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Mudcloth Textile from Mali Africa

Mudcloth Textile from Mali Africa

Description

Mudcloth are a totally handmade textile from Mali, Africa. The men do the weaving....typically about 4"-6"strips of spun cotton....and the women do the dyeing. Traditional indigenous roots, leaves, mud and other natural materials are used with a dye resist technique, so the colors are variations of ochre, brown, black, cream, etc. Some mudcloth like this one are more geometric in their design, and some are pictorial, depicting village life, showing people and animals.

Mudcloth can be used as it is as a decoration, or cut up and used in handbags, hats, coats, pillows, or whatever fabric is used for. I recommend only dry cleaning, as the dyes are not set. Avoid getting it excessively wet to prevent running of colors. It can be sewn with a regular sewing machine. If one were to cut out any of the large pieces to incorporate into clothing or another pictorial textile, I recommend reinforcing the seams to be safe.

This piece measures about 67" wide by 77" long...it's a big one! The two "raw" ends have been seamed.

Added on Oct 25, 2009