Teach Others to Sew
Hi! I'm Megan Avery and I am a longtime sewing educator and creative arts business expert. I ran my own brick and mortar sewing studio for over 17 years - teaching kids and adults of all ages how to sew.
Today I teach sewing classes online through live classes, on-demand video courses, my free Learn to Sew blog, private zoom lessons and in person at Sewing Retreats. I'm also passionate about coaching and training other entrepreneurs to start and grow their own sewing businesses.
I created Hipstitch Academy because I discovered my sewing classes and workshops, as well as my business & marketing practices could be taught to people, like you, who have a passion for sewing. I knows with some guidance you too can facilitate successful sewing classes and create a profitable business doing it. And the icing on the cake is that ultimately more people learn how to sew.
Through this work I have also seen these same sewing business principles and marketing strategies easily applied to other class based businesses with the same success. So whether you're here because you want to teach sewing or maybe your passion is in teaching something else like art or karate or dance or guitar, Hipstitch Academy and my training is relevant.
At the end of the day the Hipstitch Academy mission is to utilize expertise to help you turn your hobbies and passions into profitable business opportunities to support yourself and your family.
"Working with Megan and having access to the Hipstitch Academy community and blog is like having a whole business building department in your organization. I can say hands down I could not have reached $50,000 in revenue my first year without this resource. What it came down to is time. I have so much going on in my life I don’t have a lot of time to try too many things to see what works. The only way I could achieve what I have so far was to be really thoughtful about what I did and then be motivated to TAKE ACTION! Having Megan there to say, “I tried ____, and my results were _____” is a huge time saver. Planning and talking things out first is important! But the second part is putting those well thought out plans into action. Again, when I overthink things Megan has been there to say “Just do it! Doesn’t have to be perfect. Just grab some campers and get it started!”…or whatever the issue may be. She is truthful yet kind, able to find the humor in things, relatable, and full of humility. We laugh at ourselves and the situations we face as sewing studio owners and its just really nice to have someone who gets it."
"If you’re wondering whether or not you should give working with Megan a try I can only speak from my own experience. It was THE best value to jumpstart my business. For under $500, with hard work and guidanceyou can start a viable business that grows quickly. The more you teach the better your sewing skills get, the more respect you garner, the more students you get. The projects I bought from Hipstitch I still use every week and will continue to do so because they are so well done. My staff loves them because the tutorials are thorough and tested training materials. I heard over and over from day one how professional my tiny operation was and I proudly let people know I had a coach and she took the time to develop and share her amazing curriculum ? …the reaction always was “that’s smart!”. I agree. It’s always smart to have support."
Nyla Dubois | Seamsters Local - Marblehead, MA
"My training was awesome! In the last decade Megan has seen a lot. She knows what works and she is very successful! Picking her brain and hearing her story was the most beneficial part of my training. Over the last year I have run into different situations and thought to myself "oh Megan was right" or "ah ha! That's what she was talking about!" She gets really specific when she trains you and truly knows exactly how to guide you in the right direction.
Megan is awesome! She has a cool confidence in everything she does with her business. She is working hard to build a sewing community where owners can share ideas.
She's truly my sewing business mentor! I talk about Megan all the time with my staff! I share her stories with them and use her experiences/advice as I'm running my business. Everyone will make the business their own but when things get tricky and you need some help she is the person you want to get on the phone."
Kaitlyn Baeten | Sew Fun Studios - Frisco, TX
"The initial in-person training was great because it was hands-on and allowed me to see that the kids can do it. I also learned what to look for in instructors. The ongoing support from Megan has helped me keep going and believe that I can make the business work and grow. From my perspective, Megan has a good work ethic. She has built an amazing business, and she is a great asset to have in in anyone's business."
Kenya Walker | Sew Fun Studios - Decatur, GA