Item Descriptions
P001
Labé indigo-dyed cloth is famous across West Africa for its quality and the variety of designs. Local cloth-dyers use white cotton damask cloth from Europe or China and tie or sew the cloth into a wide variety of patterns. These cloth panels are the traditional size produced in Guinea, where the women cut the original 30-yard length of cloth into 15 to 18 panels. Most of our panels are of the 1 yard 30" length; all are 130 cm (just over 4 feet) wide.
One panel will make a shirt, and two panels are enough for almost any dress. Ask about two or three panel sets, or see our cotton damask cloth lengths below (item no. P0201).
P004
Guinean weavers have woven cloth from cotton thread for centuries. Local indigo bushes gave them a source of dye. These cloth panels of "Leppi" (i.e. locally woven cloth) are the traditional Guinean cloth panel size. Leppi cloth panels are usually 4 feet wide by 5 feet long, though the size varies according to the width of the loom.
A129
These 4" to 5" bands of "Leppi" (i.e. locally woven cloth) are the width of the local loom. These bands of cloth are cut into 1 yard 24" to 2 yard strips and sewn together to make cloth panels. Use them for sewing your own African cloth clothing! Set out a roll or two as a conversation piece!
P0201
TNT-Labé has asked our best cloth-dyers to produce cotton damask indigo dyed cloth in 3, 4, and 5 yard lengths. Lifting these cloth lengths out of the dye barrels over and over during the dyeing process is very hard work, but these women are proud to bring you their best work in extra large sizes.