Preamble
For your convenience I have listed below other posts in this series:
Diversity of African Textiles
African Textiles: West Africa
Stripweaves (West Africa) - Part I
Stripweaves (West Africa) - Part II
Stripweaves (West Africa) - Part III
Stripweaves (West Africa) - Part IV
Djerma Weaving of Niger and Burkina-Faso
Woolen Stripweaves of the Niger Bend
Nigerian Horizontal - Loom Weaving
Yoruba Lace Weave
Nigerian Women's Vertical Looms
The Supplementary Weft Cloths of Ijebu-Ode and Akwete
African Tie and Dye
Tie and Dye of the Dida, Ivory Coast
African Stitch Resist
Yoruba: Machine-Stitched Resist Indigo-Dyed Cloth
Singer treadle sewing machines were introduced into Nigeria at the turn of the 19th-20th century and popularized in rural areas by Lebanese traders. It was not long before the inventive Nigerians considered the possibility of stitching resists by machine instead of by hand. Although many of the machine-stitched patterns are similar to the hand stitched ones, the machine creates finer, though, normally more linear, designs.
Machine-Stitched Resist Indigo-Dyed Cloth.
For many years, this work was the domain of male traders, but, with the weakening of traditional demarcations between the sexes, many women started to undertake this task.
Machine-Stitched Resist Indigo-Dyed Cloth.
All machine resist is carried out on mill cloth, such as white shirting, otherwise it would snag. Mill cloth is pleated and, along the crease, two or four rows of tight stitching are sewn. This process is repeated with each pleat, until the whole cloth is concertinaed.
Machine-Stitched Resist Indigo-Dyed Cloth.
At this stage the cloth is dyed in the traditional indigo or, mostly nowadays, in a range of synthetic dyes, of which brown and purple are possibly the most popular. The machine-stitched cotton thread is then unpicked with a razor blade, taking care not to damage the cloth. A pattern of columns of fine white dashes remain against a colored ground. There are many variations of this theme.
Yoruba indigo-dyed wrap. Prior to dyeing, the cloth has been pleated and sewn by machine. After dyeing, the stitches are painstakingly unpricked.
Machine-sewn resist textiles are a major export from Nigeria to other parts of Africa. This pleated and diagonally stitched cloth was chemically dyed, probably at Abeokuta, Yorubaland, but bought in a market in Cameroon.
A Yoruba indigo-dyed cotton cloth. Machine stitching has been used to resist the dye and make the pattern.
Reference:
[1] J. Gillow, African Textiles, Thames & Hudson Ltd, London (2003).
For your convenience I have listed below other posts in this series:
Diversity of African Textiles
African Textiles: West Africa
Stripweaves (West Africa) - Part I
Stripweaves (West Africa) - Part II
Stripweaves (West Africa) - Part III
Stripweaves (West Africa) - Part IV
Djerma Weaving of Niger and Burkina-Faso
Woolen Stripweaves of the Niger Bend
Nigerian Horizontal - Loom Weaving
Yoruba Lace Weave
Nigerian Women's Vertical Looms
The Supplementary Weft Cloths of Ijebu-Ode and Akwete
African Tie and Dye
Tie and Dye of the Dida, Ivory Coast
African Stitch Resist
Yoruba: Machine-Stitched Resist Indigo-Dyed Cloth
Singer treadle sewing machines were introduced into Nigeria at the turn of the 19th-20th century and popularized in rural areas by Lebanese traders. It was not long before the inventive Nigerians considered the possibility of stitching resists by machine instead of by hand. Although many of the machine-stitched patterns are similar to the hand stitched ones, the machine creates finer, though, normally more linear, designs.
For many years, this work was the domain of male traders, but, with the weakening of traditional demarcations between the sexes, many women started to undertake this task.
All machine resist is carried out on mill cloth, such as white shirting, otherwise it would snag. Mill cloth is pleated and, along the crease, two or four rows of tight stitching are sewn. This process is repeated with each pleat, until the whole cloth is concertinaed.
At this stage the cloth is dyed in the traditional indigo or, mostly nowadays, in a range of synthetic dyes, of which brown and purple are possibly the most popular. The machine-stitched cotton thread is then unpicked with a razor blade, taking care not to damage the cloth. A pattern of columns of fine white dashes remain against a colored ground. There are many variations of this theme.
Reference:
[1] J. Gillow, African Textiles, Thames & Hudson Ltd, London (2003).
