Finimugu (Malian strip cloth)

Description

Sold in one yard increments. The fabric is 4-6 inches wide.

Many of you who have participated in Aboubakar’s workshops fell in love with Finimugu (Malian strip cloth). The traditional cotton strip cloth is 100% produced in Mali by a textile cooperative that Aboubakar has worked with for years.

Watch a video to see how finimugu is made here.

The women in the cooperative prepare the organically grown cotton. They remove the seeds and any vegetable matter, then spin the cotton fiber into fine yarn. The yarn is sent to men weavers who weave a narrow (4-6 inch) cotton fabric, but create a strip over 100 yards long. The strips are rolled into “wheels” of fabric and taken to market. The strip cloth is then cut to suit the project. Larger pieces of cloth are created when the strips are joined to make a top or skirt. Once the cloth is pieced together, the maker may dye it, create a tie resist pattern, or use the textile for mud dyeing.

We also offer hemp cotton yardage.

About Aboubakar Fofana:

Born in Mali and raised in France, Aboubakar Fofana is a multidisciplinary artist and designer whose working mediums include calligraphy, textiles and natural dyes. He is known for his work in reinvigorating and redefining West African indigo dyeing techniques, and much of his focus is devoted to the preservation and reinterpretation of traditional West African textile and natural dyeing techniques and materials.

Fofana is currently deeply involved in creating a farm in conjunction with the local community in the district of Siby, Mali, in which the two types of indigenous West African indigo will be the centrepiece for a permaculture model based around local food, medicine and dye plants. This project hopes to contribute to the rebirth of fermented indigo dyeing in Mali and beyond, and represents his life’s greatest project to date.