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Our African wax print fabric is available by the length for dressmaking, sewing and home projects.
Its bold patterns repeat along the full run of the cloth, many named after personalities, cities, sayings or significant occasions. Choose from a premium 100 percent cotton or a standard cotton blend, both in Batik and Kente styles. All fabrics are machine washable in cool water.
Kente traces to the Asante and Ewe peoples of Ghana, where the town of Bonwire remains a recognised centre of Kente weaving.
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Elegant lines of an eagle, with a bold eye pattern.
Our premium fabric is 100% fine cotton.
Approximate width: 117cm.
Please note: orders must be of minimum 2 metres.
Price is per metre, choose the number of metres below.
A strong, bold & resolute inspired fabric.
Our premium fabric is 100% fine cotton.
Approximate width: 117cm.
Please note: orders must be of minimum 2 metres.
Price is per metre, choose the number of metres below.
Fibre content is the difference.
The premium African print fabric is 100% cotton, softer to the touch with a smoother drape that suits garments and anything worn close to the skin.
The standard African print fabric blends cotton with synthetic fibres like Rayon for added durability, holding its shape well for cushions, furnishings and wall pieces.
Both come in a broad range of designs including Batik and Kente styles.
Full lengths come in 6 or 12 yards, the traditional measures for African wax print.
A custom cut is available from a minimum of 2 metres per piece, so the fabric can suit a specific project without committing to a full length.
Because the design repeats along the length, even a shorter cut includes complete motifs rather than a partial pattern.
The colour on a genuine wax print carries through to the reverse, so there is no distinct wrong side.
This comes from the wax-resist dyeing method, where wax is applied before dyeing and the colour passes through the full cloth rather than sitting on one side only.
It means a length can be used either way round, which is useful for items seen from both sides, such as scarves and throws.
African wax print is the West African adaptation of a dyeing technique that came from Java, Indonesia, where cloth was patterned by hand using a wax-resist method. In the nineteenth century Dutch manufacturers, Vlisco among them from 1846, mechanised the technique to imitate Javanese batik.
The fabric had limited success in the Indonesian market it was made for, but took hold along the West African coast. This is why it’s still known as Dutch wax, as well as African wax print and Ankara.
Its African significance came through what followed: West African women adopted the designs and gave them names and meanings, tying each pattern to people, sayings and occasions.
The naming tradition that defines wax print today grew from that adoption, not from the factory.
The same African cotton runs through several pieces in our Bashiri collection. Our fabric fans are handmade in Ghana from wax print fabric, the cotton sourced locally to support domestic textile communities.
Our Afrovillage dashiki shirts bring the colourful West African cloth into a loose-fitting garment for men and women, worn for both casual wear and performance.
