7 DAYS OF GIVEAWAYS!

Hey Y’all !

Customer Appreciation Week is officially on! 7 days in the week means 7 different giveaways ! Want your chance to win? Check the rules below:

GIVEAWAY RULES:

1. Drawings will be done daily. In order to be included in the drawing, you must follow us on Instagram.

2. Each day, 3 winners will be selected- This includes the “Primary” winner, as well as 2 “Backup” winners. The Primary winner will be contacted via Instagram DM. If there is no response after 3 days, the winner will be passed over and Back Up Winner #1 will be contacted. If Back Up #1 is passed over as well, Back Up Winner #2 will be contacted. This is to prevent prizes from going unclaimed. Somebody needs to WIN!!

3. Each day is a different giveaway item. Giveaway prizes cannot be changed. If your prize requires a selection, you will be be contacted by July 17th to make arrangements. For example. if your prize is 3 yards of fabric, you can select which fabric prints you would like.

4. Winners can only be selected once. If I draw a name who has already won, I will draw another name.

5. Prizes need to redeemed within 30 days of the last day of CAWeek…by August 9, 2022.

GIVEAWAY PRIZES BY DAY

• DAY 1- CROWNED Craft Kit- Includes paper patterns for hair accessories, fashion fabric and all notions needed to complete projects.

• DAY 2- 2 YARD Fabric Bundle. Print(s) of your choice

• DAY 3 - QUEEN Bralette PDF Sewing Pattern

• DAY 4- 3 YARD Fabric Bundle. Print(s) of your choice

• DAY 5- QUEEN Bralette Craft Kit- Includes PDF pattern, fashion fabric, and all notions needed to complete the project

• DAY 6- One-on-One Virtual Sewing Lesson ( Topic of your choice) 90 minute

• DAY 7- 5 YARD Fabric Bundle . Print(s) of your choice

Good Luck Guys !! And don’t forget to check your DMs. I wouldn't want anybody to miss their prize!

Our First Annual CUSTOMER APPRECIATION WEEK is here !

Hey hey fam!!

I am SO happy to be with you guys again. We’re starting a new tradition, here at African Stretch Fabric. Every year ( or I’m toying with the idea of twice a year) , we will host our Customer Appreciation Week. This year, it was planned to run for the week leading up to Juneteenth. However, Covid crept into my life the very same day I recorded the launch video for CAWeek. So, everything was put on hold for a while. Now I’m back and so excited to start our first annual Customer Appreciation Week ! What’s going down? See details below:

• Of course, we’re running a SALE !! 20 % off all fabrics- including full yards, remnants and samples.

• Preorder fabrics are available again- for one week only!

• We're having 7 DAYS OF GIVEAWAYS ! From free fabric bundles to One-on-One Private Zoom Sewing Lessons.

• Every order placed this week will include a “Thank You” Gift Bundle.

• Customer Spotlights will be shared on our Instagram. I can’t wait to shout out even more of our talented sewists!

• More surprises to come as well !

Details on the giveaway are posted separately and can be viewed here:

www.africanstretchfabric.com/blog/2022/7/3/7-days-of-giveaways

Thank you so much for all of your continued support. I could not have revived African Stretch Fabric without each any every one of you! I want you to know how grateful I am to be able to serve you all. I appreciate all of my Kente Kingdom.

I hope you all had a great Juneteenth and I wish everybody a happy and healthy 4th of July! Thank you again, and I can’t wait to see and hear from you this week !

xoxo

-Danielle

And, We're Back !

Hellllllooooo All!

I cannot believe it’s been over 2 years since I’ve posted to this blog. Well, I guess reading the last entry, it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise. However, if you’ve been following me and African Stretch Fabrics all the while, you know that there’s been at least a tiny heartbeat in the brand since the last post. If you haven’t, well let me get you caught up !

The last post was March 18, 2018. For the rest of that year, I continued to sell the rest of my inventory until it was pretty much depleted. However, I continued to receive emails, comments on Facebook, and messages on Etsy inquiring about fabrics. Do I have any left? Will I ever restock such and such? I honestly don’t even remember what I said to all of those messages- “Not right now”? “ I’m sold out”? “I’ve completely thrown in the towel”? What I do remember is the few times where someone inquired about a fabric and I actually got it manufactured. I tested the waters- ordering one fabric here, and one fabric there. And just sold them through Etsy very sporadically.

I finally got to the point where so many people were asking, that I began to feel like I was really dropping the ball for everyone. I started something with African Stretch Fabrics that people came to expect - rely on, even - and I was kind of letting them down. So, I started to brainstorm on how to get things back on track and relaunch. I decided on Kickstarter.

Kickstarter was an idea I floated to my little community here before, but I finally decided to dig in after my wonky 2-year hiatus. Enter, my current Kickstarter campaign. It took months to plan, was delayed more by CoVid19, but has ultimately come to fruition. The process leading up to hitting that “Launch Now” button was highly involved and took a good amount of effort. But I am so happy with the collection my little team of designers and I have been able to create. I believe in all the rewards and of course the quality of the product I am providing.

I am so excited to start this journey again, and this time, I’m here for the long-haul. My vision for African Stretch Fabrics has evolved and grown and I have so many new ideas and products that I want to incorporate into the mix going forward. Even during this time of great uncertainty in the world as a whole, things ahead are looking bright. We’ve got no choice but to be as optimistic is possible and do what we can to embrace our new normal and maintain our happiness. And that includes our creativity! I hope you guys stay tuned while I get this thing up and running again. There’s so much more in store!

Without further ado, here’s a peek of the fabrics now available to preorder through Kickstarter:

If you want to learn more about the Kickstarter project and pre-order the fabrics above, get all the deets : HERE

Right now, I am down to only one fabric left in stock from the last collection to purchase now, and it’s available: HERE

Wishing you guys health, wealth, and joy from here in Tennessee. Have a great day and Happy Sewing!

-Danielle

Well, here it goes .....

HELLO, EVERYONE! 

If you are viewing this post, I want to give you a huge THANK YOU! Thank you for your orders. Thank you for allowing us into your inbox. Thank you for liking us on Facebook. Thank you for your support!

With that being said, African Stretch Fabric was a big aspiration of mine, and I have learned alot in the few months that I have been on this ride with you guys. I’m so glad that you are loving the fabrics and sharing that with your friends, families and fellow fashionistas! 

When all of my current fabric is sold out, I will be closing up shop ( temporarily or permanently, I don’t know). I know, I know! It’s awful to hear that ( and really hard  for me to write), especially since I have just started on this journey. I would love  to continue to provide you guys with beautiful ankara stretch fabrics. However, after a LOT of consideration, I am taking this time to really focus on my clothing line. I’ve had some great opportunities come up and really want to put all of my energy into taking advantage of that. I am also in the process of opening my own- bite-sized boutique and must manage all that comes along with that.

I cannot express how bittersweet this is. I would love to be able to split my time equally between everything I love- my clothing line , and African Stretch Fabrics, but right now, it is proving to be a bit too much for me.

Here's where we are now :

• I am waiting on 160 yards of fabric ( much of which has been already sold as pre-orders). 
• If you are currently waiting on a previously placed pre-order, the fabrics are scheduled to be in around March 21st.
• Our inventory levels are correct on the website, and you can still order there, until fabric runs out. 
• If you found me on Etsy, you will see that I have now moved all listings to my official website. Because of the small inventory , I did not want to take the chance of accepting orders through Etsy, and the fabric not actually being available because of the disconnect between Etsy and my inventory tracker.

I hope you all can understand and I can't tell you how much I appreciate every single one of you.  Keep being amazing,  keep creating, and hopefully I can bring ASF back to life and back into your work rooms soon.

XOXO, guys.

-Danielle

Diamond Banded Kente Active Set

Hello beautiful people!

Since our first 4 fabrics have come in, I have wanted to make something from each print so everyone can see the scale and drape of the fabrics. The first up is the popular Diamond Banded Kente Print.  I chose a simple yoga/sports bra and high waist bike shorts. The patterns I used for this set were kind of a mishmash of  several of the swimsuit patterns I drafted for my resortwear line. But I also have these KwikSew and Simplicity  patterns that I will try out soon. To be completely honest, I just didn’t feel like cutting all the pieces out today.  

* Note- if using one of these commercial patterns, check the package for your specific fabric requirements

Generally for nylon spandex fabric, you will want to cut your pieces on the cross grain. This generally provides the least amount of stretch going around the body in order to prevent stretching out of the textile over time. However you can always cut on the grain if you want your garment to stretch as much as possible- and depending on which way you want the printed stripes to go. I like them vertical for this set, so I cut them on the cross grain.

So, my self-drafted pattern has a basic sports bra front, contrast side panels and a racer back. For the outer layers, I used the diamond banded kente for front and back and solid black milliskin for the side panel. For the inside, for the front and back, I used black milliskin and powermesh for the side panel. I use a cover stitch for making swimwear and activewear, but a regular machine or serger should work just as well. Your top stitching just may look a little different than mine. 

The high waist shorts have a wide waistband that is lined with the milliskin to provide extra smoothing to the midsection. The bottom of the shorts are not lined, but you can always add that if you’d like. The shorts themselves have no side seam for a quicker construction.  BritxBrat2Fashion on YouTube has a tutorial for a similar pair here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXlc1c3kN2c

Overall, I’m happy with how they came out. I’ll be rocking that top as a crop this summer :) And the shorts are so comfortable! Just wanted to give you guys a little inspiration. I will see ya next time!

WE ARE SHIPPING! Fabrics are in!

Hey y'all. 

I hope everyone is enjoying their New Year !  We finally have 4 of the 5 pre-order fabrics in. Yay!

The fabric is nice and smooth. Colors are vibrant. Stretch and recovery is great! The weight is 190 gsm, which is lighter than the 200gsm that I was expecting. So, in future runs of these fabrics, they will be a slightly heavier weight. That being said, many people want to make leggings out of these fabrics. I have created my first pair ( well, shorts , actually). You can view the blog post here:

https://www.africanstretchfabric.com/journal/2018/1/28/diamond-banded-kente-active-set

I will be 100% honest. There is a bit of see-through on the lighter colors- like yellow. When I have shown this to others, they were not able to see through it, but my trained, laser point eyes could. You be the judge. I have attached an example below. Quiz! What color are my underwear ? ( we're getting close here fast ) Or can you not even tell ?

So, you can definitely use these to make leggings, however, take into consideration the near opacity of the fabrics. So, be sure to do a mirror check and bend test to determine whether you need to wear a longer shirt/specific undergarments or if you're all good! 

SPECS

The fabrics are all 60 inches wide, 190 gsm.

The circles on the purple turquoise measure 8.5 inches wide.

The  red flowers on the yellow background measure 2 5/8" by 3 ". 

The  black diamonds on the diamond banded kente are about 3" long.

BLACK, YELLOW, RED DASHIKI 

While I am thrilled to have 4 of the fabrics in, I'm quite upset about not having the black dashiki print in. Wondering what's the old up ? This is the best seller, so far . So, I have ordered more than 3x the amount of all the other fabrics. So, this fabric is being manufactured by a different company- which turns out to be a bit slower in both communication and production. This fabric should be in within the next 2 weeks!

BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE ! Your support means so much to me. This new endeavor is having a few birthing pains, but I look forward to growing smoothly in the future. Thanks so much and happy sewing!

What's Up with Shipping ? + New Strike Offs!

Hey yall !  I'm a lifelong Tennessean, so get used to my southern speech. :) 

I know it's been a while since my last update, because honestly, right now, we're just playing the waiting game. As you all know, African Stretch Fabric is in its infancy. This is my *very first*  custom fabric order - so my first time with these factories, first time experiencing international trade (as far as production) in general ( the time zone differences are great ! ). That being said, here's what's going on in a tidy bullet point format .

• Strike Offs are in ! Well, of a few of the fabrics. We are still waiting for 2 others. 
• New shipping dates are estimated for the 2nd week of January, 2018.
• We have a NEW PRINT available ! It has replaced the White , pink, green dashiki print (for now).
• CYBER MONDAY sale is extended until Dec 26th!  $10 per yard.

Red Flower

And next up is the Diamond Banded Kente Print !

DiamondBanded Kente

And I am super excited about introducing this new print ! It is one of my favorites because of the bright colors. 

NEW Pink Multi Kente

I will be posting this print for sale later today ! I'm super excited to make something out of it. 

So, that is all the news I have for you today, loves. I will keep you posted as things progress. And a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has placed a pre-order!  I sincerely appreciate every single one of you guys!

Happy Sewing:)

-Danielle

PRE-SALE Deets, the SALE, and the GIVEAWAY!

Hey guys!
I hope you are enjoying your weekend! I just wanted to pop on here and give  some more info on the presale and Giveaway!  Here’s a little rundown of how the PreSale works.

BASIC NEED TO KNOWs:
- The fabrics are currently NOT in yet. We are waiting on some sample yardage to come in and we will post photos and video as soon as we have them! And will at that point be able to send out swatches as well, if anyone is interested! 
- When placing a pre-order, you are reserving a certain amount of yards, and your pre-orders will be the first to ship!
- During the PreSale, you get free shipping!
- PreSale ends on Nov 25, and fabric is scheduled to be shipped by December 1st.
- Fabric WILL be available for purchase beyond November 25. However standard pricing and shipping costs will apply. 

Alrighty, I will admit we’re off to a slow start with the pre-sale, but I really want to take this thing to market and bring some stretch Ankara prints to both you guys and myself! So, here are a few incentives to place a pre-order today :

1. We are doing a 5 Yard Giveaway of the stretch fabrics of your choice! Get a taste of our fabric quality before placing an order. Just join the email list, and you’re in the running. 
2. Also, from November 12-25, we are offering 20% off on ALL orders, including the Sample Bag, and wholesale orders! This includes previously placed pre-orders. ( While you will not receive a refund on your previously placed pre-order, you will receive more fabric than your original order, to cover the “extra” you paid when purchasing at regular price. Make sense ?) Use coupon code PRESALE20 at checkout. 

ABOUT THE GIVEAWAY:
-We will be selecting one winner to receive 5 yards of any of the fabrics from the launch collection! So, that could be 5 yards of one print, or one yard of each of the five prints, or any combination in between. 
- To be entered into the drawing, simply visit our contact page ( or just about any page on the website really), and sign up to receive our emails.If you submit by November 18, you will automatically be put into the drawing.
- We will announce the winner here on the blog, on our Facebook Page, and directly to the winner via email.

I think that is just about all of the info I have for you today. I can’t wait to see full yardage of these prints in all their fabulous glory. I will be in touch soon!

See you soon , and happy sewing!

-DP

PRE-SALE HAS STARTED!

Hello beautiful people!

I'm so excited to start the pre-sale for our debut collection of stretch Ankara prints ! There's so many amazing prints I would love to create and bring to you, but we're only starting off with 5 prints for now. We have one more in the works that will be added next week. But  for now we have these 4. 

It was realllllyyyy difficult to choose only 5 fabrics to start off this new fabric adventure of mine. Fabric selection is so personal, so I know what is "just ok" for one sewing enthusiast is "breathtakingly beautiful" to another. So, I wanted to create prints that are popular and classic, in a sense. So, the first few styles that are to mind were: (1) Dashiki/ Angelina (2) Kente Cloth and (3) Mudlcoth.  While I don't have a mud cloth print in this launch collection, it is surely next to come! 

The second element I had to decide on was color scheme. I have my favorites, and had to literally stop myself from designing with too many pinks and turquoises ( they are me absolute weaknesses!).  So, for 2 prints, I selected warm, cozy "fall" colors of reds, yellows, and blacks. And for the other 2, I wanted something bright and fun- so the purple, turquoise, white, and obligatory pink all came together to make 2 really cool textile prints.

I hope you guys like and please feel free to shoot me an email with any burning questions. My next post will include all the details you need to know about the Pre-sale.

See you soon, and happy sewing!

-DP

First Samples are here !

Hey guys!

So, I’ve got fun news! Our first fabric strike off has arrived! In all honesty, it has been here for a while, but I just now thought it would be a great way to introduce you guys to the type of fabrics that I absolutely love and can’t wait to share with you all!

So, the fabric printers scaled down my original design to make a(n) ( adorable) tiny sample of my first dashiki design. It’s printed on both nylon/spandex (above and below, left), and polyester/spandex (  below, right). The polyester/spandex is my actual original design scaled down, and the nylon/spandex sample looks like the printer did an “inspiration” or even “knock off” print of my original design. You can see the slight differences in the detail of the pinks and greens. This may have been done because the fabric is scaled down, so it would have lost some off its detail that way. Or, it could have been done to simplify the design in order to make it easier for their equipment to translate into the final textile. For whatever reason they chose to make a “knock off” print, I do think it is a pretty amazing copy and would be just as happy with that. What do you guys think?

So, I’m super excited to see this in all its full size glory. And will definitely post an update so you guys can get a better “feel” of the drape and scale.  And of course, I'm already plotting a way to  make something with those cute, tiny dashiki samples. I feel a bikini coming on :) So, be sure to join our email list for all the juicy details!

I will see you soon!

-DP

A Designer's Journey to Textiles

Hello all !

This first blog post isn't daunting at all. AHEM. 

I'm Danielle Pierce- fashion designer always, sewing instructor sometimes, and model every blue moon. As an emerging fashion designer, selecting fabrics for a new collection is easily one of the most exciting parts of the design process. But it can sometimes be one of the most frustrating, especially when you have your mind set on a specific thing that continues to elude you. I specialize in swimwear and resortwear and have been inspired on a number of occasions by the traditional fabrics of Africa. The key word here is traditional. Traditional textiles- whether African, Asian, Indian, Native America or other- all have one thing in common. They are woven. Weaving is the oldest way to create textiles and of course, is utilized to this day. Herein lies the problem for me. My design focus is in swimwear. Though our foremothers bore woven swimsuits fashioned of nylon, and cotton, modern swimsuits are made almost exclusively of 4 way stretch knit fabrics with a healthy bit of spandex blended into the fibers. 

After searching the internet up and down, I came to my conclusion. Stretch fabrics in traditional African print just does not exist. I put off my “African Inspired” Swim collection for years because of it. When searching” African Print nylon spandex fabric ”  online, I would find what the fabric industry calls “tribal prints”. Tribal prints have been popular on the fashion scene for several years, and are always a staple in swim fabrics. However, these generic “ tribal” designs are an attempted conglomeration of Aztec, Native American, Persian and African elements. They are not traditional…well, anything!

In the last 5 years, I have seen a big shift in fashion. Established design houses and brands use both woven fabrics and knits in their collections. However, newer designers and sewing enthusiasts are moving somewhere else- stretch fabrics. Formalwear has evolved from woven silks, satins, and chiffons to uber-stretchy mesh, spandex, and stretch sequins. Right now, stretch fabrics are more popular than ever ! So, 2016 was the first year I found a couple of ACTUAL African Print stretch fabrics. However, because they are so needed and wanted, the fabrics sell-out quickly and , in many cases, are not reordered for some reason. As a designer, this was frustrating for myself and customers alike. I had to discontinue several styles because the original fabrics were no longer available.

So, I finally decided to try to make this thriving textile industry work for me. I could not only create beautiful custom  African prints for my own collections, I could offer it to other sewing pros and small businesses. Working with an amazing graphic designer, I am happy to present the first capsule collection of AFRICAN STRETCH FABRICS. But not quite yet! We are putting the final touches on designs, but will be starting our Pre-Sale on NOVEMBER 1, 2017. 

I really look forward to continuing this journey to African Stretch fabric bliss and can’t wait to share it with all of you! Don’t forget to sign up for our emails so you can be updated and reminded about the Pre-sale :)

Happy Sewing!

-Danielle