The weblog of Christine Covert – the African Fabric Lady
Posted in African Batik Fabric, African Prints, Batik, Bazin, Fashion, Hand-Decorated Damask, Indigo, Modern Tribal Cloth, Mudcloth, Traditional Fabrics on Mar 6th, 2013
Thanks to all of your emails indicating interest in sales. Since the African Fabric Sales shop at Yahoo was closed, I’ve been working to get the domain transferred and a shopping cart installed here. Apparently I did things in the wrong order but now it looks like we are on track. Once we are ready, [...]
Posted in African Batik Fabric, African Prints, African Quilts, Batik, Bazin, Fashion, Hand-Decorated Damask, Indigo, Industry, Kente Prints, Modern Tribal Cloth, Mudcloth, Traditional Fabrics, WAX on Nov 13th, 2012
Are you starting to wonder why my prices are so low and the inventory is so small? It’s all part of a projected revamping of African Fabric Sales in which we intend to sell out the factory made fabrics–the wax, the prints, the damask–and replace them with hand decorated and tribal fabrics. This was [...]
Posted in African Batik Fabric, African Prints, African Quilts, Batik, Bazin, Book Reviews, Events, Fashion, Hand-Decorated Damask, Indigo, Industry, Kente Prints, Modern Tribal Cloth, Mudcloth, Other Links, Traditional Fabrics, WAX on Jan 9th, 2012
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 [...]
Posted in African Prints, Book Reviews, Fashion, Industry, Modern Tribal Cloth, Mudcloth, People, Traditional Fabrics on Mar 22nd, 2011
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 [...]
Posted in Book Reviews, Fashion, Industry, People on Feb 23rd, 2011
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 [...]
Posted in Book Reviews, Fashion, Industry, People on Nov 22nd, 2010
The previous post about African Fashion was prompted by 2 related occurrences: the frequency with which I hear from readers deploring the paucity of use of African Fabrics in the Fashion World as seen here in the US and the re-reading of a book called SALAULA by Karen Tranberg Hansen, published by the Anthropology/African Studies [...]
Posted in African Prints, Fashion, Hand-Decorated Damask, People, WAX on Nov 16th, 2010
Beth Wonders..”…One thing I would add based on my own observation is that colors and color combinations used in African fabric seem to lose vibrancy in our North American environment and light. Even in the “tropical” sunny areas of our continent the African colors do not translate. The combination of sunlight (sun’s position in the [...]
Posted in African Prints, Batik, Fashion, Hand-Decorated Damask, Indigo, Industry, WAX on Nov 4th, 2010
A reader recently sent me the following letter: ….”I am just curious about this whole issue of colours running when we wash most African fabric. Is there anything in their manufacturing/dyeing process that they can change so that the colour does not run? Or is there some treatment that could be given to this cloth [...]
Posted in African Prints, Fashion, Hand-Decorated Damask, Indigo, Uncategorized, WAX on Apr 23rd, 2010
How can it be that our lovely full month in New York City has dwindled to seven days and counting until we return to Maine? We have not spent every day in a dead heat of activity, rather have passed many days in a leisurely manner. As I wrote to my brother from MA recently, [...]
Posted in Fashion on Feb 18th, 2009
Photo Credit: Lucas Jackson/Reuters See this article in the New York Times during Fashion Week: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/fashion/15web-fashion.html?ref=fashion
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