quality materials

we work locally. we work with the best of the best.

L E A T H E R
Leather craft is a fairly new market for Dar es Salaam.  Our leather is purchased locally in East Africa, which is why you may find branding marks or imperfections throughout the leather.  Leatherwork requires precision, attention to detail, as well as learning to sew on a different medium. We appreciate our trainer & collaborator Gabrielle of Gonzala Leather, Nairobi for his work in training our students and sourcing many of our bags. Our students who have excelled in this skill are able to make shoes, high-end purses and bags, jewelry and other custom orders. 

B A T I K
From pillows, headbands, our batik wraps, and kimonos - you will see batik making its way across many of our products.  Batik is a method of producing colored designs onto textiles by dyeing them.  Our students also learn how to apply wax designs, which add beautiful detail to fabric.  Batik is a very popular style worn by men and women locally.  Students who have an eye for design typically enjoy designing new ways of dyeing, developing patterns and learning how colors work together to make beautiful products.  We tend to name our batik designs after the students who developed them.  If you ever come watch the production, you will hear designs such as the “Edina” or “Bibi” being made.

We have also opened up Batik classes for our community.  Women from our community and visitors from afar have enjoyed being taught this process by our students and our volunteer, Audrey “Mama Theo”.

S C R E E N P R I N T I N G

You will find several pillow designs which use screen-printing.  This process is fascinating.  We draw the design (Mama Denver is our much-loved artist) or use a photograph to create a digital drawing.  We print this on our simple HP printer.  The print is then placed on top of the silk screen, using the sun to burn the design.  Direct sunlight is required for this, which we see as one of the few benefits of our extreme heat in Dar es Salaam (though we once had to wait 6 weeks to get one of our designs during rainy season).  We then have our screen, which we use to print the artwork onto our fabric.  This single skill can create an entire business platform for our students.  Outside of our pillows, the girls have used this skill to print t-shirts, uniforms for local schools and other printing jobs outside of Sifa Threads.  We love watching them excel at this process and see the potential for their future through learning this trade.