African Prints
Jun 4th, 2007 by Isa2
WAX & African Print Fabric
Wax is the name for a factory-made fabric produced using a mechanical wax resist (batik) during the cloth dying process; each color is dyed into the cloth. African Print Fabrics are also made by rolling ink across a printing plate and rolling the ink onto the cloth.
KENTE PRINTS
KENTE PRINTS evoke the traditional handwoven Kente Cloth of Ghana. A strip cloth, Kente Fabric is made up from long woven strips that is rarely wider than 4 inches. Legend has it that some kings robes were woven using silk that had been unwoven from textiles sent from China. KENTE PRINTS are 45″ wide factory-made broadcloth. Colorfast
GOLD PRINTS
When a design in metallic ink is rolled over the top of a printed or solid colored fabric a GOLD PRINT is the result. Sometimes the gold design is tied in with the images or design on the cloth, sometimes not. The “gold” is a metallic material suspended in a petroleum base, thus it can be abraded away with heavy use. The metallic material may oxidize over time and may lose its sheen.
Very interesting helpful information! I checked out your store - your fabrics are outstanding. I would love to see photos of your artwork!
Cheryl
Hi African fabric lady,
I really like your site and all the write up! Just wanted to let you know that http://www.ankarahotspot.com does great range of african fabric and at friendly prices too. Check us out and make sure you say “Hi”
All the best
Chi
b mccray writes….
I live in Jacksonville florida and most of the quilted items that I make are made with African Fabric or includes African fabric. I even design quilted wall hangings that honor Africa or they are African inspired. I presently have my rendition of the Egungun in the MUseum Of contemporary Art here in Jacksonville, the exhibit will end January 4th. I also make basket or vessels from clothes line rope. I recently had a piece that honors the Masai Woman in an exhibit and a piece that honors Ghana. I willl participate in an exhibit in January where my “log cablin quilt made mostly with fabric from Nigeria will be shown. It has an estimated 3200 pieces and the quilt is totally “hand quilted”. I just finished a piece called, “Sisters” and it honors “Black” women.
yo, africanfabriclady.com great name for site)))
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signature: http://hixoh.ru/
Thanks, that’s how folks always refer to me at the shows. I was not able to get to your site, but I hope you’ll visit mine again.
Thank you for your website and information. I am a quilter and have just returned from Benin, West Africa with a variety of wax print fabrics. I was wondering how you wash them before quilting them so that the colors don’t run together. I know that many of them “bleed” even when washed several times. I would appreciate your advice. I would love to see some of your quilts.
Thanks,
Rebecca
Hi Rebecca,
Wax prints usually do not run, but just to be safe, I’d wash them separating the colors and check out the color of the water. The only ones I know run are the locally dyed indigo cloth, which are usually dyed with a combination of synthetic and natural indigo. Check out my advice on indigo here.
I’d love to see photos of groups of the fabrics you brought back. hint hint.
Isa2
PS, I hope to be adding some indigo dyed fabric from Guinea soon!!
Dear Christine , I am part of a group that are doing fashion women collection with original and organic fabrics of many countries around the world. We are from Spain .I am Trying to find Cooperative in Africa ( no Vlisco) that does the fabrics wax block prints , we work with fair trade , and need to contact with the group of women that started already in this area.
Thanks a lot for the help , Laura
Hi Laura,
I recommend that you look in Ghana. In Accra there are some training centers where women learn various hand decorating and dyeing techniques. You might contact the good people at Cultural Collaborative (http://www.culturalcollaborative.org/) who could help you with specific locations and contact people.
Great project–let us know how things go…
Isa2
Hi,
I am working with on developing garments with African refugee woman in New Zealand. I am interested in applying traditional fabric printing methods. Are there any that are reasonably simple and dont need a lot of special equipment that you could recomend?
Thanks, Kareen
interested in techniques for African wax textiles - thanks
The wax textiles shown here are all factory made. A designer provides the arrangement of design elements, and large textile machines use a genuine wax resist technique to dye the fabrics in the manner of true batiks.
Some hand-decorated West African textiles use a wax resist process where wax is applied from carved wooden or metal blocks arranged in pleasant designs prior to the fabric being dyed. Multiple layers of wax blocks may be used to produce complicated designs in many colors. This technique is not unique to Africa.
Hello,
I read all the comments and want to ask if you could help me in my case. I’m running a NGO in Ghana. We are teaching the youth in Batik, Tie and Dye, Screen printing and also in old methodes of fabric printing. To keep our program running ( the students get the training free of charge) we desided to find a market to sell our products. Could you give me a hint how to find this market?
Some of our fabrics can be seen on our website. http://www.richardsfoundation.wetpaint.com
We made a lot more then I was able to post.
Thanks in advance,
Helen from Ghana
Hello African Fabric Lady!
My daughter just adopted a little boy from Ethiopia. I would like to make him a quilt using Ethiopian fabrics and designs. I am having a hard time finding anything from Ethiopia…..do you have any suggestions?
Thank you,
Mary Nelson
Hi Mary,
I do not know where to find anything Ethiopian. Youmight google to see if there are any Ethiopian social groups in NYC, DC or Atlanta. Good luck, and enjoy your new grandchild!
Hi Isa, I live in perth West Australia and work with the elderly in a aged care hostel. I run a little art group with them, and have been looking @ doing an African art theme. We have painted masks onto some part branches off a palm tree, and although the fabric painting is not on our agenda this year, your blog has given us loads of ideas for murals, plate painting, etc. Thanks, & I will be adding your to my favourites
Regards
Kat