After seeing photos of sambaza kitenge, I went on a fabric shopping spree, dreaming of making a fish-themed quilt.

While I didn’t end up finding the specific print, I learned a lot about buying kitenge in Kigali.

There are two main destinations for buying kitenge: Kimironko Market and Kigali Fabric Market.

Kimironko Market is more of a traditional market, selling everything from household goods to fruits and vegetables. There’s a a group of fabric stalls where vendors hanging their wares on wooden beams. Tailors surround the stalls, ready to turn your purchases into outfits.

Kigali Fabric Market is a much smaller market located inside a small building next to the Kigali City Market mall. The selection is significantly better. Kitenge of all designs are piles into tall stacks for your sifting pleasure.

If you’re traveling by car, you’ll need to help direct your driver to Kigali Fabric Market. It’s a less known destination. The best landmark is the Kigali City Market mall next door. Since Google Maps doesn’t have great photos of the entrance, here’s a blog post to help you locate it.

Prices at both locations depend on our negotiation skills. They can be as low as 5000 RWF for a 6-yard bundle. I wasn’t as skilled and purchased fabrics at 15000 RWF.

Overall, I prefer Kigali Fabric Market because of its large variety of kitenge. It’s a sewing paradise.

I started quilting in January. Here’s my first quilt made from some kitenge fabric from Nairobi.

Kitenge is very nice to sew with. It’s stiffer than quilting cotton but frays less and is wonderfully colorful on both sides.

Looking forward to making more quilts 🙂

Here’s a set that reminds me of sugary treats

Here are the steps I use to cast a fish keycap. If you’re completely new, see the Z-Butt wiki and my older blog post.

First I cast a bottom piece. Thanks to the Z-Butt community, I learned to get the petri effect, you need to wait for about 1-2 hours before adding in alcohol ink to the resin. Here I waited for 1.5 hours.

After the bottom piece is cured, I add a polymer clay fish. I use acrylic paint to add details and dab a dollop of resin to secure the fish to the base. When everything looks dry, I invert it to cast the top piece.

That’s it!

I did it! I made a keycap with a fish with a water effect!

I’m gonna practice sculpting better fish but I’m loving the look.

After a lot of practice, I cast some better lakes and better fish. I’m using a pearlescent acrylic paint on the fish body to give it a silvery glow.

My next challenge is to create fish keycaps with bases with petri effects to look more like water. I’m aiming to replicate jellykey’s Zen Pond effect.