Martha Stewart Isn’t Done With You Yet

You read her magazine, watch her TV show, use recipes from her cookbooks, buy merchandise from her catalog, use her sheets on your bed. . . . What more could Martha Stewart possibly contribute to your life?

Glad you asked.

Debuting next month is the Martha Stewart Home collection of decorative fabrics that can be used for furniture, drapery and accessories. Made mostly of 100% cotton, there are romantic florals, sophisticated plaids, ginghams, solids and embroidered matelasses, designed to coordinate with each other. For those familiar with the Martha look, the color palette is no surprise: muted and dusty pastels in peony, willow, oyster, plum, buttercup and sky. Collections will be updated twice a year, and prices range from $15 to $40 a yard.

The first group of fabrics consists of three collections named after historic gardeners--Miss Farrand (American landscape gardener Beatrix Farrand), Capability (English landscape architect Capability Brown) and Miss Jekyll (English gardener Gertrude Jekyll). That is so Martha.

Fabrics will be carried at Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts, and Calico Corners stores. Said Calico Corners spokeswoman Jan Jessup, “Martha Stewart Home has very rich patterns that are kind of simply translated, not overdone. About five years ago she started advancing a different look, involving subtle colors and beautiful textures and a slightly spare kind of look, but in very soft, livable colorations. Nobody really did that until she began to put it together.”

By spring 2001, the line will expand to 350 fabrics. That should keep Martha fans happy . . . for a little while.