Valerie Morillo says that the name Dharla has always sort of represented her alter ego, so when her husband vetoed giving their daughter the name, she decided to bring the name to life a different way, with the birth of Dharla's Boutique. At first, she focused on arts and crafts, like wooden letters and signs that could be personalized, but she soon had her sights set on fabrics and garments.

"I actually decided I wanted to do this but didn't know how to even sew a straight line," Morillo said. "So I started making blankets as practice and eventually I got good enough to make clothes that I could send my daughter out of the house in."

Her clothing line, which features many brightly colored and patterned kimonos, among other designs, was inspired by her time in Japan, where she was stationed for four years with her husband, Air Force Tech. Sgt Guillermo Morillo.

"People kept asking where they could find something my daughter was wearing, and when I'd tell them I made it they started asking if they could buy from me," she explained.

A year ago, the Morillos and their two children moved from Okinawa to Joint Base Lewis-McChord and she elected to continue her business.

"Every time that I do something, I want to do more," Morillo said. "I recently designed what I call the ‘Crafter's Bursa, which attaches to your desk or table and can hold all your scraps from sewing, crafting or scrapbooking. They've become popular pretty quickly."

Fabric options and sample swatches are shown on both forums, and if there is something you have your heart set on instead, she will do her best to get that for you instead. Her clothing line sizes (which are just for children at this point in time) typically start at six months and go up to a size 7 or 10, depending on the specific design. Pricing varies by the size, and the preferred payment method is PayPal. Orders usually take up to one to two weeks; depending upon how many other orders she is working on at the same time or how large each order is.

Though the current plan is to stay here, Morillo said they would also love to go back overseas; luckily, Dharla's Boutique has set up shop in her heart and will go wherever the Air Force takes them.

"The best I can do is to deliver a good product, whatever they order. I figure if they like the item, then their friend might like it and well, you can dream," she laughed. Speaking of dreams, Morillo would love to one day have a physical store (which she has already decorated in her mind's eye) where she could display all her wares and actually meet the customers face to face.

Until then though, to check out Dharla's Boutique's unique offerings, visit either her Etsy shop at www.etsy.com/shop/DharlasBoutique or her Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pages/Dharlas-Boutique/78777408420.