April 29, 2014

African/Dutch wax print fabrics


While browsing Etsy for artwork, I got distracted scrolling through African wax print fabrics. The fabric I put on the parlor lamps was a wax print. These textiles have a fascinating history; read more here. These were some of my favorite prints:
Above: Left; right.


Left; right.


Left; right.

10 comments:

  1. Soooo... you're wanting me to make you a dress out of one (or more) of these?

    Mum

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  2. Nope. You're off the hook. :) I'm contemplating another lamp shade, though...

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  3. I love these too. I lived in Congo for a few years and just moved back. I'm selling a few pieces from my collection here: http://www.ebay.com/usr/brynagriff

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  4. Wow! How wonderful! I love learning about stuff like this. Thanks for sharing!

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  5. Also, I adore those yellow trees above. Too bad it's six yards. What on earth would I do with that much of it?

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  6. I was eyeing the bird print, too, but I finally bought some at a local store. I posted about it here: http://patternandbranch.wordpress.com/2014/04/24/show-and-tell/

    I also just made a dress out of an African/Dutch wax print. Here's that one: http://patternandbranch.wordpress.com/2014/04/30/show-and-tell-again/

    I've been noticing these prints a lot. I like the article you linked to. It really helps "place" these fabrics and their current impact on American fashion as well as African.

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  7. Your black and white bird print is gorgeous! Great job on the dress!

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  8. You should check out the African Fabric Shop www.africanfabric.co.uk for inspiration. They stock a wide range of West African wax prints (including the awesome option of fat quarters), and love the history of it so much they've even written a book "African Wax Print: a textile journey". Just wonderful. A lot of my wedding fabric came from them

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