Dovetailed

Dovetailed London is proudly made in Africa by Africans 🇳🇬

Our biggest sale ever has ended. Do check back for more sales, and in the mean time, shop us at dovetailed.co.uk 🚨

Our biggest sale ever has ended. Do check back for more sales, and in the mean time, shop us at dovetailed.co.uk🚨

Thank you :Entrepreneur. So thrilled to be featured! 🧡

Dovetailed London is a multi-award-winning clothing brand specialising in African prints. The owner Adaku Parker, is a barrister turned designer.

The Dovetailed brand launched its clothing line in 2023, on a mission to encourage and inspire women to add colour and print to their wardrobes: they believe that life is too short to spend it wearing black and grey. At the same time, fashion should not cost the earth.

Read more: https://i-entrepreneuruk.com/entrepreneur-stories/Adaku-Parker/

Image description: A headshot of a smiling woman with a radiant complexion, wearing a colourful African print top with vibrant circular patterns. She has a natural hair updo and is wearing red lipstick. The background features a white brick wall and a hexagonal wooden shelf with various items, suggesting a creative environment.

Today, we kick off profiling our incredible for 2024 with Adaku Parker. Adaku is the founder of , an African fashion and sewing brand on a mission to encourage and inspire women to add colour and print to their wardrobes and homes. The brand is stocked in Liberty London, the Fashion and Textile Museum, V & A, and Tate Modern, and Adaku is the author of two sewing books.



What a fantastic start to the year! Thank you to for choosing me as one of your for 2024. I am truly honoured. I found out very late last year! Honestly, we were lucky enough to receive a fair number of awards/ nominations last year, but this one, oh, this one had me weeping happy tears (maybe it was the pregancy hormones or maybe the spirit of Christmas or a combination of the two!). But seriously, there is so much we do as business owners that goes either unseen / unnoticed or both. I can not tell you how much it means to be recognised by such a fantastic organisation that works tirelessly to champion female owned small businesses. Thank you a thousand times. Oh, I am more than ready for all that 2024 has to offer. 🧡🧡🧡

.ins
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Wonderful box yet again from ! My favourite shade of red/wine/burgundy



What a great review from the lovely who recently received her September box. With these boxes, you can choose your size of box from 3 options, and the frequency of your subscription from either a monthly or bi-monthly. You will receive a surprise box of African wax print fabric and matching sewing goodies straight to your door.

If you decide your box is not for you, simply cancel your subscription at any time through your online account.

Use the link in bio to see more. Boxes are sent out from the 15th of each month! If you haven't subscribed already, why not give them a try! ✂️✂️✨✨🎊🎊

What I hear from so many people who have bought: 'Sewing with African wax print fabric,' is that they love the fact that the book includes accessories as well as garments. One of the fabulous accessories in the book is the Beatrice Tote Bag. You will need to get your hands on some interfacing / wadding if you want to make it as per the instructions in the book. The bag is fully lined and is finished with a magnetic bag clasp. The fabric, interfacing, bag clasp and, of course, book are all available from the Dovetailed website (link in bio). Make for yourself either using wax print or any other fabric of your choice or make to gift to someone else! Happy sewing!!

To say that the last 18 months has been a challenge is a bit of an understatement. However, throughout this period, I have been encouraged by the support of the sewing community. Many of you have cheered me on, wished me well and, in ways both large and small, have lent your support to this business. Very often, this doesn't feel like work at all! To say 'THANK YOU', I am offering 20% off all fabric sold by the yard until Sunday 26th September. Simply use the code SEPTEMBERSALE at checkout. You can click the link in the bio to be taken to the collection. When placing your order, remember to add one yard to your cart first. You can then select the number of yards you would like of your chosen designs on the following page. Your fabric will be sent out as a continuous piece. Orders placed before 10 am on Thursday will be sent out this week. Happy shopping!



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Hello lovelies! I am so excited to announce that I will be adding some gorgeous African batiks to my online shop very soon. If you stopped by my stand at the Festival of Quilts, you may have heard me mention that I was patiently awaiting their arrival. They took longer than expected but at last they are here and they are nothing short of absolutely stunning! They are all 100% cotton and are a complete treat for batik lovers everywhere. Pictured are just two of the prints that I'll be adding to the shop. Sign up to my newsletter at https://buff.ly/3xKfI6p to be the first to hear when these batiks are available. Also, after signing up, you will receive a welcome e-mail with a discount code. Any problems signing up, just let me know.
Take care,
Adaku x
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I remember when doing this for the first time and I was repeating to myself: 'I'm ironing paper, why am I ironing paper(!)' Fast forward a few years, and it is definitely a top tip that I would pass on to newbie sewers. I know it sounds weird but you can do it. Obviously, keep the heat from your iron super low (no steam) and only iron the plain side of the pattern sheets and not the side with the print on it. This is great for patterns sheets made of tissue paper. Only increase the heat very slowly. It may seem like a small thing, but flat pattern sheets make for smooth cutting and you can iron out all those small creases and folds thus avoiding any fitting issues later on.
What are the small steps you never skip that make a big difference to your sewing?
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Wow! I cannot believe that we are in September already! Where has this year gone? As usual, there's always lots happening at Dovetailed HQ and one of the exciting things happening this month is another pattern commission with a sewing magazine. It's for a really special edition and so I have tried to pull out as many stops as I can. Selecting the fabric can always be a little tricky especially when you have a few gems to choose from. The fabric pictured made the shortlist although sadly not the final cut but only because I am spoilt for choice. I love the lighter green strip running across the width of the pattern. It's also a pretty easy fabric for pattern matching if your project requires this.
What do we think about pattern matching? Love it or hate it?
Hope you are all well!
Adaku x
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Increasingly, I am sourcing more and more of my fabric directly from the African continent with the rest of my fabric coming directly from Holland. I have written about the history of the Dutch making these fabrics in my book, on my blog and in various sewing magazine articles. When you buy fabric from Dovetailed, you can be sure that you are buying a genuine product that will last. The fabric in the image is from Ghana. I have called it 'MAKE LEMONADE' because when I first looked at it, I saw lemons and what do you do when life gives you lemons ....?
Enjoy!⠀
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A little later than planned, the YouTube video of July's subscription boxes is now online! Lots of sewing goodies and stunning fabric has gone into each box. The link to my YouTube channel is in my bio and I hope you like it! These subscription boxes are an African wax print lovers dream. Each box includes a surprise selection of both fabrics and sewing goodies. Visit the Dovetailed London website at https://buff.ly/3xKfI6p to find out more. Link in bio.

There's certainly been a lot of love for this pattern and I have had quite a few messages asking where people can get this pattern. This pattern is in Issue 97 of and is available online at https://buff.ly/3B7wdeW
If anyone would like to find their local UK stockist, they can also search Love Sewing at https://buff.ly/2V3dgWq and you can download the magazine from https://buff.ly/3gmySZV.
Issue 97 includes this fabulous pattern designed by me exclusively for Love Sewing Magazine. The Jasmine Shirt is a must-have for ruffle lovers everywhere. Apart from the ruffle collar and cuffs, the pattern features a striking peplum and is finished with covered buttons! 🎉✨✂️🎉✨✂️
Available in UK sizes 8 - 26. The fabric is currently available on the Dovetailed website and is called: 'I'm with the band (on blue).' This fabric is embossed with silvery / gold metallic details and is totally stunning. Please note that stock is limited.

We all know that we need to pre-wash African wax print fabrics before we cut and sew. This is worth doing when clothes making but you may wish to skip this step if bag making or quilting. Pre-washing does two things: firstly, it helps to soften the fabric if it feels a little stiff and secondly, the washing the fabric also shrinks it. Yes, shrinks it. Nearly all fabric shrinks when washed. Cotton fabrics shrink anywhere between 8% - 11% but let's just call it 10%. Do allow for shrinkage when placing an order. However, before washing we may have to remove the sticky labels. Have a look at my YouTube channel for a video https://buff.ly/37WdS7T in which I demonstrate how they can be easily removed. Take care not to remove the labels before the glue has softened sufficiently as this can cause some gluey residue to remain. However, if this does happen then fear not as there are a couple of things you can do to remove the glue. In the past I have used washing up liquid by rubbing copious amounts of washing up liquid onto the gluey area (using it as a sort of stain remover) before washing the fabric. This works quite well, however, I have recently come across another method which I learned from one of the ladies in my Facebook group. The method is to simply iron the glue onto kitchen towel! So simple. As with the removal of the labels, you will have your iron on the WRONG SIDE with the piece of kitchen towel directly underneath the gluey area and that's it. Gluey residue be gone! How do you remove yours? Do leave a comment below.



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Hello Lovelies!

If there is one fabric that I have been super keen to get my hands on it's this one. The famous 'SPEEDBIRD' fabric is a true delight and you would have seen it used in many a garment on the 'gram. There are, as with a lot of things, a lot of imitations out there, and I am really happy that I managed to get some authentic African-made 'SPEEDBIRD' fabric. It is sold by the yard. More than one yard will be sent in a continuous piece up to 6 yards and the fabric is 45" wide so narrower than the 60" wide fabric that you might be used to. If you get some, I would absolutely love to see what you make!
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Super excited to share another one of these African-made wax print beauties. I have called this fabric 'HARVEST' and it is already proving popular. E-mail subscribers have been shopping ahead since yesterday so if you want to be one of the first the get your hands on some wax print fabric goodies, then be sure to subscribe at https://buff.ly/3xKfI6p. Plus, as a very special 'thank you', you will receive a welcome e-mail which includes a one-off discount code after subscribing. Any problems in subscribing, just drop me a line and I can add you manually.
Enjoy!


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It has taken a while, but I finally have some brand new African-made wax prints in the shop.
Pictured is a fabric that I have called 'BLOWIN' IN THE WIND'. When looking at the 'SOLD BY THE YARD' collection, you can sort them from 'newest to oldest' to see some of the newest fabrics in the shop. All of these fabrics have a dry cotton finish and whilst being structured (ideal for pleats and any garment that needs to hold its shape), they also have a fair amount of drape. As with most of these fabrics, quantities are limited. They are all made from 100% cotton and are colour fast. The width of the fabric is 45"-47" (114 - 120 cm) wide and the length when sold by the yard is 36 inches (91 cm). More than one yard will be sold as a continuous piece up to 6 yards. 12 yards will be sold as two 6 yard bolts etc. When placing your order, remember to add one yard to your cart first, and then on the next page you can add the total number of yards that you would like! Have a lovely week. 🧡✂️🎉