Red Dao sewing Workshop 

(Two day)

Red Dao Embroidery Workshop – Two Day Cultural Experience in Sapa

Stitches and patterns and the warm wind blowing, the days pass quickly when I am sewing.

Duration: 2 days and one night
Departure time: 8.30am - 9.30am
Return Time: Before Dusk
Physical activity: Easy 
Location: Sapa - Ta Phin (traditional Dao village)
Travel Style: Cultural immersion and participatory workshops. 
Connectivity: Wifi - None, Mobile coverage - good.

Maximum: 4 people

Also available as a one day workshop here

Red Dao woman sewing traditional embroidered clothing in Ta Phin village, Sapa

Learn Traditional Textile Art from Red Dao Women

Hands-On Embroidery, Cultural Insights and a Deeper Connection with Local Life

The Red Dao people live in the mountainous region of northern Vietnam near Sa Pa.  They reside side-by-side with the Black Hmong, and live in a subsistence rice & corn growing culture. Embroidery is one of the special skills of the Red Dao. They acquire silk thread and cotton fabric from other local tribes and use these materials to make their traditional embroidered clothing. In this way the local minorities rely on one another. The silk is twisted. Depending on the size of the thread, it is later twisted again. Sometimes two or four threads are twisted together to make thread ready for embroidering. 

The embroidery is completed in lines, using the full length of the needle, and it is quite unique in that a design appears on both sides of the fabric. Embroidery skills are extremely important in ethnic minority life. A woman’s outfit includes a heavily embroidered tunic, apron, and pants, as well as embroidered accessories. A traditional outfit can take up to a year and a half to produce and the embroidery skills take many years to master. Traditional clothing is still worn daily by most Dao women. This means that women take their embroidery with them wherever they go, working on it whenever they have a free moment.No Red Dao women is seen as fit to marry or even desirable until she has sewn her own clothes.

Workshops:

Workshops use traditional cotton fabrics, silk threads and Dao needles.  The fabric is hand spund and hand woven and has a tight weave and small holes.  Needles are far smaller than most ethnic groups in Vietnam too meaning the work of the Dao is finer and more intricate.  It is this that sets their work apart and has earnt the Dao a repulation of being excuisite needleworkers. Good hand eye coordination is essential for our workshops, as is the need for patience and dexterity.  A days workshop will usual yeald an outcome that is small, testiment to the time taken to produce a full set of clothes.  

Travellers learning Red Dao embroidery techniques in Ta Phin village, Sapa

Two day and one nigh trekking:

Day one: take transportation to a beautiful village located about 40 minutes from Sapa.  Trek through some of the bmonbmontaintainud forest in Vietnam before dropping down into a remote Red Dao Village.  Meander approximately 11km along buffalo trails through forests and rice paddies. Sleep in a traditional Red Dao Homestay.  

Day two: Ta Phin is a picturesque mountain village North of Sapa. Set within a valley with a towering mountain peak at one end, this village is alive with the daily life of the Red Dao and Black Hmong minority hill tribes groups.​​  After an early start, you will make your way to Ta Phin by taxi. Travel to your hosts home and explore the family farm.  Prepare the threads and begin your lesson. Enjoy a local lunch, freshly prepared and using village ingredients. Continue the sewing workshop at your leisure.  You will create a small piece and learn about the fabrics, threads and symbology. 

Additional bolt on option includes a traditional Red Dao Herbal Bath for $7

Prices - Red Dao Sewing 2 Day Experience

$145 per person

Community based tourism (CBT) is a form of tourism where local communities are directly involved in developing, managing, and benefiting from tourism activities within their area. It emphasises community ownership, cultural preservation, and sustainable practices, offering visitors authentic experiences and fostering economic opportunities for residents.

Love is canvas furnished by nature and embroidered by imagination.
— Voltaire
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