Customer Reviews

African Fabrics

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Asante Sane - Danke Schon - Merci Beaucoup - Muchos Gracias: A world of THANKS for a book that meets the inspirational needs of the contemporary multiculturalist who loves stylish fashion wear, unique interior design and simple creative construction. The beautiful illustrations were quite fascinating and they served as great enhancement to the book's well written information and neat instruction. From the front cover to the back cover and all of the pages in between, author Ronke Luke-Boone takes the reader on an exciting journey that is richly infused with lessons in history, geography, fabric preservation, nifty sewing techniques, super shopping resources and much, much more. Most valuable for me is the instruction she provides for working with the popular mud cloth, Kubba cloth and Kente. Unfortunately, these hand crafted textiles defy the sewing logic that is normally associated with that of the symmetrically printed machine woven fabrics. One must be taught how to reinforce these ethnic textiles correctly and how to lay the patterns properly to prevent the completed garment from taking on a life of its own while it is being worn. Ms. Luke-Boone provided a corrective experience for me in this regard. Previously, I had not had the desired success in working with these fabrics, so I had set them aside. Reading through the book several times was the much needed source of motivation that guided me to complete two Kubba cloth pillows and a beautiful mosaic swing coat, pieced with mud cloth, denim, Korhogo, calvary twill and tea-dyed linen burlap,just as she instructed. At last, no more quality control issues with these fabrics. I recommend this publication to any one from any culture who has basic sewing skills and a great flair for exotic styling.

African Fabrics provides crafts people with fourteen original projects which use African fabrics to create tunics, place mats, pillows, shawls and other items. Discussions of mudcloth, fancy prints, Kuba cloth and Kente cloth, among others, provide a unique and excellent introduction to African fabrics as a whole, making this more than just a crafts guide. A wide audience will find it important for both its historical overview of African fabrics and its artistic/crafts attractions.

I was looking for a resource book on many kinds of African textiles; their cultural significance, history, countries of origin, and methods of production. This book covered all these areas, and more. Although my primary interest is in creating surface designs on my own fabric and paper for mixed-media art, I was tempted to pull my sewing machine out of retirement and try my hand at some "ethnic" inspired garments or gifts. A great book!

This is a wonderful book for the garment sewer who wants to work with African fabrics. You learn about the characteristics of a variety of African fabrics, how to recognize true mudcloth, fancy prints vs. wax prints etc. and how and where to buy them in and outside Africa. -Plus you learn technical tips on how to sew these fabrics, and the book is full of pictures of clothing that incorporates them. The book has staying power. It even includes patterns in the back.