Connie Johnson began her textile career at the age of 4 when she hand-sewed a plaid jumper for her doll, a jumper just like the one Connie's mother had made for her.  As the years went by, her seams got straighter, she earned a degree in textile design, opened a weaving studio, sewed countless garments and created many beautiful pieces of art from a variety of fibers.

Connie has traveled the world studying fibers, weaving techniques and design, and collecting textiles. She studied at the Universidad de las Americas in Mexico; lived with Tzutuhil Indians in Guatemala and mastered the backstrap loom and the art of ikat; helped manage an art gallery, Taller Martinez Mas, in Buenos Aires, Argentina; and researched extensively in Morocco and India. Through her insatiable curiosity she learned about the brocades and tapestries of Europe, silks of China, cottons of Peru and Egypt, Flamenco fabrics of Spain, damasks of Damascus, and much more.

This is what Connie says about how she became a designer of fashion aprons and creator of Connie Johnson Designs.
"I love cooking in an apron; I can barely work without one. Where do I wipe my hands, or what if I splash? One day I looked at my aprons and realized that they were so worn I could not wear them much longer. They were gifts and castoffs from my beloved great-aunt, “Auntie,” and my great-grandmother, Ida. What was I to do?

I looked at those aprons and remembered how my great-grandmother always had one on. I looked at the handiwork, each little hand-made tuck, and the delicate tatting around the edges. I loved those aprons. I loved those women.

I decided then and there to make my own. I had never seen an apron I liked in a store. Besides not having the soul that my old aprons had, the new ones were either too industrial looking or poorly made.

I didn’t want to replicate Auntie’s aprons; they belonged to her. Nor did I want to embroider or tussle with tatting. The aprons needed to be mine, and they needed to be taken farther than the usual patterns and fabrics. They needed to be functional and of high quality fabric, with smart, and even sometimes “over the top," designs.

The aprons you will see here are only the beginning. There are many more designs in my notebook. So be sure to check periodically for my latest creations."

                 Connie