User blog comment:JmLyan/Tela, the Sewmaster/@comment-1330314-20130816012743/@comment-7481207-20130816092714

Tela indeed means fabric, though I got it from the Filipino language originally.

She is melee mostly for the reason that her abilities would be a bit strong if she could attach threads through targeted auto attacks. She can however be ranged (although short ranged) if she uses W before her auto attacks.

I'll look for a way to replace stretch, though since it is her only CC without a long cooldown, it will probably still have some form of CC still.

Her active W's main purpose is to attach threads at range, so I'd rather reduce damage than cooldown on this one. The passive part has a slightly lower base and higher scaling than Cho'Gaths E, which could indeed be reduced slightly. But it should still encourage being in melee range.

Her E might get a longer cooldown all-purpose dash, its main purpose is to allow you to dash back and forth between enemies as long as she doesn't get too far from any one of them.

Her ultimate is another reason she is melee: A ranged mage would melt if it pulled an entire enemy team towards it. Thus making her melee also encourages you to build more defensively.