"Failure is not an option"

I made a new J-Apron but it didn't turn out as I had hoped. In fact, it was a complete disaster.

I spent alot of time on it and not a small amount of $$$. I read the instructions completely (or so I thought) and it still

turned out weird

. Nothing lined up, material was sticking out all over the place.

I was FRUSTRATED! But then a line from one of my favorite movies of all time popped into my head. If you have ever watched Apollo 13 you know the line -- it's when Gene Krantz says "Failure is not an option....."

So I changed my mindset completely around - We'll see how it turns out this time around.

AND maybe I can even use my embroidery function to add something cute and fun.

Will keep you posted!

Embroidery kick

I tested my new machine with the embroidery attachment. All I say say is WOW!!!!!

Now if I can just figure out how to make it bigger/smaller/and multiple colors I'll be all set and can add all kinds of fun things to my J-Aprons!

Old and New

I have loved my old Singer sewing machine for almost 30 yrs. My mom gave it to me when I got married.


But now that I have "the fever" for sewing and want to do more, it was time..... so I bought a Baby Lock sewing/embroidery machine. It arrived yesterday. Had to take photos of it and me loving it.....

Wow - who would have thought??!!

It's pretty remarkable... you put something out there on the internet and before you know it - people are interested! How cool is that?

My friend Carol wanted me to make her a J-Apron with a chili pepper print. It turned out really cute. I whipped it up and sent it off to her in Utah. She then posted a picture of her wearing it on Facebook. And then a couple of her friends saw the picture, liked it and want me to make them aprons too. How could I say no? That's right - I can't say no - so I will be getting going on those orders shortly.

In addition, I had some fun material with all kinds of citrus fruits. Orange, grapefruit, lemon. Really bright and vivid. So I couldn't resist and made a J-Apron from that.

From a sizing perspective - I am 5'8" tall and the bottom comes to about my knees or a little higher. The neck strap is adjustable so you can make it higher or lower. There are also 2 pockets on the front.

If anyone is interested in purchasing this specific apron or if you have any questions, please contact me. The cost is $30 plus shipping (I use the US Postal Service).

Here we go.....

So about 2 months ago, I started thinking about aprons. I love aprons but I only had 2 - and both were very old and not attractive. So I started looking online and talking to a friend of mine who is very talented at sewing. SO many cute apron patterns out there!!

So I made a decision to pull out my old sewing machine that my mom gave me almost 30 years ago and give it a try. Found a real cheapee pattern and got to work.

YIKES! I couldn't even figure out how to lay out the pattern at first. I finally figured that part out then got completely confused with all the technical words in the pattern like "facing", "interfacing", "seams" etc..... I read and read and re-read.....

Finally got one done. It was OK, kind of cute although it made my hips look HUGE! And after losing almost 40 lbs in the past year, the last thing in the world I wanted was to have something that made my hips look huge. So I did what probably most people might do --- I went to You Tube and did a search.

Amazing how many videos are out there for almost everything. I got some ideas and then came up with my own apron pattern. Incredibly simple, A-line style but OH SO CUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I made 1 and then a FB friend saw it online and asked me to make her one AND she'd pay me! WOW!!!!! Who could turn that down!?! And then another friend said her church was going to have a Christmas bazaar in a few months and did I want a booth? DOUBLE WOW!!!!!

Hence - "J-Aprons" was born. My husband came up with the name. Since I'm Jackie, he thinks it just makes sense that I should call my little business "J-Aprons". OK - not too original but it has grown on me.

So, this blog is started to showcase my aprons, and to follow my progress in sewing them. If anyone has an interest in purchasing one, just let me know!