The Giant of African Prints, Kente with the history of Ghana

The kente cloth is woven on a narrow horizontal wood structure called a loom. A heddle is an integral part of a loom. Each thread in the warp passes through a heddle, which is used to separate the warp threads for the passage of the weft. The typical heddle is made of cord or wire, and is suspended on a shaft of a loom. Each heddle has an eye in the center where the warp is threaded through. As there is one heddle for each thread of the warp, there can be near a thousand heddles used for fine or wide warps. A handwoven tea-towel will generally have between 300 and 400 warp threads, and thus use that many heddles.
In weaving, the warp threads are moved up or down by the shaft. This is achieved because each thread of the warp goes through a heddle on a shaft. When the shaft is raised the heddles are too, and thus the warp threads threaded through the heddles are raised. Heddles can be either equally or unequally distributed on the shafts, depending on the pattern to be woven. In a plain weave or twill, for example, the heddles are equally distributed.
kente cloth weaving
The warp is threaded through heddles on different shafts in order to obtain different weave structures. For a plain weave on a loom with two shafts, for example, the first thread would go through the first heddle on the first shaft, and then the next thread through the first heddle on the second shaft. The third warp thread would be threaded through the second heddle on the first shaft, and so on. In this manner the heddles allow for the grouping of the warp threads into two groups, one group that is threaded through heddles on the first shaft, and the other on the second shaft.
The Kente loom usually uses four heddles (asanan), but in special cases, six or seven heddles (asasia) may be used.
The cloth is woven in narrow strip (called ntomaban or bankuo) that is about 3-5 inches wide and about 5-6 feet long. Several strips are sewn together to make a wider piece of cloth for both men and women. A man’s cloth may contain up to 24 strips and measure about 5×8 feet. The woman’s two-piece cloth may contain 8-12 strips each piece.
Traditionally Kente is woven from silk however Kente woven from other threads such as rayon is just as authentic. The most important part of creating kente is the weaving technique used, colors chosen, patterns used and the skill of the artist.

The Serene experience: Volta , a place of definite choice .

One of the most exciting experiences one can have is to have trip outside home . It’s recommended that once in a long while one can have a serene environment to spend some time with family and friends. In selecting such locations becomes a tough decision for the family .This is can be due to taste and preferences that suits everyone. If you are outside Accra then I recommend Ghana as a stop choice for you .

In Ghana there a various relaxation sights that one can have to calm his nerves and reflect or better still meditate. The Volta Region has been an exquisite location for blues seas , twitting birds with blossom flowers that gives refreshing atmosphere.

It gives a new insight into how they live , the forms of shelter , how they dress and what they eat . It makes one have different perspective of life focusing more on nature and its beauty of it.

This is Keta , a place where one can find inner peace and good atmosphere for all spheres of life and indigenous culture . It has a blend of modernity and cultural heritage that brings out the distinctive nature of mother Ghana.

The welcoming nature of the people of Volta makes it a one stop choice for tourist .

GHANA MADE FABRIC,THE ONLY STOP CHOICE

What will be the reaction on the faces of people when they see you rock foreign materials ? What runs through you mind when you Also see people in foreign cloths ? The opposite of it is how don you feel when you see Ghanaians in African prints made in Ghana? Do you see them as quality or as an inferior good ?The love for foreign goods by most Ghanaians have come under series of criticism. Most people say it’s due to quality and the beauty. People have various reasons and explanations given to why they prefer foreign goods to locally manufactured goods and this can even be seen in the Ghanaian market. People order for fabrics from outside countries even though some are locally made . One of the most popular fabric is the tie and dye . The tie and dye is one of the indigenous fabrics made by Ghanaians and can be worn under various occasions. The tie and dye has a unique identity of telling its origin and what the symbols used in them means .
It can be used in sewing different styles that can best fit any occasion. Get your self a tie and dye and experience the beauty of an indigenous African print.

The fashion trends and its connotations

The ways of dressing has taken a new look , from the usuals of its necessity being covering of self to the new sense of uplifting and boosting the image of ones self . Most people in recent times have taken particular attention to what one wears because it depicts the behavior and attitude of the individual and also shows the working class and with which one can be linked to. Fashion has many connotations. One wearing suit is deemed as a corporate and legal person whiles one in tattered jeans has the society seeing him or her as a deviant. Notwithstanding, the youth of today have done tremendous work on changing the aforementioned. A school of thought will say people should not be judged by what they wear, another too will say they should be judged. But who really is the judge of what one wears or not? Who is the fashion police ? Who checks who and who even watches the watch man. Irrespective of the what you wear, one should have the ability to proof himself as to what he knows and not how he or she looks. When it’s all said and done , what we wear is what we can afford, what we think of ourselves and what fits the particular moment we wear them . It’s our life and our choices