The cloth
Bogolanfini begins as hand-woven cotton strip cloth, joined selvedge to selvedge before it ever meets the dye. It is dyed with a double n'gallama bath with a lime-brightened reserve for the pale ground — the pattern is not printed on, it is drawn in mud and then the ground around it is lifted away. On this piece the mudcloth meets black linen-silk with original ivory micro-geometric embroidery, hand-blocked ivory / black bogolan mudcloth shoulder facing, sash and slit inset, gold-tone z sash hardware.
