When Casey Wallersted, 26, was attending Kansas State University studying design, she never gave aprons a thought. She remembers her grandmother wore one almost all day around the house, but that's about it.

Fast forward a few years and aprons have been rediscovered - even becoming a fashion statement in some circles, worn with leggings. And Casey is now a textile artist and designer with her own boutique and design studio, Mod-Podge, making and selling "wearable art" like handbags, scarves and jewelry, with a vintage flair in downtown St. Joseph.

She got started making aprons when serving lunch at the Albrecht Kemper Museum of Art. She and three other women help out there weekly on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and she thought they could use something "artsy" to wear while serving the gourmet meals. So she made colorful aprons with bright, quilted materials, mixing and matching patterns, giving them funky, hip trims and men's neckties for sashes.

"We got so many compliments," she says. "They'd say, 'look at her apron. That's a necktie?' It's a great conversation starter."

She now sells half and full aprons in her store. She also will custom make aprons for those that want something specific.

You can buy the full aprons for $48, half aprons for $40 and matching oven mitts for $15.

Mod-Podge Boutique and Design Studio

724 Francis St., 279-0577, modpodge4u.com