinated with nautical ropes and knots, which she began incorporating into handmade friendship bracelets and necklaces. These summers in Titone’s early life inspired her design aesthetic, but it was the “winter blues” that helped her tie it into a business many years later.
“I was feeling down and looking for a creative outlet,” says Titone, who unraveled her restlessness by creating a dreamcatcher and other decorative wall hangings. “I started tying these old knots I knew into the designs. …Feeling creative in that way again was therapeutic, and before I knew it, I had a lot of pieces hanging around.”
Titone began selling them to friends and family, and even offering custom designs. Not wanting to waste any scraps, she decided to knot them into earrings.
“I loved the wall art designs so much and thought it would be neat to be able to wear them,” she says.
When a couple of her local friends asked to sell her designs in their boutiques—from Trudy in Trolley Square to Rehoboth Beach’s Coral Cove—the concept for Daydream Weaver was born. Since March 2018, Titone has created a core line of six pieces, as well as five seasonal collections that include limited-edition designs. They range from basic knots to flair like fringe, tassels and wooden accents. She started off using whatever colors she could find at the time—black, navy, neutral, marigold—but as her company evolved, she began forecasting based on what was happening in the fashion industry, and her palettes reflect those on the runways.
“I’ve also always appreciated vintage pieces,” Titone says. “My grandmother was an artist and antiques dealer, and I loved that everything she had embodied so much character and told a story that made it unique and special. A lot of my inspiration for my pieces comes from that … and the free-spirited vibes and dreamy fashion of the 1960s and ’70s.
“With Daydream Weaver, I wanted to marry the bohemian, authentic look of macramé with a modern touch to keep it clean and timeless, and in line with today’s styles.”
Earlier this year, Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children commissioned Titone to design an earring for its June gala to help raise money for its neonatal intensive care unit.
For the lemon-themed event—a nod to the Meyer lemon trees that lined the duPont family’s property—Titone paired vibrant yellow knots with a neutral cord. (The gala has tentatively been postponed until October, but Titone’s earrings are available for purchase online at shopdaydreamweaver.com.)
“I’m connected to this hospital and cause because I had surgery on my hand there as a child,” she says. “I was born with two fingers on my right hand, and needed surgery to remove an unnecessary middle growth. That surgery had a deep impact on my life by making it easier for me to move and maneuver my hand and grip so I can do anything I’ve wanted in life—including tying tight, intricate knots.”
Titone has spun her creativity into handbags, mirrors and dog leashes, and recently added necklaces to her line. But her “big dream” is to collaborate with her architect brother on a piece of furniture.
“He would design and weld the metal frame and I would create the macramé seat,” she says. “I think it would be fun to design more home pieces to make a full macramé lifestyle brand.”
Published as “Daydream Believer” in the June 2020 issue of Delaware Today magazine.
