Get a Move On

I made a changing pad to supplement a store-bought gift for my friend's baby shower a little over a year ago. My dear friend Missy gave me the polka dot fabric, isn't it great? Both fabrics are very soft and would be perfect for a new baby. I originally wanted the store-bought gift to supplement the handmade gifts, but it just didn't end up that way.



I was well on my way to making a padded play mat to go along with the changing pad, but my batting didn't cooperate and I wasn't able to finish it in time. I planned to re-stuff it and give it to her late. Unfortunately, she recently moved to Hawaii and the play mat is sitting in my WIP container.

Now her younger sister is pregnant and due only days before me. Unlike the older sister, the younger sister is having a girl. And I do believe in gender stereotyping for babies when it comes to color, so no, I won't be giving her the blue and tan play mat. But if I can get my act together - and judging by my current state, that's a really big if - I'd like to make something for her precious baby.

I'm going to have to make some things for myself and our baby #3 since I gave away so much after thinking that Jacob was going to be our last baby. If I'm able to find a way to make some things for us, I'm sure I can make something for her. I figure, if I can cut one, I can cut two, right?

Island Flavor Jams

Tree-ripened, organically grown tropical fruit jams. No preservatives - nothing is there that shouldn't be.



A delectable treat, whether on Saipan or abroad.



The perfect gift to share a taste of the Marianas with loved ones afar.



Using only locally grown fruits, my jams are made seasonally and by special order. I make all the jams myself in small batches to maintain quality and achieve robust flavor.



All of my jams are pressure canned for safety. Each batch is unique and may vary slightly depending on the sweetness of the fruits, though I strive to maintain consistency.



Various sizes available. Please contact me for more information: ayorata@gmail.com.

Marathon Sewing

Happy New Year, friends! I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. We had a nice relaxing Christmas and an equally pleasant new year's celebration.

I spent from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Christmas eve sewing aprons. Almost all of the pieces had been cut and prepped ahead of time, so nearly all I had to do was sew them together. I certainly enjoyed being in front of the machine all that time, but it was a difficult dance trying to care for and entertain my kids at the same time. Thankfully, they spent some time at my sister's house and my husband also took them out for a couple hours to do some last minute shopping.

I was sewing for a friend's special order. I would like to have had a better picture to show you, but I was literally pressing and packing all of the aprons up until the moment she picked them up, so all I had time to do was sneak in a picture from my phone, under poor lighting conditions. But just imagine with me that this picture was not blurry or washed out or on a carpet covered in thread clippings:



Can you picture it? I quite like this set. I know that lots of people do it, but this was my first pairing of brown with pinks. Just darling! I hope the owners enjoy these even more than I enjoyed making them.

Creation

I knew it had been a while, but I didn't realize it had been this long! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to spend so much time away from you.

I've been pretty busy creating life. Life for my children, for friends, for strangers even. But my newest life creation is our little baby number three, due in early June 2012.

This was my booth at Brilliant Star's annual Holiday Bazaar earlier this month - along with my two adorable helpers. There were not as many booths as there had been during the previous three years I've participated; there were also fewer shoppers. I tried to offer a variety of local flavored items at prices that hardly broke even, but even then, it was clear early on that sales would be quite lower than in the past.

I'll try to get some items in my etsy shop over the next month or so, but no promises. I am, after all, growing a tiny person in me and that takes quite a bit of energy in itself. But if there is something in the picture that you're interested in, please send me an email (ayorata at gmail) or contact me through Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/Ayorata). I must let you know up front, however, I have no more jams.

Wishing you all the best this holiday season! Merry Christmas!

On The Needles

I love maroons and cranberries and burgundies. I'm thinking about turning my hair into a nice deep burgundy. Then everyone will know whose daughter I am. You can always pick my mom out in a crowd.

"Who's your mom?"

"The lady with the fiery red hair."

"Oh yeah. I saw her."

I made a mostly sincere promise to myself that I won't buy anymore yarn until I use up half of my current stash. I've been working on this scarf for months. At the rate I'm going, I won't buy my next skein for another five years!

Has it been three birthdays already?

Do you remember Karla's first bag? Do you remember her second bag?

I know you don't know who Karla is, and that's okay. And whether you know her or not, I feel like I started a tradition and I can't break from it now, can I? So here's her third one. I don't think these pictures do a good job of portraying the spirit of the bag, which is more of a pouch really.

Boy, these are terrible pictures.

I think I'm going to have to make some more of these pouches.

Elementary!

Do you remember when I made Katelyn's Easter Dress? And how I said I'd make a blue one for my niece? I finished it! And it only took me fifteen months.

May I share something with you? Please don't tell anyone else. The reason it took me so long to finish it is anxiety. My niece is so naturally thin that I accidentally made it a little loose, but the thought of what exactly I would have to do to take it in caused me so much anxiety that I couldn't move forward with completing it. Lame, I know.

So there sat the dress in my WIP pile for over a year, nearly complete save for an elementary alteration and the straps. The dress would call to me. Then call me a wimp. Until one day in July I said to myself, "Self! Man up! Mele is a whole year older, that probably means that she has grown enough to fill out the dress. Put the straps on and give her the dang dress before she grows any more!" And I did.

And isn't it just perfect for my beautiful niece?

Waste Not Want Not

I've seen lots of those juice pouch bags, but I really haven't had much of a desire to make one myself. And when I told that to Auntie Debbie she said it's different when all the supplies are prepared for you and all you have to do is put it together. And she was right!

I'm really happy with this bag. Although the assembly is fairly simple, the execution was a bit tricky, but well worth the effort. We regularly buy Capri Suns for our kids, so I've been washing and saving the empty pouches and I plan to make variations of these bags whenever I can. I really like the look of these yellow and green mango juice pouches so I will definitely be working with more of them.

Knowing that there will be nearly no waste when we buy these juice pouches makes me feel a lot better about buying them. Drink up, mama wants to sew!

Happy Birthday USA!

The 4th of July is a great American holiday! Great as in, I love it. But I guess also great as in grand. On Saipan, we celebrate it both as Independence Day for the USA and Liberation Day for the Mariana Islands.

I bet you have something special planned for the 4th, don't you? Maybe it's nothing more than the usual BBQ and traditional parade watching and fireworks. But it'll be special nonetheless.

We are starting the celebration early with a BBQ tomorrow (3rd) with my sister's family and some friends. Sadly, and I actually am a little sad about it, we won't have any red, white, and blue desserts - no American flag berry cake, no patriotic trifles, no stars and stripes cupcakes. Just brownies. And marshmallows. We will roast marshmallows! And that is very American.

I don't want to sound ungrateful for what I have, but I wish every day was a holiday. I'm hoping that my 4th of July will mostly consist of crafts with the kids, jokes with the husband, and sewing in between sips of lemonade.

(Planning to turn this maternity shirt into something special for the girls. Have a happy Independeration Day!)

So Special!

I really love special orders. The level of care I put into the work remains consistent regardless of whether I'm working on a special order. But I particularly enjoy when I know who I'm working for and why. These oils were very special and I hope all the couples who received them are putting them to good use.