lishing the necessary funds tosend young boys and girls fromBoghé to private school.

“Petel means ‘little spark’ inFulani, my country’s lan-guage,” says Ibrahima. “It’s aword that is usedwhen youwant to restore hope, in a per-son or in a project. It’s a wordthat conveys a blessing, whichis what wewanted to dowithour idea.”

The couple’s planwas toestablish a partnership be-tween artisans inWest Africaand San Francisco. So theyasked Ibrahima’smother, Aïs-

In the 650-square-foot SanFrancisco apartment of Julieand IbrahimaWagne, brightprisms of light pierce the frontbaywindow and illuminate thesmall living area, where stacksof African textiles sit on top of amidcentury Danish console.

Julie reaches for a blanketand unfolds it, revealing brightorange stripes, the color of aclementine. “Feel this cotton,”she says, holding out the fabric.“It’s cold to the touch. That’show you know it’s hand-spun.It doesn’t get any softer thanthis.”

For Julie, the blanket carriesasmuch sentiment as it doesbeauty. A gift of hermother-in-law, who lives inMauritania—theWest African countrywhere Julie served in the PeaceCorps almost 16 years ago andmet Ibrahima— it was her firstintroduction to anAfrican artform that inspired the couple’sbusiness, Petel.

“She gave this tomewhenwe got engaged, a symbol thatshe approved of ourmarriage,”says Julie, wrapping the blan-ket around herwaist to demon-strate howAfricanwomenwear them. “These blankets area language inmy husband’sculture. They take amonth toweave and are considered trea-sures. Thewomenwear themon their wedding day, carrytheir babies in them, and passthem from one generation tothe next.”

Sadly, the craft of handweav-ing isn’t expected to last inBoghé, the village on the Sene-gal River where Ibrahima grewupwatchingmen hand-spincotton.

“This has always been an artform for themen, but themas-ter weavers were no longerteaching their sons,” says Julie.“It was too laborious.My hus-band and Iwanted to do some-thing tomake a difference intheseweavers’ lives, to sustainthem and give them a reason tokeep their art form alive.”

So in 2012, the couple startedPetel in their living room,withthe hope of creating pillows,totes and table runners out ofthe exquisite textiles ofMauri-tania, directingmost of theproceeds back to themakers,exceeding fair wages and estab-

sata, to hunt for vintage fabrics,and they galvanized local weav-ers to create new blankets thatwould be sent halfway acrosstheworld to San Francisco.

Julie enlisted friendswhoknew how to sew and, with acommunal effort, theWagnescreated Petel’s first line of prod-ucts.

“Wemade asmuch aswecould out of all the fabrics wehad,” says Julie. “And slowlybut surely, we grew byword ofmouth, becausewe didn’t everwant to sell to anybodywithoutactually telling the story of thetextiles,” she says.

Their first buyers were theirneighbors, Stuart Brioza andNicole Krasinski, whowerejust about to open State BirdProvisions in San Francisco.

“Theywanted our tablerunners, andwewere sothrilled,” recalls Julie. “Fromthere, we slowly enteredmar-kets that seemed right, like thede YoungMuseumStore, Lav-ish, Birch, SummerHome and

African textiles bringwarmth & history

Photos by Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle

Petel founders Julie Wagne and husband Ibrahima Wagne, top,at their S.F. home. Above: Petel pillows and a throw.

By Paige Porter Fischer

RemodelistaMarketMeet Julie and IbrahimaWagne of Petel and learnmore about their artisans atthe Remodelista Market, 10a.m.-5 p.m. Dec. 13 at HeathCeramics, 2900 18th St.,San Francisco. www.sfmar-ket.remodelista.com.www.peteldesign.com

HOME TRENDS

K12 | Sunday, November 15, 2015 | SFChronicle.com

November 16th

We’re moving!

1953 is when we started our business inSan Carlos. After 45 years in Redwood City,we are moving back home to San Carlos.

VISIT OUR NEW LOCATION >

345 Shoreway Road, San Carlos, CA 94070lyngsogarden.com

YOU CAN’T REGIFT FAMILY

“YOURNEWFAVORITE HOLIDAY

FILM IS HERE.”Mark S.Allen, KMAX-TV, SACRAMENTO

“THE PERFECT GIFTFOR THE

ENTIRE FAMILY.”Pete Hammond, DEADLINE

NOW PLAYING AT A THEATER NEAR YOUCheck Local Listings For Theater Locations and Showtimes

EZ PAY

Simplify

paying your

Chronicle bill

by signing up

for EZ Pay,

our

automatic

payment

system.

MYACCOUNT.SFCHRONICLE.COM