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Apron Kits!

I’m so pleased to announce our Apron kits are now available online!

Our Maria Apron kits were very popular at the shows this year and so we have resourced the fabrics and voila – here they are in time for Christmas!

These kits contain everything you need to make your own Maker’s apron and would be a beautiful gift for a lucky Maker friend or a lovely project for you!

We have two kits to choose from, each with enough fabric to make version A of The Maria Apron, along with the paper Maria Apron pattern, interfacing, thread, label & Maven tote bag.

THE APRON KIT – indigo moon

Indigo moon is a beautiful block printed cloth, printed by Artisans in India using traditional techniques and coloured with natural dyes. Because block printed fabrics are printed by hand they will never be perfectly printed in the same way as mass produced and digitally printed cloth is. They have irregularities in their print, making them unique and these should be valued as part of their beauty and charm. You can find the Indigo Moon Kit here.

THE APRON KIT – stripe

Our stripe kit has a lovely soft denim in a denim/ecru colourway with a 2.5cm stripe, giving you the opportunity to make a feature of those large, useful pockets by experimenting with the stripe direction. You can find the stripe kit here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Included in each kit |

The Maria Apron Paper Pattern

Your chosen cloth – enough for VERSION A

Fusible Interfacing

2 reels of 100m Gutterman sew all thread

Maven label – faux leather & 100% paper

Maven Tote Bag

 

Click the link below to take you to the Apron Kit listings to view all the details

FABRIC BY THE METRE? Why yes, of course!

Already have the Maria Apron pattern but would like to make a spotty or stripey one?

We are happy to sell the fabric separately by the metre (or parts of a metre) – Indigo Moon is £12 per metre / Stripe is £16 per metre.

Message us via our contact page or send us an email to [email protected]

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A Little Inspiration and Philosophy

Do you ever wonder where the inspiration behind a sewing pattern comes from? Ideas can literally come from anywhere and everywhere. I mean, who hasn’t followed someone around a supermarket to get a better look at an interesting pocket or seam? Old films from the 50’s and 60’s are a constant source of joy for details and silhouettes. All of the little ideas just get tucked away subconsciously until it’s time for them to come into the daylight. You see, to be creative you have to put something in for something to come out. You have to take notice of the small stuff, the unusual colour combinations in the most random place, a shape, a silhouette of a shadow. Don’t just look at clothes, just look. Once you start looking at things with the eyes of a Maker, everything becomes a potential.

And then, of course, you find a fabric. Designs for me are often a response to a fabric…what does that cloth need to become? How will it drape? And this stripe was just begging to be made into a chevron. I made this skirt way back in 2014, when only the idea of Maven existed (the fabric was from John Lewis, but sadly no longer available). The skirt eventually developed into our Barcelona dress pattern. The Barcelona pattern was only released this year but she actually became a dress pattern in 2015 and gained her name when I did the classic make a last minute dress for a trip to Barcelona. I like to give the patterns time to develop naturally. We personally wearer trial everything so we know it works in the real world. I want garments in my wardrobe that are flexible and solve problems, not create them, not just for today but for years.

But above all for me, this quote by William Morris has resonated within my design work from the moment I first heard it. It made sense of my natural desire to make for purpose and practicality. I believe a garment has to meet the criteria of longevity and to function well within a wardrobe and within a lifestyle if we are to put the effort and time into making something. If we are going to use resources, we need to make consciously with a view to loving each garment for a lifetime. Here at Maven, that really is at the core of what we believe. 

The French Dart pattern as a top | The Barcelona pattern as a skirt