A R T I S T S P O T L I G H T
JACKIE
POLETTI
& P J ’s in the Hoop
If you’ve been familiar with Anita Goodesign, or even
embroidery, for some time, you may have seen or heard
about PJ’s in the Hoop collections! No, they aren’t collections
for making pajamas, however you may just happen upon your
next favorite project through her line of fun, whimsical, and
beginner-friendly collections. Now, we wanted to shine the
spotlight on Jackie for the first time ever in All Access, and
give our customers a deeper dive into how the relationship
between Jackie and Anita Goodesign came to be!
Tell us how you first began creating PJ’s In the Hoop
designs. I had a digitizing program since we purchased
my first embroidery machine in the mid-nineties, but at that
time I didn’t even know how to turn on the computer! But my
visionary husband just knew that someday I’d want to digitize,
and out of guilt I finally started experimenting. One day in the
summer of 2005, I was shopping and saw a cosmetic bag
featuring a front zipper instead of the typical top zipper. A
light bulb went off in my head, I went home and designed
a very basic zippered bag to be done entirely in the hoop,
pressed “start” on my machine and covered my eyes so the
needle wouldn’t break, fly off, and blind me! Well, the design
worked and that was how it all started. And for those who are
curious, the name “PJ” has no magical context—my initials
are JP and I just reversed them!
How long have you been designing, digitizing, and writing
your own tutorials? All aspects of my projects were done
solely by me from the beginning (2005), although certain
facets evolved over the years. My first design packs were on
floppy disks, and my first tutorials were Word documents with
a few photos stuck in here and there! Steve and I worked
very hard developing my ability to create effective tutorials,
both verbal and pictorial.
Where does your passion for the PJ’s In The Hoop projects
derive from? My local fabric shop was fascinated with my
project ideas, purchased some copies of the design, and
had me start teaching some classes to the local clientele.
The students’ excitement and enthusiasm encouraged me to
raise the bar on my designing, and since I am not talented at
drawing, the concept of simple in-the-hoop appliqué projects
was a natural progression for me. Over time, I became more
attentive to items in ads and in stores that gave me ideas
as well. By far the biggest motivator was knowing that my
designs were generating lots of smiles…in those having
fun making the items and even more so in their friends and
relatives who were being gifted with the items.
Before your business relationship with Anita Goodesign,
how did you learn about us? I actually first met Steve long
before I had started digitizing—I had attended an embroidery
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT | ALL ACCESS | 112