New Style of Aprons Just Added

We have designed a really cool new product that we are pretty excited about. It's a full length cooking / crafting apron that is oh-so-much-cuter than your traditional full length apron. Check 'em out for yourself. All the READYMADE examples are marked at $35 a piece. There is only one apron of each style, so get one while it's still warm from the sewing machine. And order quick to make sure you don't miss out on the one you REALLY want!




See the full collection of NEW full length aprons here.

Thanks to the Feminist Review Blog

Just wanted to thank the Feminist Review Blog for taking the time to make some bags from our book and for writing about their experience on their blog on Saturday January 17, 2009!

Bag Bazaar: 25 Stylish Bags to Sew in an Afternoon

By Megan Avery

Potter Craft

As a fashion design student, I’m always looking for fresh ideas, and Bag Bazaar: 25 Stylish Bags to Sew in an Afternoon immediately piqued my interest.

Avery’s background is quite interesting. She didn’t attend design school and, in fact, majored in television and radio in college. Avery became interested in making bags because she couldn't afford designer prices, so with little sewing experience, she began making her own. Seven years later, she has her own studio, M Avery Design, where she teaches "Make Your Own Handbags" and other sewing workshops.

This compact, concise (120 pages), and colorful book is broken up into three sections. In the first part, Avery explains basic bag-making and sewing techniques, such as how to put in a zipper, topstitching, and making gussets. In the second part of Bag Bazaar, readers are given a dozen delightful handbags projects, and in the third section Avery provides instructions for several interesting specialty bags, like a yoga mat bag and a wine tote.

The best way to experience a craft book is to attempt some of the projects. I chose two bags with different levels of difficulty: the Alice shoulder bag (labeled as easy) and the Meredith flap closure shoulder bag (labeled as intermediate). Avery provides the pattern dimensions of each bag along with the list of supplies you will need, including the type and amount of fabric to use. For both bags, I used cotton pique fabric and tag board for the pattern.

Because I've been sewing for many years, I didn't follow Avery’s directions completely. For instance, I used the pattern to cut out the interfacing and fabric pieces first; Avery has a different technique where you fuse the interfacing on to the fabric first and cut out the pieces of fabric using the edge of the interfacing as guide. This is a small difference, and I'm going to try her technique in the future. For creating the gussets, I had to read the directions several times before I understood how to proceed, but after that the bag was a breeze to make.

How did my bags turn out? The flap for my Meredith bag seemed bigger than the purse base—something I will have to work on—but overall, both the Meredith and the Alice were adorable.

Avery’s directions, both written and visual, are easy to understand, and the supplies she recommends can be found at your local fabric store. For someone who has never worked with a sewing machine, Bag Bazaar might be a bit challenging. That said, for someone who has been sewing for awhile, this is a great book for furthering your creativity.

Review by Su Lin Mangan

I learned to make jewelry... The real Way!

So we are branching out, here at M Avery Designs and have decided to offer some classes beyond sewing. Our next upcoming new & different class happens to be the "Make your Own Wrap Earrings" class and that is taking place this coming Wednesday, January 21st starting at 7 at the store!

Now, I know NOTHING about making jewelry, so I asked a friend of mine, who makes really gorgeous jewelry, to teach the class. She happily obliged but was a little nervous about teaching the class and asked if we could do a practice run through before the class.

Here is Nancy Green at her work table.
I thought practice class would be a FABULOUS idea because I was going to get to be the guinea pig-student. This would then mean I would get to learn how to make gorgeous jewelry for myself! Yahoo! Let's do this!

So we met on Thursday morning at here studio, here in Hoboken. She showed me all her fabulous findings and showed me all her tools and we got started.

Now, Yes, I have made jewelry before. Sure - I guess you could call me a beginner bead stringer. But I have not done anything beyond this.

The whole concept of wrapping wire with beads in some sort of pretty way to make cool earrings sounded a bit daunting for me. But after I saw Nancy wrap some of the wire & beads, I breathed a sigh of relief and figured this was something I could handle.

All in all, Nancy and I spent about an hour and half together Thursday. She took me through the basics of working with the wire and then we tackled our first project... Once i got the hang of it, I was able to get three earrings done and finished the fourth at home.

Here is the pair we finished:
It's pretty obvious, you can make some cool stuff that looks pretty darn professional.

If you've dabbled in jewelry making and want to take it to the next level, the earring class is for you.

Sign up online and use the promo code "nancyg" when you check out and get $10 off!

Hope to see you Wednesday!

One Review So Far On Amazon.com

So I was being a complete nerd and checking out my book listing on Amazon. I noticed that we had one review and it was fabulous, so I thought I might share (yes, I definitely would have kept a bad review to myself ; )

Anyway - Here is the lonely review below.

Has anyone received their copy and has something to say about it? Send your reviews and comments about the book my way. I would love to read them and see what you have to say. I would also love to post them here.

Send me all comments to my email address megan@maverydesigns. Can't wait!

Jewelry Making Classes Starting This Month

You're in luck! Not only are we starting our jewelry making classes this month, we would also like to extend a special discount for the new class just because you are reading our blog.

Read on for details:

Nancy Green, Jeweler, Designer & Owner of Nancy Green Design, will be teaching a wire wrapping jewelry class at our Shop on Wedesday January 21st from 7-9pm.

The two hour class will teach all students the skills needed for making their very own wire wrapped earrings. And more than likely you will walk away from the class with a couple of new pairs.

For more information about Nancy, please check out her website http://www.nancygreendesign.com.

Sign up online for any of the three classes she's teaching the next few months and get $10 off the class by using the discount code nancyg.
Normally $50, but use the code and take the class for $40

Sign up online here:

http://maverydesigns.com/products.asp?cat=84

Upcoming Classes:

Wed. Jan. 21st, 2009 7-9pm
Wed. Feb. 25th, 2009 7-9pm
Wed. Mar. 18th, 2009 7-9pm

They like us in Omaha

Wanted to send out a quick thank you to the City Weekly Website of Omaha, Nebraska. They did a little feature about easy accessory shopping for the Holidays,earlier this month and included us.

As they so kindly pointed out, you don't have to live in Omaha to enjoy your bags. Customizing a one of a kind M Avery Designs creation can be done entirely online and then you'll have your bag in 2-3 weeks!

Thanks again!