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
African Stitch Resist
One common method of preventing the dye reaching the cloth is to stitch the cloth - with running stitch or oversewing stitches - by hand or machine - with strong thread, which is then pulled tight, so that the cloth compresses and resists the dye. The cloth that is to be dyed is normally first doubled up or pleated, to create a symmetrical pattern and also to reduce the amount of work involved. Raphia thread is usually used, as it is strong (and so unlikely to break when pulled tight and also easy to snip off after dyeing). When the stitches are removed with a sharp blade and the cloth opened, the pattern is revealed in the negative. Patterns vary from simple arrowheads to more complex designs if the cloth is pleated before sewing.
Motif of embroidered resist from St. Louis, Senegal indigo-dyed cloth. The motif is derived from Pano d'Obra trade cloths from Guinea and the Cape Verde islands.
Dogon woman's indigo-dyed stitch-resist cloth from Mali. The embroidery is a phrase from a popular song.
The most complex of all stitched-resist work was practised at St. Louis on the Senegal river boarding Mauritania. Before the Second World War, complex cotton resists of Moorish or Pano d'Obra inspiration were embroidered onto cotton cloth before indigo dyeing. The resist stitching in the St. Louis textiles was always of cotton. It was so fine that it could be truly classed as embroidery.
Dogon indigo-dyed stitched-resist cloth from Mali.
Ukara resist-sewn cloth of the Leopard Society of Cross River, South-Eastern Nigeria.
The task of unpicking the St. Louis stitching, carried out with razor blades (first brought back from Flanders by Senegalese soldiers serving in the First World War), was painstaking, far harder than the work involved with raphia resists, which can be easily snipped with a sharp instrument.
The resulting textiles are unrivalled in their complexity and beauty. The art has been revived in St. Louis in recent years using synthetic brown and blue dyes, but they cannot compare with the outstanding originals.
Yoruba "Adire Alabere" machine-stitch resist indigo-dyed cotton cloth.
Yoruba "Adire Alabere" machine-stitch resist indigo-dyed cotton cloth (Detail).
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
African Stitch Resist
One common method of preventing the dye reaching the cloth is to stitch the cloth - with running stitch or oversewing stitches - by hand or machine - with strong thread, which is then pulled tight, so that the cloth compresses and resists the dye. The cloth that is to be dyed is normally first doubled up or pleated, to create a symmetrical pattern and also to reduce the amount of work involved. Raphia thread is usually used, as it is strong (and so unlikely to break when pulled tight and also easy to snip off after dyeing). When the stitches are removed with a sharp blade and the cloth opened, the pattern is revealed in the negative. Patterns vary from simple arrowheads to more complex designs if the cloth is pleated before sewing.
The most complex of all stitched-resist work was practised at St. Louis on the Senegal river boarding Mauritania. Before the Second World War, complex cotton resists of Moorish or Pano d'Obra inspiration were embroidered onto cotton cloth before indigo dyeing. The resist stitching in the St. Louis textiles was always of cotton. It was so fine that it could be truly classed as embroidery.
The task of unpicking the St. Louis stitching, carried out with razor blades (first brought back from Flanders by Senegalese soldiers serving in the First World War), was painstaking, far harder than the work involved with raphia resists, which can be easily snipped with a sharp instrument.
The resulting textiles are unrivalled in their complexity and beauty. The art has been revived in St. Louis in recent years using synthetic brown and blue dyes, but they cannot compare with the outstanding originals.
Reference:
[1] J. Gillow, African Textiles, Thames & Hudson Ltd, London (2003).
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