Focus on Fashion
Shop Open Day
Sat 20 July, 10 - 4
33B Greens End Road
Meltham, West Yorkshire
HD9 5NW
Welcome to the African Fabric Shop
Magie Relph and Bob Irwin
To boldly go where TripAdvisor doesn't
Textiles and fabrics
from across Africa
African beads
Recycled glass, brass, plastic and paper
Shell, bone, clay and stone
Genuine Bolga baskets
Quality baskets - fairly traded
Vintage & collectable African textiles
The textile treasures we couldn't resist on our travels
Inspiration
Talks to textile groups
Quilt, bag and jewellery kits
Sign up for our e-Newsletter
Books
about African textiles
Welcome to the African Fabric Shop
Magie Relph and Bob Irwin travel extensively all over Africa searching out fabulous textiles, beads and baskets.
Every time we unpack our bags, we add new temptations to the website. Enjoy!
We are co-organisers of eight World Textile Days around the UK in 2019.
Featured Items
NEW ideas for YOU: decor and fashion
We hear it all the time... 'I love your fabrics but I don't know what to do with them.'
To give you some ideas, we've created two new pages on the website.
Stimulating ideas for your home: African Decor
Africa adorned: African Fashion
NEW quilt kit: A Day Out in Kruger
We love Kruger National Park in South Africa. So do our pals Alison and Graham.
Alison - you may already know this - is a talented and prolific quilter. Recently she took a shine to our fantastic range of Shwe Shwe Colours fabric from South Africa. And a few days later, presto: our newest quilt kit was born.
Available in two colourways:
- A Day Out in Kruger - Dawn (as shown) combines yellow, orange and turquoise
- A Day Out in Kruger - Dusk combines cream, red and purple
They're both stunning! Oh, 'Thanks, Alison.'
Dambili Mamouri painting mud beads: Kapele, Côte d'IvoireNEW mud beads back in website
The village of Kapele in northern Côte d'Ivoire is a long way from anywhere. Before we went there, we'd never even heard of it and we had no idea about the totally unique and wonderful mud beads made by Kapele's local artisans.
On our first visit to Kapele we bought as many beads as we could. When we got them home, they sold out in no time.
We just had to go back for more, of course. Check out our latest collection - while they last, that is!
View and buy: Handmade mud beads from Côte d'Ivoire
What makes World Textile Day GREAT?
Watch the video of World Textile Day Wales in Llanidloes, March 2019. Beware: the cakes are as tempting as the textiles!
Can we bring the shop to you? Magie and Bob at World Textile Day in Frodsham, 2018We'd love to come to your group
Have you noticed we've cut down on the big shows? We've only got Festival of Quilts left. Here's why.
From our World Textile Days, we've discovered something important about running a small scale, fair trade business. We're not just selling fabrics, beads and baskets. We're communicating our experiences and our passion for what we do directly to you.
So instead of big shows, we'd rather bring our mobile shop to you. These types of events are perfect for what we're talking about:
- Guild regional and area days
- Quilt groups
- Embroiderers' Guilds
- Spinners, Weavers and Dyers Guilds
- Textile and costume groups
Invite Magie as a speaker and we'll bring the shop with us!
More info: Talks by Magie Relph