The African Fabric Shop

World Textile Day : 2 June

With special guest speaker Chris Spring - artist, author and former curator of the British Museum Africa collection

Join us and our fellow world textiles experts for a great day out at our FREE exhibition and sale of woven, printed and embroidered textiles from makers, workshops and villages around the world. Our theme this year is WORKING TOGETHER.

• FREE entry to exhibition.
• 11 am lecture. Chris Spring. Social Fabric: textiles and teamwork in East and Southern Africa.
• 2 pm session. A Favourite Textile. Our experts discuss one of their most treasured textiles. Plus a short talk.
• £3 per session or £5 for both.
• Delicious refreshments all day.
• FREE parking.

10 am - 4 pm. King's Sutton Millenium Memorial  Hall, Astrop Road, King's Sutton, Banbury, OX17 3PG.

The perfect basket = skill + creativity + time

We buy the very best baskets in Bolga woven by the very best weavers.

Working with our great pal and basket guru Gregory MacCarthy - founder of the Baba Tree Basket Company - we pay the very top prices to the weavers.

They deserve top prices for three reasons:

• Skill - weaving a robust, reliable and perfectly shaped basket requires years of practice
• Creativity - great design and colour combinations come from training and experience
• Time - you can't rush a great basket!

Bob's just updated the website with some very tempting baskets. We have plenty to choose from, but be quick. They won't last long!

View and buy: Round market baskets | Oval shopping baskets | Pot baskets | Nyariga baskets

NEW wax prints galore

African wax print says 'Africa' more than any other fabric.

All of our wax prints are the real McCoy: genuine wax prints produced in Africa - not Chinese copies.

How can you tell?

Genuine wax prints are printed on both sides of the fabric - a difficult and expensive process. Copies - sometimes called imiwax - are printed only on one side.

Genuine wax prints have two distinct irregularities: a slight misalignment of colour and design, plus a distinctive crackle effect caused by tiny cracks in the resin resist. We call these irregularities 'the perfect imperfection'.

Genuine wax prints are printed on top quality 100% cotton. Copies are printed on inferior cotton.

Genuine wax prints are very robust. You can wash them over and over again. Copies do not last as long as genuine wax prints.

View and buy: our latest genuine African wax print fabrics

Learn all about wax prints in our acclaimed book African Wax Print: A Textile Journey

Indigo: the king of colours

Finding great indigo cloth isn't easy.

We've travelled to indigo heaven in Guinea, where the roads are as wrecked as the infrastructure. The indigo was fantastic!

We've travelled all over Mali, albeit a few years ago before it became a no-go country. The indigo was fantastic!

These days we get most of our indigo cloths way up river in The Gambia at the lumos - in English, markets - near Basse. Traders come there from all over West Africa bearing - you guessed it - the very indigo cloths that we crave.

View and buy: Indigo cloths | Vintage Moss indigo cloths

NEW Recycled brass hooks

We've got recycled brass hooks made by our pals in Ghana all over the house.

Magie's African scarf collection. Tea towels. Keys. They're all hung on recycled brass hooks.

Now we've put a few special pieces up on the website for you.

Each piece is a one-off, unique creation, made using the ancient lost wax method of casting metals.

Be quick. We only have a few!

View and buy: Recycled brass hooks & figures

Kenyan Kikoys back in stock

What's not to like about our traditional Kenyan Kikoys?

• Is it a colourful wrapper? Yes!
• Is it a soft shawl? Yes!
• Is it a baby carrier? Yes!
• Is it a lightweight towel? Yes!
• Is it a table cloth? Yes!

We never leave home without one each in our bag. When you're on the road, you never know when your Kikoy will save the day.

100% cotton, of course.

View and buy: Kikoy Wraps

African Textile Stories

'Telling the stories' is a big part of what we do in helping you understand and appreciate African textiles and fabrics.

Over the years we've published many articles documenting our travels and our textile discoveries.

Now we've decided to share these stories with you on a dedicated page here on our website. We hope you enjoy them. We'll be adding more soon.

Read and print: African Textile Stories

Amafu Sofa by Micaela Almeida

It's amazing how many enquiries we get asking, 'Can I use African fabric to cover my... '

Followed by, '... sofa... couch... arm chair... stool... dining room chairs... etc.'

Well, feast  your eyes on this: Micaela Almeida has used our hand-dyed Amafu fabric from South Africa to recover her sofa. 

Thanks, Micaela, for an inspirational use of Amafu fabric.

View and buy: Amafu hand-dyes from South Africa