1H140458
1H140458
Shweshwe is traditionally used to make dresses, skirts, aprons and wraparound clothing. Shweshwe clothing is traditionally worn by newly married Xhosa women, known as makoti, and married Sotho women. Xhosa women have also incorporated the fabric into their traditional ochre-coloured blanket clothing.
Aside from traditional wear, shweshwe is used in contemporary South African fashion design for women and men from all ethnic groups as well as for making accessories and upholstery. It is also used in the United States as a quilting fabric.
Shweshwe has a history going back thousands of years, with the shweshwe we know and love today making its way to SA for the first time in the early 1840s. Today, shweshwe is produced by the traditional processes, using a weak acid solution to bleach out distinctive designs. This gives the fabric an authentic look and feel, as well as the distinctive smell that consumers know and love.
- Material: 100% cotton
- Product Width: 89/90cm
Please take note that each unit is 5 meters long (0.9m x 5m). e.g. 3 units will be (0.9m x 15m)
The price is per unit.
R375,00
10 in stock
Shweshwe is a unique Eastern Cape fabric and Da Gama Textiles is aptly referred to as the “home of the original shweshwe”. It is not uncommon to see patrons taste, smell and feel the fabric before committing to a sale, to ensure the cloth is authentic. Shweshwe is sold by folded bolt and not on a cardboard core in roll form, staying as close as possible to its roots of origin. All of these unique characteristics date back to the long sea voyages from the UK to South Africa, which formed the original transport route for this cloth. A strong starch is used to preserve the fabric, resulting in the hard handle and distinctive smell, which disappear after washing.
With a long history as SA’s only shweshwe producer da Gama’s fabrics boast a consistent quality and a deep historical and cultural connection. As such, 3 Cats shweshwe and cultural fabrics represent an embracing of local cultures, peoples and traditions, taking consumers on a visual journey of colour through the regularly updated colourways.
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