living in the woods and making stuff

My sister in law and her mom sent me the most exciting package the other day full of traditional fabrics from Tanzania and Zanzibar! Thin kanga cotton, perfect for summer dresses/skirts, etc.

This skirt was made from one piece of kanga fabric. Usually they come in two pieces, one for a skirt, and one for a shawl or head scarf. This was one piece, and perfect for a small skirt. I cut the border off of the top, gathered the middle and bottom and reattached the top border piece after I had attached it to some interfacing for sturdiness.

The length was a little bit too long, so I folded it in half, creating a little bit more weight at the hem. The kanga saying is on the back of the skirt, and I still haven’t gotten around to translating it…

This was another dress, copied from a little dress that I had almost worn out. The dress is loose fitting, and perfect for hot weather.

I wasn’t too particular about the hems on this one, and the bottom of the dress is a raw edge, that has to be trimmed every so often. The sleeves were cut on the side edge of the fabric, and so didn’t need to be hemmed either.

The fabric starts out quite stiff, full of starch, and after a few washings it becomes very soft!