African Kente Cloth

Choose from the following...

• Cloth #1: Solid deep blue indigo, thick with lovely slub and piecing. Approximate size 58" x 35"
• Cloth #2:  Striped in black, grey and light turquoise blue. Soft light weight, tight weave and pieced with black thread. Approximate size 65" x 42"
• Cloth #3: Striped in varying shades of indigo. Lighter weight with some wear and hand pieced with black threads.
• Cloth #4: Striped in varying shades of indigo. Soft medium weight with some wear and a few small stains. Approximate size 64" x 39"
• Cloth #5: Striped in varying shades of indigo. Light weight. Approximate size 58" x 33"
• Cloth #6: Striped in varying shades of indigo. Heavy weight. Approximate size 38" x 33"

Kente is woven on a horizontal strip loom, which produces a narrow band of cloth about four inches wide. Several of these strips are carefully arranged and hand-sewn together to create a cloth of the desired size. Most kente weavers are men.

Weaving involves the crossing of a row of parallel threads called the warp (threads running vertically) with another row called the weft (threads running horizontally). A horizontal loom, constructed with wood, consists of a set of two, four or six heddles (loops for holding thread), which are used for separating and guiding the warp threads. These are attached to treadles (foot pedals) with pulleys that have spools of thread inserted in them. The pulleys can be used to move the warp threads apart. As the weaver divides the warp threads, he uses a shuttle (a small wooden device carrying a bobbin, or small spool of thread) to insert the weft threads between them. These various parts of the loom, like the motifs in the cloth, all have symbolic significance and are accorded a great deal of respect.

Thank you source: Khan Academy : )