African fabric

One of the joys of living in Africa is African fabric.  I have friends with bins full of fabric waiting to be sewn into something.  When you see a print you love it's hard to leave the shop without buying it.  Some prints are easy to find everywhere, but other seem to be one of a kind.  I've seen fabric I really liked and thought about buying but decided not to only to regret it later because I never found that print again.  Going into a fabric shop is a feast for the eyes and an exercise for the imagination.  What would these colors and this design look like on me as a shirt and skirt?  Or maybe it would make the cutest curtains or table cloth?

 The colors and patterns are interesting and often beautiful to look at, but I must admit that occasionally I'll see a fabric and think, "What in the world?!"  Here is a case in point:

It's like roller skates meets pizza cutters.  Very strange.  I don't think I want to wear this fabric!

But here is my latest outfit.  I found the cloth in a shop and I hadn't see the print before.  For whatever reason I just had to have the lantern fabric!  I took it to my tailor with a drawn picture of what sort of skirt and top I wanted.  He sent me next door to choose a matching piece of velvet to use for the trim. I was measured and I gave a down payment for the work.  About a week later I went back to the tailor shop and ta-da! here is what I got.  It fits well and I'm happy to wear my new lantern clothes.