Been to Spider Lily Finery yet?

This is what it’s like.

You pick up a dress and mutter “oh this is cute.”

Then you check the price tag.

It’s between $45 and $100.

It won’t make your credit card scream. 

And then owner Nicole DeMoss gives you the “but wait there’s more” moment.

“It’s handmade,” she says.

“And the fabric is organic cotton.”

And. That’s when you decide you must try it on.

That’s the new clothing, accessories and gifts boutique on Siesta Drive across the street from Westfield Southgate in a nutshell.

DeMoss has brought the work of 40 artisans under one roof.

Almost everything in her store — including about 40 percent of her clothing and excluding a collection of vinyl records — is handmade.

She can tell her shoppers about the Australian dressmaker who supports her surfing career in Bali by sewing, or she can set them up with a set of handmade tumblers made from upcycled wine bottles.

DeMoss uses the natural Lolablue body products lining her boutique shelves in her own home, and she’s eager to share that the company’s owner, Jamie Lovern, makes them by hand in North Port.

 

Bailey Spasovski, the artist behind Sarasota’s Cheek and Pen Paper Co., has a rack of witty, handmade greeting cards at the cash register.

Like these:

The boutique owner knows where her stock of earrings, necklaces, pillows and candles comes from — whether she’s ordered them from within city limits or from overseas.

For DeMoss, an artist herself, there’s an obligation that comes with it.

She’s not just making sales. She’s sharing art.

Eventually, DeMoss would like to set up a small space in the shop to sell some of her own, handmade skirts, practically right off the sewing machine.

But she’s been busy tending to the shop since she opened in early July so, for the meantime, she’s leaving the artistry to her 40 or so vendors.

Her latest masterpiece has been championing them.