Find us at The Fringe
'Expressions of Africa'
A selling exhibition at
the Nomad's Tent Gallery, Edinburgh
1 Aug - 1 Sep
Textiles of Africa
A talk by world class collector and author
John Gillow at the Nomad's Tent Gallery
21 Aug, 2 pm
Welcome to the African Fabric Shop
Magie Relph and Bob Irwin
To boldly go where TripAdvisor doesn't
Focus on Indigo
Shop Open Day
Sat 14 Sep, 10 - 4
33B Greens End Road
Meltham, West Yorkshire
HD9 5NW
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
Elephant Story wallhanging kit © Alison Farmer and Magie RelphLaunching our NEW 'Elephant Story' wallhanging kit
Alison's really got the bug... that pernicious 'I just have to design a new kit for the African Fabric Shop' bug.
Following up on her best-selling A Day Out in Kruger kit, here's Alison's latest creation.
It tells the story of why elephants love to eat mopane leaves... but you have to buy the kit to find out!
Includes full easy-to-follow instructions and patterns.
View and buy: Elephant Story wallhanging kit
NEW arrivals from Bolgatanta, Ghana
Our Bolga baskets come from the best weavers in Bolga via our basket guru and treasured friend Gregory MacCarthy.
Greg has lived in Bolgatanga for 15 years, working closely with the weavers on the big issues:
- Design
- Colour
- And above all else - QUALITY
We've got some great NEW baskets on the website, including:
Baby Moses baskets - only a few so be quick
Giant Laundry Baskets - beautiful and practical
Bolga Fans - beat the heat!
NEW Langa Lapu sunprint fabric from South Africa
Wow! These are truly amazing.
- Start with top quality 100% cotton fabrics
- + local South African vegetation - ferns, leaves, you name it
- + colour - from vivacious and vibrant to muted and moody
- + South African sunshine
- + the creativity of Pru Bolus and her team
And presto: our latest Langa Lapu sunprints. Available by the metre and Fat Quarter. Plus - as shown:
NEW Kudhinda 'potato print' wallhangings from Zimbabwe
If you love our inspiring and colourful range of Kudhinda screenprints from Zimbabwe, you're sure to love our latest additions - just arrived from Ros Byrne's studio in Harare.
Initially Ros's team used real potatoes to delicately stamp the designs by hand, but these days handcut rubber stamps are more efficient.
View and buy: Kudhinda potato print wallhangings
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