trendy trends & the funk'tional bags: Fabrics of Life Trickle Up

Carol Schilios founded Fabrics of Life in 2002 and has successfully taken several begging girls off the streets and put them through the Here Je project (FOL's biggest project) and turned them into business women in 18 months. The Here Je Center located in Mali, West Africa helps girls learn about health and nutrition, family planning, AIDs prevention, and literacy skills. They also learn about fabric cutting and sewing, fabric design (wax printing & dying), weaving, and jewelery making. Graduates of the program use traditional methods of dying, weaving, and beading to make goods sold in the US and the profits directly benefit these young women and their families.
Fabrics of Life has opened a boutique in Edmonds, WA and is strictly run by volunteers. There are several handmade goods ranging from handbags to housewares from all over the world. Fabrics of Life make it easy to get that authentic handcrafted, tribal look at an affordable price. Below are some pictures of women from the Here Je Center printing and sewing fabric to create a handbag.

Above: girls printing on fabric (left), girls hand stitching (middle), a girl showing off her finished bag (right) $35 - $45

To support these women and other fair trade programs, shop at :