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Category: Techniques

Some of these techniques are used in the making of SAHEL products and some are just interesting.

Bridlemaker Belts

Posted on 18 August 2015 by Charlie

We’re now collaborating with a British Bridlemaker on a range of belts, dog collars and leads. Like all SAHEL leather products, they incorporate the work of Fulani horse reins weavers: hand woven leather straps that are traditionally used for horse girths or reins in the Sahel. So this range is a unique collaboration of heritage…

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Indigo Blues

Posted on 4 June 2015 by Charlie

  Things didn’t go to plan on my last visit to Burkina Faso, where I’d intended to document the ancient technique of indigo dyeing. I found out that to follow the whole process I would need to spend several days, if not weeks, in a remote village where the dyeing takes place in pits dug…

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Weaving leather by hand

Posted on 20 March 2014 by Charlie

A far flung hamlet in the outback of Burkina Faso is a hive of activity. It is the home of traditional leather workers, a group of women weaving strands of leather into horse reins. The reins are being reinvented as beautiful handbag straps, the unique feature of SAHEL Design bags. Salamata and Fatimata are the…

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Street weaving in Burkina Faso

Posted on 28 January 2014 by Charlie

One of the perks of living in a climate where the sun shines most of the time is that so much more happens outdoors. In the small towns and villages, old people and children can pass the time in the open air, socialising instead of being cooped up behind walls and gates. Washing clothes, drying…

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The many colours of mudcloth

Posted on 14 January 2014 by Charlie

I went a bit mad for mudcloth last year and have two armchairs, curtains, cushions and a lampshade all covered with it. I love the striking effect of white motifs on a black background, which is what I have so far focussed on for SAHEL products; cushion covers, scarves and bags. Here is some living…

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eHaberdasher Men’s shoulder bag

Posted on 5 December 2013 by Charlie

Luxury menswear online retailer eHaberdasher has collaborated with SAHEL Design to make this leather bag exclusively for them. Made in chestnut brown antique effect sheep leather, it is a practical shoulder bag with removable straps so it can also be used like a briefcase. It’s big enough for a laptop and has inside pockets for…

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Making hand cast recycled metal buckle frames

Posted on 17 October 2013 by Charlie

Hardware – clunky fastenings, chains, studs, that kind of thing – is something I’ve tried to avoid using on SAHEL bags. Mainly because the only ready made ones available here in Burkina Faso are cheap imported ones that would spoil the look and the ethos of the label. If I have to use a zip,…

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The Allure of the Tassle

Posted on 19 September 2013 by Charlie

Love them or not, fringe and tassels are to modern handbags as high heels are to a glamourous night out. Not essential, but we can’t leave them alone. They add swish, flamboyance and – better than heels – a skip to your step. Big tassels say carefree. A small, neat zip-pull tassel is more suitable…

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How to cook with millet the Fulani way

Posted on 29 August 2013 by Charlie

While foodie culture reaches new heights in the West, the staple diet of many in the Sahel is millet. It’s the polar opposite of junk food, taking hours to prepare and being super nutritious. Our video shows a Fulani girl in Ouagadougou preparing nyiiri, which is the daily food for many Fulani in the North,…

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Making West African Bogolan (mudcloth)

Posted on 9 August 2013 by Charlie

Legend has it that a woman was washing her husband’s clothes when she accidentally dropped them in mud. They were stained brown and the technique of mud cloth dyeing was born. It was later discovered that fermented mud reacts with tannin and produces black. White is formed by bleaching away the colour. The legend of…

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