Had the sewing machine cranking today (and no problems with it – hurray!). Our Weavers Guild exhibit chair wants an exhibit of clothing based on ethnic experiences and has asked our group of Mali travelers to come up with some pieces. I have this really neat boubou that I brought back from Mali, so that is my inspiration.
A boubou is like a large rectangle of cloth with a hole for the head and a large pocket on the chest. Sometimes the sides are sewn together, sometimes not. The men seem to wear it like a duster – it covers their good clothing, keeping them clean from all the dust. I bought it to use as a before-and-after hot tub cover-up.
Some brown/black/gold/orange patterned cloth that I had purchased with a swirly skirt in mind was put to use. The body is finished (just a bit of hem yet to do). I am waiting for the sunshine tomorrow (glorious rain today!) to darken some tannin before using a piece of mudcloth on the front for the pocket. Will post a picture when it is finished.
Should be finished with a series of mudcloth experiments tomorrow, too. Some interesting results coming out of it. And more experimenting to do, too! It seems that one thing leads to another… and for every variable that gets changed, all the other ones need to be tested.