Exotic Fabrics with Paula Smith-Danell – June 2017

June Special Event

No Charge, No Registration Event!
Attend the morning, afternoon or both sessions


SATURDAY, JUNE 24
Greater Portland Bible Church
2374 SW Vermont St, Portland OR


Morning Program, 10 AM-Noon

Sewing with Recycled Saris
Have you ever wanted to learn about sewing with the iconic East Indian sari? In this presentation, we will look at the design considerations and sewing techniques associated with sewing garments from these luscious fabrics. The focus of this talk will be on working with “recycled” sari. These saris are sold as craft fabric for reasonable prices, both at thrift shops and on-line. We can give these gorgeous fabrics new life, with the proper repair and construction techniques. Please join us for a morning of diving into the delicious fabrics of India and Southeast Asia. Some sari fabrics will be available for purchase.

Lunch, Noon-1 PM
Potluck Lunch
Please bring our favorite dish to share with everyone. We’ll provide coffee and tea.

Afternoon Program, 1 PM-3:30 PM
Introduction to African Textiles
Have you ever seen an African Mud Cloth and wondered how it was made? From Bark Cloth to Batik, in this lecture we will look at many of the iconic fabrics of Central Africa. Come learn the history and construction techniques of Central African textiles. Over 90 African textiles will be presented.


Paula graduated with her BA in Apparel Design from The American College for Applied Arts in London, England.  She has owned her own business, Fletcher Artworks, LLC for over 25 years, where she offers design services to the Apparel Industry (Norm Thompson, Sahalie, Pendleton and Columbia Sportswear).  She creates one-of-a-kind wearable art in her studio in Hillsboro, OR that can be found at Sequoia Gallery and on her Etsy site.  She also writes articles for nationally published sewing magazines (Threads and Sewing Savvy).