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Here are the weavers of this traditional strip woven cloth. West African grown cotton is hand spun and dyed using natural dyes such as indigo. This is then hand woven into thin strips which are sewn together either to form pieces of cloth or articles of clothing. But the weavers are innovating... see below for a mixture of old-style traditional products and the new style designed to appeal to wider markets.
Traditional style chief shirts
When Jerry Rawlings, the previous president of Ghana travalled he often wore one of these chief shirts. His family was partly from Bolgatanga where these traditonal shirts woven from Northern cloth that is then embroidered are a mark of high status. Underneath the shirt you can see the rolls of Northern cloth that customers can choose from.
The tradition lives on...
This Ghanain businessman has blended the old and new perfectly. He is wearing an white shirt and tie underneath a traditional chief shirt. We hope this style of office dressing catches on - it looks great as well as being great for the Northern cloth weavers.
Traditional ladies outfit
This ladies outfit is sewn from Northern cloth strips in a traditional dress style popular with Ghainain women.
Old styles in the market
In the markets in the north of Ghana you often find kaftans sewn using Northern cloth.
New colours, new ideas...
The weavers are branching out... they are now using modern dyes in combination with the traditional dyes to make new colour combinations. Also new thread colours gives them more options when it comes to embroidering and decorating their work.
Table runners....
With the new strips colourful table runners like this can be sewn together and then hand embroidered
Wine bottle covers
Lampshades
A Northern cloth living room
Look at how great this living room set - all based on the traditional Northern cloth strips
The latest fashion
And with their new colours the weavers aren't going to be left behind. This stylish jacket is beautifully made from the Northern cloth strips woven in black and orange.
A director's chair
A great way to give a unique look to a directors chair. It has been covered using traditionally coloured Northern cloth strips. Again - a blend of old and new.
More chairs
Even ordinary chairs can be made more interesting with a unqiue pillow and cushion made from Northern cloth strips.
More furnishings
These strips have a red theme and when interwoven with black make a unique textured design.
Goodbye from Bolgatanga
You can see from these pictures that the weavers of Bolgatanga are not about to get left behind. They're constantly innovating their skills and experimenting with new materials and techniques - the results speak for themselves.
