Wednesday, April 23, 2014

dinner on my skirt

It's not every day we eat dinner on my skirt, but when we had friends over Easter weekend 
I decided I wanted to use my favorite cloth from West Africa. I also used it Easter Sunday 
when Eldest Son was with us and when I asked if he recognized it, 
I was gratified with his answer, "Yes, Mom that's your skirt."
The colorful fabrics that women wear in West Africa are a feast to the eyes. 
I have several "cloths" but my favorite is this indigo blue marked along the edge with 
"guaranteed Dutch Wax," which means it's printed so both sides are the same depth of color. 
It's a more desirable cloth.
Most W. African women buy at least six yards: two for the skirt, two for the top and two 
for a cloth to hold their baby on their backs, to wear in a fancy way on their heads, to use 
as a picnic banker, or to wear like a shawl. Can you imagine two yards on your head? 
It's a bit heavy, but elegant, and they come up with some amazing creations. 
A tailor or seamstress make the outfit (always without a pattern)
 and while the skirts are long, the tops follow the current fashion trends.
Sometimes they keep two-three yards to wear as a wrap skirt with a tee shirt on top, and 
that's what I did with this cloth. Skirts are long and it's so comfortable to wear.
Many women wear "western" clothing especially in the city, 
but for special events, they usually wear traditional clothing.
I think I need to use this as a tablecloth more often
since I'm not wearing it as a skirt anymore!
I had a seamstress make this for me out of six yards.
Yes that's two yards on my head! 

24 comments:

  1. It is a beautiful fabric, and how lovely it looks on your table.

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  2. What a lovely table cloth it made! You look adorable in your "6 yards" too :)

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  3. That is beautiful fabric!

    The girls brought pagne's home from Senegal. They are beautiful.

    What country did you live in?

    Deanna

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  4. Love it!

    Love the photo of you in your skirt.

    Do be careful if you use candles. I have wax stains on two different quilts after using them as tablecloths. You would think I would learn after the first time.

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  5. Beautiful! How clever of you to create a beautiful table with something that you love and that holds special meaning for you and your family. I love "dinner on [your] skirt"!

    I also love the photo of you and your boys!

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  6. Very interesting. And the most remarkable to me is that your son remembered it. (My son doesn't remember such things.) It looks very nice upon your table and it rekindled some great memories.

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  7. Love it! And I'm so glad to hear that the title was somewhat deceptive. LOL Very pretty fabric. It made such an interesting table!

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  8. Oh yes, it's gorgeous from your skirt. I wouldn't know which to choose if I saw all those pretty fabrics in Africa...and yes, I would want them for tablecloths too, like the Indian ones!
    I love how your table turn out and your pic with your Young children, so lovely too!
    FABBY

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  9. That's the most wonderful use of a skirt I've ever seen! Loved this post.

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  10. What a beautiful fabric. It looks great as a tablecloth. When my daughter went to Tanzania, she brought back a couple of lengths of fabric. I have one of them. Such rich colours.

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  11. What a fun post to read!

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  12. I'm glad you explained the yardage for skirts etc. because I was looking at all that beautiful fabric spread out on your table and thought, this was a skirt? :-) Very interesting about the fabric and and its uses.
    I too am impressed that your son remembered it was your skirt, it must have good memories attached to it for him, and you!

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  13. That is a gorgeous tablecloth! I love the fabric design and it must have been beautiful as a skirt in it's former life. :) What a sweet picture of you and your children in your African clothes. We have had many African families worship at our church over the years and the women often wear their traditional dress, including the head dress, and the men wear their colourful tunics. The women look beautiful in their bright and colourful clothes. And yes, they can make wonderful designs with the head wraps!

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  14. Gorgeous, gorgeous and so unique!

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  15. Podso,
    We have a former Church member that is doing Grassroots Ministry in Africa and I have enjoyed hearing more of the culture. This is one tradition I hadn't learn about yet! Thank you for sharing. . .and your skirt looks fabulous as a table cover!!!
    Fondly,
    Pat

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  16. The fabric is beautiful and I can imagine what a lovely ensemble it makes.

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  17. I, too, thought your post was going to be about a dinner disaster! So glad to see it was about beautiful fabric and wonderful memories.

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  18. what a fabulous photo!!!

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  19. It is beautiful fabric and you look lovely in your outfit! So special to use it on your table now. Wonderful memories.

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  20. I love the beautiful fabric and that you used it to set your lovely table. My grandchildren have a quilt made by their other grandmother (who was in the Peace Corps) with fabric she bought in Senegal. ♥

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  21. Beautiful table and beautiful skirt, Dotsie!! I really enjoyed this post! I love reading your posts because they're so informative; I almost always learn something new. You've lived a very full and interesting life. :)

    I hope you and your family had a nice Easter. Thank you for your visit and have a great weekend. :-D

    Hugs,

    Denise

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  22. What a lovely post Dotsie - your 'skirt' tablecloth looks similar to a batik fabric.
    A beautiful table setting which I'm sure was a great talking point.

    It's fun to do something different with your Easter table and this brought back many precious memories of your time in Africa. That was a brave thing to do when you had small children - I love the photo of the three of you - very special. Hard to believe there is two yards in your head dress - is it the usual width?
    We have a set of Windsor dining chairs which look similar to yours!

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  23. I knew that wax is a high quality (and Dutch wax the highest quality of wax), but I did not know that about the same depth of color on both sides! That explains why when I'm making a quilt I have a terrible time figuring out which side is "right" and which side is "wrong". I finally decide that if I can't tell, neither can anyone else.

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  24. What a unique and beautiful tablecloth this cloth skirt made! It really compliments your dishes very well. Loved the photo of you wearing it in Africa!

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