Joanne Johnson - "Jojo"

I was watching my mother sew when I was seven or eight.  I asked her if she would teach me.  She sat me down right then at that electric 1940’s Singer sewing machine and I took to it like a fish to water.  I spent hours in her sewing room making that Singer sing.

 

I came up with the idea of fashioning a grocery bag with shoulder straps in the early 1980s.  I wanted an envelope pocket for lists and another pocket on the opposite side of the bag that could hold a bottle of wine.  The first Jojo Bag was born.  I made two or three and used them when I went to the grocery store.  One day I was wandering through one of my favorite fabric haunts and I discovered a sale table full of bolts of vintage bark cloth.  The fabric brought back memories of the drapes my mother made on that Singer for the picture windows in our living room.  Next thing I knew, I was making bags out of that vintage cloth.  Then I started lining the bags with quilting fabrics.  This addition gave the bag more weight, structure, and stability. 

 

While working on a Shakespeare production of A Comedy of Errors, Costume Designer Susan Kelly taught me how to make piping.  I started making piping to trim out the bags.  Piping gave them even more stability and a lot more sex appeal!

 

I’ve thought about selling the bags for years.  Every time, I’ve talked myself out of the idea—too daunting, too busy, too scared, too whatever.  I’ve been thinking about it in a different light the past few years.  I feel like I can make a one-of-a-kind bag, each one unique, functional, and pretty.  I can make as many as I want when I want because my life is already full!  The bag can have an environmental impact bonus—almost eliminating the use of plastic grocery bags.

 

I think I have resisted selling the bags because it always feels like I might lose that sense of joy.  What I know now is that the bags are a touchstone and my passion project.  I’m ready to share my joy!