Fibre arts find a new home in River City

Remaking clothing from trash to flash and drawing with a sewing machine are just some of the far-out fibre techniques to be taught in a week of workshops in Wanganui as New Zealand's most exotic fabric event comes to town.

There are still some workshop spaces available for Creative Textiles Aotearoa, and an open exhibition on April 21.

The Creative Textiles Aotearoa annual event used to be held at Whitireia Polytechnic.

Last year it was a smaller event at Wellington and this year Masterton fabric artist Trisha Finley and her Wanganui counterpart Julie Coffey are moving it to the River City.

There are five overseas tutors and 47 out-of-town visitors coming to the lectures and workshops held at Wanganui Girls' College from April 16 to 21.

Visitors will stay at the school's hostel, and workshops will take place in classrooms, with lectures at night.

The revamped organisation is now called Fibre Arts New Zealand, and has an Australian cousin that has become too large to run the New Zealand event, leaving it to the locals. Mrs Coffey plans to make it an annual event for Wanganui, adding it was a good fit after the Open Studios weekends.

This year Australian tutor Kirry Toose will show how to remake clothes, Dionne Swift from the United Kingdom will take the Not Drawing workshop, using sewing machines, and Inez Fritschy from the Netherlands will teach mixed media creativity using handmade papers.

Workshops will run from 9am to 4pm daily, with lectures in the evening.

To get a place, contact Trisha Finley on 027 4266 336 or send an email from the organisation's website: www.creativetextilesaot earoa.jigsy.com.