African Fabric Lady

 As we consider the wisdom of continuing with  our store found at www.africanfabricsales.com we none the less start the new year with our store wide 20% discount sale.

The web store was created to continue a business under THIS name that I was no longer pursuing in person at fairs, festivals, and quilting & sewing conferences.  While I have seen some growth each year, the sales overall have been lower than I had hopes of achieving.

This is partly due to the primary problem that really small business owners face:  under-capitalization.  It’s hard to make a business such as this grow when one is hampered in purchasing enough inventory to keep the store enticing.

Then too, I also live in the boondocks, and while there are a number of wholesale fabric websites where I can shop, I don’t really like buying fabric that I can’t touch.  Perhaps you are also like this.   But in my case, most of my suppliers have a no returns policy.  None.  So that if I do not like the quality of the fabric that arrives at my store room, I’m stuck with it.   That’ll slow you down, when you receive new fabric and immediately discount it into clearance.

I have also shopped in person in New York, at warehouses, boutiques and outdoor markets, but with the cost of fuel now, a trip to NY can nearly double to cost of my inventory if I don’t have too much to invest in the first place.

And being able to afford to travel to Africa is quite simply out of the question at this time, never mind the costs of inventory, shipping, demurrage and brokers.

So we’re starting out with a discount sale for the month of January.  If we do well, maybe we can get to New York and keep on keeping on.

Best Wishes,

Isa2

Kente Prints, usually  $8.95/yard, are now on sale  for $6.99/yard at

African Fabric Sales.  Other items selling at reduced prices include hand-decorated African Batik fabric fat quarters and damask 1-yard cuts.  Check it out!

T’is the season, in Maine, anyway, to be wearing those lovely light cotton prints and damasks that characterize African fabric.  So comfortable, so lively, vivid enough to complement the brilliants greens of summer here.

Did you notice the fantastic sale I’m having at African Fabric Sales?  I want to clear out the old gold prints and the old African prints, so they’re priced at $4.49/yard and are flying out of the shop.  Get yours while they last!!  Let’s make room for new additions to the inventory.

Maybe when I’m spending less time in the garden and at work. I’ll write something more succinct and informational.  Until then, enjoy the season…

Isa2

This book, originally published by Harper and Row in 1989, has lost none of the punch it delivered when it first hit the bookstores.   It is available today  through major booksellers both as a new or used book.

This book surveys the raw materials used, and describes the various types of looms used by people in different locations across the African continent with a generous number of photographs showing the looms and the fabrics produced on them.  Unlike many books, these authors include the textiles of Madagascar/.

Following chapters discuss pattern dyeing particularly featuring Adire or Indigo designs from Nigeria as well as the bogolon/mudcloth from the Bamana people of Mali as well as discussion of drawn, painted, printed and stenciled designs.  The two final chapters discuss applique and related techniques such as quilting and patchwork, and embroidery in West Africa.

Hope you enjoy it!

Isa2

Not infrequently I am contacted by people who are interested in purchasing African fabrics in yardage that I simply cannot provide.  I don’t mean only that I can’t sell them what they want and I do not have (say I have 4 yards of a fabric and you want 16) but that  it is not even  possible for me to find any more among the wholesale suppliers I patronize.  For that matter, in many case I might not even be able to purchase more than 6 or 12 yards of any particular design at all.  Of course I am “competing” with all the others who buy fabric for resale or for manufacturing.   Manufacturers of garments may buy up every yard that arrives at the warehouse before I even have  chance to make my choices.  After all, they have someone who is dedicated to doing nothing but seeking out and purchasing for their workers to manufacture into shirts or tote bags.

This makes me sad, because I can imagine all the bridesmaids at a wedding in a wonderful turquoise and brown fabric, or a troupe of dancers in performance at a festival in a brilliant red/yellow combination.

While I cannot compete with larger companies in variety and volume, I do offer great customer service, fill my orders promptly, ship economically and refund excess shipping charges beyond what it costs me to make more inexpensive labels online at the USPS website.  I ship to foreign countries though the shopping cart isn’t set up for that, and when you may want me to try to locate a special fabric in larger amount, I do my very best to satisfy you, even if I can’t always do it.

With the steady growth I see at African Fabric Sales I am hopeful that I will be able to purchase fabric in larger amounts to start with, and to add more new items frequently.   Thanks for your support.

My Best Wishes,

Isa2

I thought you might be interested in getting a little view into what the store room at African Fabric Sales looks like.  When I get a little more comfortable with the video camera, I’ll post a short video and show you some of the collections.

This image shows the shelves with the African Batik Fabric, the Natural Indigo, all the various gold fabrics and the mud and Korhogo Cloths.

Here you see the Wax fabrics, & the Kente prints and the other African prints, no matter the country of origin.

Hey–I just  returned from a whirlwind trip to Manhattan for the latest shipment of African WAX Fabric for African Fabric Sales There are some fine examples of the aesthetic particularly notable in textiles that come from West Africa.

We ate at the Baobab Restaurant on 116th Street in Harlem, and saw the Acoustic Africa music performance at BB King night club in Times Square featuring the Habib Koite, Oliver Ntukudzi, and Afel Boucoum and their band.

When we got home, there were cocus and dwarf iris in bloom.

Peace & Blessings

If you are fascinated by the beauty and vigor of mudcloth, this book will inform you about traditional and contemporary examples of this fabric, known as Bogolon in the local language.  Victoria Rovine did her PhD work in this field and and written a lively account of her experiences in Mali during the 16 months she spent there over the time period 1991 and 2000.  Published by the Smithsonian Press, this book “Bogolon:  Shaping Culture through Cloth” is an invaluable addition to the litany of work about traditional textiles of West Africa.

Ms Rovine spoke with elders in small villages and with young artists in Bamako who were pursuing this ancient craft in the modern vernacular.  The book is replete with numerous beautiful photographs.   Her thoughtful observations will answer your questions and provoke further thought about the role of fabrics in cultures the world over.

Seeing all the examples Rovine offers will also inform you about how strong a source of inspiration Bogolon has been in the realm of African Prints in the textile industry.

Enjoy,

Isa2

Tags: African Fabric, African Fashion, Books about African Textiles, Local African Cloth, mudcloth, relationship of cloth and culture, textiles

Hey, another great discount sale at African Fabric Sales.  Email me here for yours.

[NB  This coupon has expired, but please let me know that you'd like your name on the list for the next one--in June!]

Subtitled “Power and the Politics of Dress”  this collection of 11 articles by eminent Afro-centered anthropologists, was published by Indiana University Press in 4004.  Editor Jean Allman, who contributed the forward and an essay, has brought together keenly considered information regarding topics as diverse as “Nationalism Without a Nation:  Understanding the Dress of Somali Women in Minnesota” and “Dressing Dangerously:  Miniskirts, Gender Relations, and Sexuality in Zambia”.   Each fascinating article is illustrated with photographs and/or diagrams, and concludes with a complete bibliography should your interest in these topics be piqued.  This will help to open your eyes to how fashion works everywhere by focusing closely on how it come into play in particular locations in Africa at particular times.

Isa2