How it is Made - The process

 The creativity in Accra, Africa is absolutely wonderful! The first thing I noted when coming from the airport in December was the colorful fabric that most people were wearing. I have since found that while a portion of the fabric is printed and shipped in, another part is woven in little villages, and another portion are  dyed right here. Sister Despain organized a trip to Esther Anare's workshop where she agreed to help us print up with wax blocks and dye some fabric.

The trip in was an adventure all by itself. Could these semi's travel any closer together? I wonder if they have all their mirrors? The bus edging in front caused all the brake lights to come on. Phun, phun.

We arrived at a compound with three houses or buildings. One had some men sewing up clothing articles. One looked administrative (could have been living quarters) though we didn't enter, and the other had small foam? blocks stacked up against the wall floor to ceiling. I think the blocks were made out of foam - almost like a sponge - the real kind. I don't know if the blocks were hand carved or poured into a mold. There were many, many hand-sized blocks. Animals, plants, flowers, geometric designs, and much more. One had a Y and others had LDS themes. We found our way to the back yard where wooden tables were set up to put fabric on to be stamped with the foam blocks.

This is the wax heating. The blocks were dipped into this wax and then stamped on white fabric.

It was important to know what you wanted to do with your material when done, as that would determine where and how your fabric was stamped. The gentleman helping me would dip the block into the wax, shake it off and stamp the white fabric.

Each stamp is individually placed on. Some of the blocks were fuzzy. I was not happy with the lion stamp as the mane of the lion kept slipping, sometimes it looked like a lizard.

He would "paint" in the missing wax with this foam/sponge 'pencil'.

Though there was a roof over the tables to provide shade, I was glad it was outdoors as the heat from the wax and other fires in the yard made it a hot day. I was happy for the little breeze that there was.

After the design was all stamped on, the next step was dying the fabric.

These other two gentlemen in aprons and gloves would press the fabric down and jostle it like a washing machine does. 

This young lady would mix up the portions with certain tablespoons of powdered dye and different acids, soda and water. She put the solution in a big bucket or small bucket depending on how much fabric was used. Some of us had six yards and some had two yards.

Meanwhile, the tables were scrapped off and all the wax drippings were put back into the melting wax bowl. The board in front of the wax bowl was for our protection. No protection for the workers.

This looks blue and it did have blue dye in it, but it later turned green as it was suppose to.

This piece of fabric is going to be made into a skirt. The top two-thirds will be yellow and the bottom will be red. So after the yellow top was done, he stood holding this in the red dye.

Meanwhile the second group of sisters showed up. Due to Covid- 19, Everyone tried to come at staggered times so we wouldn't be too crowded. It also helped with the stamping and dying process as there were only four workers to do the jobs.

It turned green while sitting

The ladies who have come after we did, had a better grasp of exactly what they wanted. They had come to Esther's workshop before. The first timers like me had ideas but ran into reality checks of what is actually possible. Some of the best patterns and ideas take a lot of time. Sister Despain's mentor told her that someone would be disappointed no matter how much preparation as that is just how it works. All of us in the first batch of newbies were both happy and dispirited as things didn't work out like our imaginations but a cool piece of fabric came out of it anyway. It is all a learning curve. The day was educational and fun all the way around.

We all admired some of the samples already done. I learned that the yellow has to be done first and then the orange is put on later after the leaf stamps are done. It is all a learning curve and will give me an idea of what to do another time. 

After dying the fabric is left out in the sun to dry

Sister Martinez in the blue next to Sister Despain, knows exactly what she wants for her next quilt. She has done this before. In the background is the boiling water and cold water vats.

 The next step is setting the dye in very hot water (I don't know if anything else is mixed in), then scooping out melted wax, turning it over and scooping more wax out. I love the ingenious use of sticks to lift hot fabric.

The fabric is then immersed in cold water. This causes the wax to shatter in long little bits. He scoops as much off as possible. The gentleman then 'washes' the wax off by scrubbing at it.

This is Zoe Weston's tablecloth being stamped. She has done this whole process before! In the background is the building with the blocks. The chosen blocks are piling in the window.

Using rebar that has been cemented into the floor, the gentleman wrings out the cloth and then dries it in the sun. After it is dry, it is finished!

I have found the colors do not bleed when washed. They are steadfast.

While the second set of women brought their fabric to be dyed, the third group of women arrived. This is a very experienced group. Esther had out a wider fabric that was already dyed yellow, and the women were prepared to make tablecloths with different colors. They also brought their husbands who said they were going to have fun.

Esther gave out coconuts for coconut water, Sister Martinez and Sister Despain wanted to try out the  raw coconut, so Esther had a man fashion a spoon out of the shell.

We didn't get to see how everyone's fabric turned out as we left while the process was still going on. Fun day was had by all, educational and rewarding.