Marcy Tilton's Newsletter for Everyday Creatives
August 2009

Dear Sewing and Designing Friends,

Fall sewing is in the air. No matter how hard I try to hold onto summer, (still sewing linen & re-fashioning a white shirt), the days shorten, the light changes and it is time to tune up my list of things to sew for fall. Our fabric collection grows by leaps and bounds, and Nandini and I are off to the International Fabric Show in Las Vegas in September to find more. I buy for fabric for the website as if I were designing a functional wardrobe---heavy on basics for pants and jackets, striving for a colors and patterns that go together, and seeking a balance of warm and cool colors. For pants, I seek fabrics that drape and slim. A bit of lycra is always a good thing for tops and bottoms, adding stretch as well as drape. While I usually prefer solid neutral colors, I am noticing a trend toward prints---in our booth at the ASG show in Albuquerque, the prints were runaway best sellers. And the fashion world concurs. I am finding some spectacular knit prints, and interesting patterned wovens. As the world economy contracts, the supply of fabric is diminishing... suppliers tell me that there are fewer upper end fabrics to choose from. While most of our fabrics are in the mid-price range: $12-18, I am starting to add a selection of fine fabrics at higher prices when I find them.

Putting in a word for the basics. Train your fabric-shopping eye to look for your favorite neutrals---black, of course, but seek out off shades too. I check out the kinds of fabrics used in expensive, casual ready to wear, like those $300 charcoal denim pants I coveted and then went home and made 2 pair. When I look at the things I make and REALLY wear, it is the basics, like black, brown, grey, taupe pants, paired with co-ordinating t-shirts and jackets that are the workhorses in my closet. I know that if I make a distinctive t-shirt, in matte black, brown or an off shade that matches my eyes, hair color or skin tone, it will work with the bottoms and I’ll wear it to death. And if I use a print or add a bit of paint or trim to a t-shirt that relates to the pant/skirt, all the better. Three is the magic number. Pant/Skirt+Top+Jacket/Vest.

If you'd like help in ordering fabrics and determining if the colors work, or if the weight is right for your pattern, or whatever, you can call the studio, (541-592-2969), or send an e-mail: shelley@marcytilton.com. Shelley and I can give our advise and suggestions. Hours are sporadic, leave a message if we are out.

In the studio, I am finishing up a new pattern, a fluid pant and draped slim line skirt, set for release in April 2010. My sister, Nandini (Katherine Tilton), has just signed on to be a Vogue designer too! Her marvelously flattering and simple jacket will be out in April too.

Up next for Vogue: a handbag pattern. Just for fun, I like to take a break from making clothes and make a bag. Why don’t you make yourself a bag for fall. The folks at Vogue tell me, my handbag pattern, Vogue 8590 is their top seller.....on my personal sewing agenda is the large tote in a collage of silk screened black, brown and grey durable cottons so it will work with all my cool weather clothes.

Enjoy the remaining days of summer. Celebrate the creative life with me!

Wishing you a creative and relaxing August from my studio to yours,
Marcy