"Market bags - not diamonds - are a girl's best friend."

Darcy Falk at her sewing machine outside a Taos studio

When I started making market bags from oilcloth for myself, friends clammered for their own. My friend, Elena wanted three; she's a nurse and carries them with her to work, filled with all her stuff for the day, including heavy canning jars with her lunch and drinks. She suggested I wrap the straps all the way around the bottom; that's one of the features that make our market bags so hardworking.

Eventually I found cork fabric and after testing it, I fell in LOVE. I found that cork has many of the same qualities as oilcloth – cleanable, water-repellent, durable – with a smart, professional look and an environmentally sustainable footprint.

My mother taught me to use her tan metal Singer sewing machine from the 1950s when I was four, in lieu of struggling with my toy sewing machine. Her decision proved fateful: I bought my own Pfaff machine in high school and began making clothes, first for myself, then for my husband and sons. My love of making, and comfort with fabric and thread launched me on my art career over 30 years ago. In addition to my Tallulah Art•Head line, I also make stitched textile collage artworks, sculptural garments and more. You can learn more about that work at Darcyfalk.com

Why "Tallulah Art•Head"?

Tallulah Bankhead in a feather headdress

Tallulah Art•Head was initially inspired by the larger-than-life actress Tallulah Bankhead. She tended toward exuberance, wit, and reckless abandon, and had a no-holds-barred attitude toward doing and saying what she wanted. Tallulah wasn't easily defined. One of my favorite quotes from Tallulah Bankhead:

“Nobody can be exactly like me. Sometimes even I have trouble doing it."

Unlike Bankhead, my personal life is utterly tame. But in my studio, I channel her vitality, humor, and spirited attitude. I design and make the products I sell by coupling that playfulness with my commitment to craftsmanship.

Thanks for supporting art!