It’s an ongoing discovery. Finding the weavers who work with natural dyes. They live and work in humble homes or grander casas, on back alleys, dirt streets, cobbled avenues, main highways, hillsides and flat-lands. Their studios are filled with the aroma and sights of natural materials — stinky indigo dye vats, wood burning fires, prickly pear nopal cactus studded with insects that yield intense red.
All photos © Norma Schafer, Oaxaca Cultural Navigator LLC
In this photo, above left, dyer/weaver Juana prepares ground cochineal on the traditional metate, grinding the dried insect by hand until it is a fine powder, ready to make a dye bath for wool that will be used for rugs. Above right, tree moss waits for the dye pot.
That’s why I’ve organized one-day natural dye textile study tours to explore this artisanal process.
Above left, ikat rebozo with natural dyes of wild marigold, cochineal and indigo from San Pablo Villa de Mitla. Right, wool on the loom.
Cleaning a rug woven with naturally dyed wool
You know how committed I am to the artisans who work with natural dyes. It is a laborious and vertical process — winding the yarn, preparing the dye baths, dyeing the yarn, then weaving it. To create textiles using natural dyes takes time and is a many-step process. I believe the people who work this way deserve special attention and support.
Nopal Cactus and Indigo, copyright 2016 Norma Schafer, Oaxaca Cultural Navigator
They start with the natural wool that comes from the mountains surrounding the Oaxaca valley. The best wool is hand-spun for strength and has no additives, like nylon or polyester, to lower cost.
Then, indigo and cochineal is bought from local Oaxaca sources. Both are expensive, now about 1,800 MXN pesos per kilo. Synthetic dyes are a fraction of this cost and only requires one-step to produce colored yarn.
Other dye sources are wild marigold, pecan leaves and shells, pomegranate fruit, tree moss, eucalyptus bark, black zapote fruit and much more. The wool needs to be washed of lanolin and mordanted to absorb and fix the natural dye so it will not fade. To get a full range of color, local weavers and dyers use over dyes, too.
When the yarns are colored they are then ready to weave. Depending on size and material density, a piece can take from one week to several months.
It takes a special person who understands quality of materials and finished product to work this way. The process is organic, sustainable and environmentally sound.
Mazahua Textile Artisan Added to Tenancingo Rebozo Study Tour
We are adding a nice detail to the already textile extensive — and intensive — Mexico Textiles and Folk Art Study Tour: Tenancingo Rebozos and More!
Mazahua embroidered bodice with fine detail of animal figures
We have invited two indigenous Mexican artisans, one is Nahuatl who lives on the volcano side of Orizaba and the other is Mazahua from Estado de Mexico (State of Mexico) to come to our hotel for a needlework demonstration and sale. Their work is among the finest of this type in the region.
Fine cross-stitch needlework, called punto de cruz, examples of Mazahua work
Cross-stitch embroidery embellishes small cotton handbags, called bolsas
The study tour meets in Mexico City on February 2. We travel for a week together and return to Mexico City on February 10. Departure day is February 11.
4 spaces open! Will one be yours?
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Posted in Clothing Design, Cultural Commentary, Folk Art, Travel & Tourism, Workshops and Retreats
Tagged cross-stitch, learn, Mazahua, Mexico, Nahuatl, needlework, State of Mexico, study tour, Tenancingo, textiles, travel