Creativity fired by nature and offcuts

Mrs Uila Leota of Tuaefu is one creative woman.

From material scraps collected from sewing shops, she sews patchwork quilts, cushion covers, door mats, rugs and hand bags.

Dried banana leaves are arranged into a collage with a woven mat base for placemats and coasters.

Then there are the young green coconut shells that she buries in the swamp for two weeks. Mrs Leota pours out the rotten flesh, washes them with small pebbles in the river to ensure that they are empty.

Back home, she buries them again and the shells turn grey. These are painted black and varnished. A lid is made out of the coconut husk and the shells are used for coconut oil.

These are sold in clusters for T$120 to $150.

Since 1998, Mrs Leota has been selling her crafts under a tent in front of her house at Tuaefu.

The 64-year-old is a teacher by profession and has taught at the different levels, starting from early childhood. She still does community projects when needed and lectures part time at the National University of Samoa and at train the trainer workshops.

People have often told her not to share the secrets of her trade in case it backfires and she has competition.

“But we learn in the Bible that if we share our talents, we will get more out of it.”

Once a month, she visits the sewing shops to collect the bags of scrap material. Some give them to her for free. Others charge $5 to $10 a bag. On a recent trip, she was told that someone else had already come in and taken some of the offcuts.

Mrs Leota was thrilled.

Her workshops had paid off.

There are businesses who also deliver their scraps to her house.

Samoa Loko Style once delivered a van full. People including the Chief Justice’s wife, Ilaganoa Sapolu has also done the same.

One of her more popular designs are the fish patchwork quilts. On these, she sews on shaped coral, seaweed, and lots of fish.

She also uses different shades of blue and green to capture the colours of the ocean.

This trade she has taught to her daughter, Daisy, her daughter-in-law Sera and grand daughter, Rachel. Her grandchildren, the youngest who is age seven, all know how to make the rugs that are sold at $20 for their bus fare.

“And they make them in a really professional way. They know that they can get money everywhere, from around us, our environment.”

She also has a passion for baking in which she substitutes butter with coconut cream, yeast with coconut and many others.

Mrs Leota is a strong believer in the empowerment of women.

“No one taught me to do this. Most things I do are creative and putting [my ideas] into action. I share my talents. They were given to me by God to share and I really believe in that.”