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 Stitch Resist
Introduction[1]
Cloths made up by sewing two or more widths together, selvedge to selvedge, are found in many parts of the world, reflecting the ease with which cloth the width of a weaver's cubit can be woven on a narrow loom. However, it is only in West Africa that cloth is assembled by weaving on double-heddle looms in very long strips from 2.5 to 45.70 cm (1 to 18 inches) wide. They are then cut into requisite shorter length strips and sewn together to form a large rectangular wrap. Evidence of 11th-century garments made up of cotton strip weaves by the Tellem people has been found in Mali.
Reed-beaters from Ewe looms (Ghana).
Igarra stripwoven woman's wrap from Nigeria with warp-ikat details in some of the warp stripes.
Stripweaves (West Africa) - Part I[1]
Woolen blankets are woven in Mali, but in other parts of West Africa cotton, silk or rayon strips are usually woven to form voluminous toga-like garments or a tailored robe for men and a smaller cloth for women.
A Mende chief and his wife from Sierra Leone wearing warp-striped cloth.
The stripweave kente cloths of the Ashanti and adanudo cloths of the Ewe tribes of Ghana have a distinct chequered appearance, which is achieved by alternately weaving a warp-face section (appearing as a horizontal band). An extra pair of heddles is used with the warp threads grouped in sixes so different sheds can be opened for weaving the weft-face sections. Supplementary weft floats introduce motifs depicting animals, combs, hands and geometric devices into the warp-faced sections.
Stripwoven man's cloth woven from indigo-dyed cotton thread with white cotton decorative details (Ivory Coast).
Simple stripwoven cloth from north-east Nigeria that alternated white and indigo-dyed cotton strips.
Ewe man's cloth with fine weft insert patterns stripwoven in kpetoe district, Ghana.
Prestigious Ewe chief's cloth stripwoven (sout-east Ghana).
Country cloth of hands-on, stripwoven cloth (Sierra Leone).
A drawing showing alternating warp-face and weft-face weaves.
Baulé stripwoven man's cloth (Ivory Coast).
Detailed View. Kente cloth woven out of rayon on a narrow loom at Bonwire Village (Ghana). Very long strips are woven and then cut to size and sewn, selvedge to selvedge, to make up the cloth. Both the weavers and sewers are men.
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 Stitch Resist
Introduction[1]
Cloths made up by sewing two or more widths together, selvedge to selvedge, are found in many parts of the world, reflecting the ease with which cloth the width of a weaver's cubit can be woven on a narrow loom. However, it is only in West Africa that cloth is assembled by weaving on double-heddle looms in very long strips from 2.5 to 45.70 cm (1 to 18 inches) wide. They are then cut into requisite shorter length strips and sewn together to form a large rectangular wrap. Evidence of 11th-century garments made up of cotton strip weaves by the Tellem people has been found in Mali.
Stripweaves (West Africa) - Part I[1]
Woolen blankets are woven in Mali, but in other parts of West Africa cotton, silk or rayon strips are usually woven to form voluminous toga-like garments or a tailored robe for men and a smaller cloth for women.
The stripweave kente cloths of the Ashanti and adanudo cloths of the Ewe tribes of Ghana have a distinct chequered appearance, which is achieved by alternately weaving a warp-face section (appearing as a horizontal band). An extra pair of heddles is used with the warp threads grouped in sixes so different sheds can be opened for weaving the weft-face sections. Supplementary weft floats introduce motifs depicting animals, combs, hands and geometric devices into the warp-faced sections.
Reference
[1] J. Gillow, African Textiles, Thames & Hudson Ltd, London (2003).
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