The Yoruba people of Nigeria make adire eleko cloth with delicate white-line designs on a deep indigo blue background. Years ago, people made their own indigo dye by chopping and drying parts of a special plant. Newly dyed cloth would be brown, gradually turning to bright blue in the sunlight. Now days, people use blue dye they can buy at a store.
You can decorate cloth adire eleko-style by squeezing a paste made of flour and water onto white cotton cloth. Use a blender to mix 1/2 cup of regular white flour, 1/2 cup of water, and 1 teaspoon of alum (alum is used in making homemade pickles...find it at the spice rack in a grocery store). Pour this thick paste into a clean plastic mustard bottle, the kind with a squeeze nozzle on top.
The Yoruba artists often divide their cloth into squares using straight lines of paste. Then they draw designs inside the boundaries. Traditional patterns are geometric shapes or simple animal and bird forms. Squeeze your paste into line designs on the white cloth, then let your cloth sit in a quiet place to dry for 3 or 4 days.
Ask an adult to help you mix a batch of navy blue dye (follow the directions on the dye package). If you use hot water, let the liquid cool completely. Wear rubber gloves and dip your paste-covered cloth into the dye for a few seconds, then lift it out. Pat it dry between newspapers.
Let the cloth dry, then crack the paste loose with your fingernails. The cloth will be white (tinted with blue) underneath the paste lines and your design will show up beautifully against the dark blue background. Would you like to buy this KidsArt booklet on Africa?
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