Several years ago I decided to take up sewing as a hobby. I borrowed a sewing machine from my mother-in-law, and my husband taught me the basics. It seems a little odd that my husband would be teaching me this skill, but where I grew up, there were not a lot of options in school for “fun classes”. You either took Art, Drama or Forestry (I despised Drama so I went with Art and Forestry). There was no Home Economics. A little weird since I grew up in a rural area, but whatever. The only other time I’d done any machine sewing before my 20’s was for a “small” craft project in 4-H (it was a denim backpack which was horrible to make and that I never finished). So I’m going to say I went in having no sewing skills whatsoever. I started off with a few small projects and then decided I really liked sewing, so I went ahead and bought my own sewing machine. That’s when my obsession with making aprons started. Aprons were my favorite thing to make because they are extremely cute and functional at the same time – and although most people primarily use aprons in the kitchen, mine get worn all around the house and garden. I kept making aprons for myself until I realized that I probably didn’t need any more for myself, but since they were my favorite thing to make, I had to figure out a way that I could continue making them, but not have a million of them in my pantry for myself. Plus you can only give away so many aprons as gifts before friends start faking excitement for yet another apron. So that’s when the idea of becoming a hobby seller was born and Etsy came into the picture. I’d been an Etsy buyer for several years, but only recently expanded into being a seller. I’m sure everyone knows what Etsy is, but for those who may not, it is an online marketplace for artists and sellers offering unique goods from around the world – I’ve purchased many amazing and affordable art prints, vintage wares, and arts and craft supplies over the years from Etsy sellers.

Setting up my shop has been interesting – I’ve made a few side sales outside of Etsy, but I’m still patiently waiting for my first Etsy sale! So with that said, I am currently offering $5.00 off any purchase for the week of October 17th-24th with coupon code 5FALL2014 – visit my shop here. And the other fun part is that my Alberta Etsy Team is also participating in sales for their own shops during this week! More information on the shops and sales can be found here.

Here is a sampling of the aprons that I have available:

Here is a photo of me in my favorite apron.

All aprons are made from start to finish by myself from a pattern designed by myself – I do not currently offer international shipping on my Etsy listings because they vary so wide country-to-country, but if you’re interested in a shipping quote, please contact me directly via Etsy. Thanks for hanging in there, we’ll get back to gardening next week!