Category Archives: Textiles, Tapestries & Weaving

Scott Roth on Rug Weaving Art History in Oaxaca, Mexico–Part 1

Scott Roth and I have been friends for about 15 years. I met him a few years after I first arrived in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, in 2005. Scott is a legend. He is one of the early adventurers who identified the weaving talent in the village, and intuited that blankets and rugs could be repurposed into beautiful floor rugs with just a few modifications. He began working with a few weavers on designs and dyes for export to the USA to meet the nascent interest in what became known as Southwest Style. I want to tell his story, because it is an important part of the history of what Oaxaca is today. I’ll be publishing his writing in segments along with his photos.

1970’s Transition from Wearable Serapes to Floor Rugs

These are Scott’s words!

I first visited the village in January 1974, and returned in August and November that year to continue investing in their two-piece blankets (serapes) and wall hangings. At the time, there was only one man, Ismael Gutierrez, making textiles we would consider rugs today, with the tightness of weave that we find suitable for heavy foot traffic.

Above: Blanket, Scott Roth Collection, era 1974

The big surge of popularity of these weavings was just around the bend, when the Southwest design trend came on strong in 1980. In 1974, there were only two other Americans regularly coming to Teotitlan as exporters, but shortly thereafter ten fellow hippy boomers discovered the village, and found a way, like myself, to fund a romantically adventurous lifestyle.

Above Left: Flor de Oaxaca. Above Right: Escher tapestry

As is now in Teotitlan del Valle, most households strived to become financially independent, creating for the marketplace a unique wool textile through design, size, function and color palette. There was a wide range of images displayed by Teotitecos at the weekly Sunday Tlacolula Market, and also at Saturday’s market in Oaxaca city, which was a block from the Zocalo, on the streets facing the Benito Juarez Market.

Above: Aztec Calendar, 1930’s

In 1974, some of the prominent themes depicted in the tapestry weaving were based on the 1910-1920 Mexican Revolution, during which time greater civil rights and land reforms uplifted indigenous groups. These themes included figures from pre-Hispanic carvings of anthropomorphic gods and the very popular rendering of the stone-carved Aztec Calendar. These themes originated in the 1930’s and remained well into the 1970’s. Weavers of this era learned from their grandfathers who were the serape makers during the mid-1800’s when colonial period Saltillo-style serapes were in vogue throughout Mexico. A pattern from that pre-Revolution era, named Flor de Oaxaca, was the singular most popular design for the 5′ x 6-1/2′ two-piece serapes in 1975. It was a simplified version which fit in with mid-century modernist aesthetic.

Above: Saltillo-style serape, Flor de Oaxaca design, Teotitlan del Valle

Early 20th century European modern art readily translated to tapestries, with many interpretations  of Miro, Picasso, M.C. Escher, and Matisse found alongside pre-Columbian figures.  Isaac Vasquez (who died in 2022) told me how he wove commissioned tapestries for Rufino Tamayo, at the time Mexico’s most famous living artist. In the early sixties, Tamayo brought along his good friend from Paris, Pablo Picasso.  Picasso drew for Isaac a simple design of fish stacked in opposing directions like canned sardines.   The design,  Pescados Modernas, became one of the village’s most enduring best sellers.  

Above: Picasso’s fish interpreted for Teotitlan del Valle tapestries

Above: Matisse tapestry, Teotitlan del Valle, 1970’s

Pre-Hispanic figures from two books by Mexican anthropologist/designer Jorge Enciso, called escaletos, were the subject of favored small wall hangings, in black and white wool. If you know the 1980’s New York City pop artist Keith Haring, you know the power of tightly balanced positive and negative figurative work. I suspect Haring was influenced by the pre-Hispanic figures in Teotitlán’s Escaleto tapestries.    

Above: Jose Enciso designs replicated in Teotitlan weaving

There was a remarkable contrast between the bare minimum of material goods in any household and the highly spirited social exchanges one observed on the street. Everyone slept on the dirt floor of their one-room adobe house, unrolling a petate every night.  There was only one car in town, no running water or plumbing, no paved streets, most women over age 50 went barefoot, and people over 40 had a very limited grasp of Spanish.  Electricity had arrived in 1965,  but was used minimally.  I enjoyed visiting two households in which one weaver would, unaccompanied, sing songs for hours while he and other family members continued working on their looms.  A lively and cheery work environment!  A few years later the Teotitecos could afford cassette stereos, and this tradition of singing disappeared.  

Above: 1950’s-60’s Modernist home with Flor de Oaxaca rug on the floor

The next post will cover the decade of the 1980’s, when everything changed materially.   In retrospect, I observed in the 1970’s that much of the Zapotec lifestyle here had been as it was through the colonial period.  A good, but hard to find, anthropological study of the value system of the Oaxaca Valley Zapotecs was published in the late sixties titled Zapotec Deviance.  It contains insights as to what has helped maintain their cultural identity and sustainability this last half century.   

Here is a video interview with Scott you may enjoy!

Norma’s Note: I’ve lightly edited Scott’s narrative and photos, and inserted a few more details, like the recent death of Isaac Vasquez, innovative master weaver. Also of note, the colorful rugs shown here were made with churro sheep wool and chemical (synthetic) dyes, popular at the time, because they were cheap and easy to use. Before the industrial revolution in the mid-1800’s, serapes here were either made from the natural sheep wool (blacks, grays, beige, white, brown) or with natural dyes from local plant sources (cochineal, indigo, wild marigold, tree bark).

Above: This is master weaver Adrian Montaño from Teotitlan del Valle. He wove a vintage Covarrubias design in the 1960’s that I purchased in 2020. It hangs in my Teotitlan del Valle casita. Other examples from that era are included, and woven by him. The last photos is a traditional design created by Eric Chavez Santiago’s great grandfather Venustiano, popularized throughout the village. All in natural sheep wool.

On the Oaxaca Coast, It’s About the Cloth, Not the Cut

On the Oaxaca Coast, it’s about the cloth, not the cut. Why? Because lengths of cloth meticulously woven on the back strap loom are never cut. They are squares and rectangles that are joined together at right angles to create a garment. The garment construction never has darts, either. Nor is it form-fitting. Plus, the finish work is all done by hand. Women who weave on the Oaxaca coast and elsewhere in Mexico believe the cloth is a reflection of their souls and has spiritual, mystical symbolism. A cut in the cloth is a travesty that would never be acceptable. In thinking about this, I recall it’s been about fifty years since I’ve seen a self-made button hole on any garment in the USA. I learned to make these in junior high school home economics, but it seems the skill may be lacking now or that fast fashion prevents this attention to detail. I don’t attend the Paris Couture shows, so don’t know if a multi-thousand dollar jacket even has button holes or how they are made!

Years back, for her thesis, the Mexico City designer Carla Fernandez wrote a book, now out of print, Taller Flora, in 2006. If you can find a used copy somewhere and you are interested in indigenous clothing construction and design, you might try to find this online, though the price will be hefty!

So, to go with us on the Oaxaca Coast Textile Study Tour is to go deeply into indigenous weaving and natural dyeing culture that includes how ancient garments, still made and used today, are made. I’m writing this because in Western fashion, we are so concerned with fit and the shape of our form. If something doesn’t fit right, we are inclined to be self-critical about our body shape rather than the inherent beauty of how it is made. Here, we can focus on the quality of the weaving, the meaningful designs incorporated in the cloth using a weaving technique call embordado or supplementary weft, and the drape of the cloth, rather than if it hugs our body (for good or bad!). This clothing frees us to focus on something else rather than body image.

Often, when people first look at a handwoven textile, they think the design embedded in the cloth is embroidered, a surface design technique of stitching on a piece of plain weave. Not so here! Cloth is woven on a loom that is warped with thread. Then, the weft, or horizontal threads are added row by row. This is a long process and it can take several months to make two, four or six wefts or lengths of cloth to construct a huipil, depending on the desired width of the finished piece. The designs integrated into the cloth are part of the weaving process. Individual threads are added, again row by row, to form a pattern that women keep in their heads. I think it is part of their DNA, something learned from mothers and grandmothers and great grandmothers. The cloth is their heritage.

2024 Oaxaca Coast Textile Study Tour coming soon! Get on the list. Send an email.

Almost all these garments are cotton, though some can be made with wool. The Spaniards brought sheep to the Americas and native peoples loved the warmth the cloth provided. Before that, everything here was pre-Hispanic native cotton, which we find cultivated and used in villages along the Oaxaca coast foothills. Becoming more rare now is the coyuchi (native brown cotton the color of a coyote), green cotton (pale mint or military green), and creamy white cotton.

All of these must be grown, harvested, picked clean of seeds, beaten to separate and soften the fibers, hand-spun using the malacate (drop spindle), formed into balls, wrapped onto spindles, and then woven into cloth. Even before the weaving begins, this is a labor-intensive process. Often, the white cotton is dyed with natural materials: wild marigold, indigo, cochineal, tree bark, squash pulp, caracol purpura purple snails, leaves and seeds of various fruits and vegetables. The dye materials need to be collected and prepared in dye vats. It is alchemy and chemistry. Then, according to the choice of each artisan, the threads are dyed before weaving or the garment is dyed after it is completed.

As we plan for our 2024 Oaxaca Coast Textile Study Tour, I write this to give you a sense of the importance of keeping this weaving culture viable. Very few indigenous women, except those in remote communities, continue to wear their distinctive clothing on a daily basis, instead saving them for fiestas and other special occasions. The garment they wove for their wedding will go to the grave with them. This is the reason very few vintage garments exist.

Appreciators and collectors of handmade textiles are doing much to revive interest and support the economy that gives women an opportunity to monetize their skills, encouraging them to continue the traditions. Most often, it is the women who are able to earn a cash income to supplement the work the men do as subsistence farmers. The men all grow the same food — corn, beans and squash — so there is no selling opportunity unless they take their produce to a regional market. It is the women who pay for the education and health care of their children, grandchildren, and aging parents. There is no social security in Mexico. Each family is responsible for taking care of their own.

We wrote a blog earlier this week about being a Oaxaca Fiberista. You might want to look at this for examples of garments, too.

Oaxaca Cultural Navigator : Experience Connection

Oaxaca Cultural Navigator : Experience Connection

What is a Oaxaca Fiberista?

My friend Carol Egan from Savannah who has wintered in Oaxaca for almost 20 years uses the term Fiberista to describe those of us who love and wear (and who demonstrate cultural appreciation for) clothing made on the back-strap loom by the very talented indigenous weavers of Oaxaca. Carol is a graduate of RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) and she has an impeccable sense of color and style. Maybe Fiberista is an adaptation of Fashionista, a word that has been part of the Urban Dictionary vocabulary for a while, though likely applied mostly to those who follow haute couture. Fiberistas have an affinity for the handmade textile. We are sewists, knitters, dyers, designers, spinners, embroiderers, crocheters, weavers, photographers, artists, and artisans or we just appreciate the texture of beautiful cloth. We know we have something to learn from indigenous cultures.

Our mantra on the Oaxaca Coast Textile Study Tour is to gain a greater cultural appreciation for the women and men who make garments from scratch — the talented people who grow native Oaxaca green, white and coyuchi (brown) cotton that goes back to before the Spanish Conquest. This is why we visit remote mountain villages — to see the traditional techniques, uncover the designs (or iconography) in the woven patterns that are an integral part of the cloth, and to show our support by being able to purchase directly to put much needed funds into the hands of the makers.

Next Oaxaca Coast Textile Study Tour will be in mid-January 2024. Get on the interested list! Email us!

We don’t believe that we are appropriating another culture by wearing the garments they make. We believe we are supporting and sustaining women and families. Without our admiration and support, their ancient back-strap loom weaving art form will be lost to future generations. Today, not many women in traditional pueblos are wearing traditional traje (costumes). They have adopted Western-style dress, which enables them to fit in and assimilate into the larger, dominant community. This clothing, usually made with synthetic fibers, is easier to wash and dry, too. So, the huipiles we have gone in search of are brought out only for special celebrations. That is why our visits are so important.

It takes an extraordinary amount of labor to make one of these garments. First, the seeds are picked from the cotton bolls, to save for the next planting. Then, the cotton is beaten with sticks after it is laid on a rolled woven straw mat inside of which is stuffed corn stalks and leaves. It is then hand-spun with a malacate or drop spindle. If it is green or coyuchi cotton, both quite rare, it will be woven in its natural state and not dyed. Sometimes, the native white cotton is dyed with natural pigments — indigo, cochineal, wild marigold, or tree bark, for example. Fine commercial threads, purchased from the last cotton mill in the State of Puebla, will also be dyed. Then, it will be the man’s task to warp the back-strap loom. It usually takes a women three to four-months to make a complete full-length huipil, weaving five to six-hours per day. She will tie one end of the loom to a post or a tree, tie the waist harness around her, get on her knees or sit cross-legged, moving her body to create the weaving tension, swaying back and forth in a gentle motion.

We bring eye glasses with us to distribute. If the brocade or supplementary weft of the designs in the woven cloth is intricate, this takes a toll on a weaver’s vision. So many say they now have difficulty seeing. So, it is a blessing to be able to give reading glasses to the many groups in five communities we visit along our route from Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, north to Xochistlahuaca, Guerrero.

Think of fashion as an art form, extolls one source I researched. This is not difficult to do on the coast of Oaxaca, where diversity of weaving techniques, colors and designs tell stories of ancient myths and beliefs. Look at the stars, animals, sun, moon, plants woven into the cloth to learn about how rooted these communities are in the natural world and their social history. We embrace this as the world has become more commercialized, mechanized; as our attention spans have shortened with instant information and gratification, as we cannot leave our smart phones behind for even a minute. However, we are careful not to romanticize. The economic poverty is palpable. The talent is immeasurable.

We go deep into Mixtec, Zapotec, Chatino and Amusgo territory. We hear languages uncommon to our ear. We travel to villages where few who look like us dare to venture. Not because it isn’t safe, but because it takes hours to reach a remote destination. The Spanish friars never penetrated deeply into these mountain towns until the 18th century because they were so inaccessible. We are intrepid travelers who are interested in discovery!

What we find are people who want to educate their children, provide them with good food and health care, access to opportunity, who are not interested in out-migration unless all other options are closed to them. They want the same things that we do for our own families. And, this is what connects us.

Traditional indigenous clothing is not form fitting. It is lengths of squares or rectangles that are sewn together using a needlework joining technique called a randa, that looks a bit like embroidery. This means, the garment is not tight-fitting. It is loose and airy, and will drape beautifully if the woven fabric is lightweight. This is style we come to appreciate since this is a different look than we are used to. Sometimes, the skirt or dress can be tied with a belt. In all instances, the stand-out quality is not so much the structure of the garment but the weaving techniques used to create designs woven as an integral part of the cloth. The more complex and dense the design, the more costly a garment will be. Price is often related to the quality of the materials used — finest cotton and natural dyes are what we are looking for.

The experience broadens our view of how we dress ourselves. We know that the New York and Paris runways are not the only source for beautiful inspiration.

The day before our tour ended, we gathered under the palapa by the upper pool at Hotel Santa Fe, for a show and tell. We each brought three pieces we purchased along the way, and we wore one more. We then talked about the experience of where we got these, who wove them, what dyes were used, and what designs were incorporated into the cloth. It was a way to review our visits and to see others’ choices. Being Oaxaca Fiberistas!

It’s An Indigo World Sale: Shawls, Scarves

Well, mostly indigo, plus some other spectacular natural dyes that are used to color the threads of these twelve (12) beautifully back-strap loom woven scarves and shawls. Here, you will find alder wood bark (palo de aguila), wild marigold (pericone), banana tree bark, purple snail (caracol), coyuchi (native brown cotton), and cochineal (red bug) dyes. These pieces, from my personal collection, are from Michoacan and Oaxaca. All are in pristine condition, most never worn. (Remember, I’m not opening a textile museum!) I’ll explain in more detail with each piece. One size fits all! Perfect for holiday gifting — for her, him, they!

How to Buy: Send an email to norma.schafer@icloud.com and tell me the item(s) you want to purchase by number, your email, your mailing address and which payment method you prefer: 1) Zelle bank transfer with no service fee; 2) Venmo or 3) PayPal each with a 3% service fee. I will send you a request for funds and then add on a flat rate $14 mailing fee. Happy to combine shipping. Thank you. Note: Thank you for understanding that all sales are final. Please measure carefully!

SOLD 1. Indigo shawl embellished with caracol rare purple snail dye from the Oaxaca coast village of Pinotepa de Don Luis, created by the famous Tixinda cooperative led by Don Habacuc. This is an ample shawl that measures 23″ wide x 80″ long. 100% cotton. All natural dyes. $265.

SOLD #2. This was a prize winner at the Dreamweavers January 2021 expoventa in Puerto Escondido. It is a handwoven scarf made on the back strap loom with threads dyed with indigo, coyuchi, caracol purpura, and fuschine. Measures 9-3/4″ wide x 78″ long. 100% cotton. $165.

SOLD #3. Master weaver Roman Gutierrez from Teotitlan del Valle wove and dyed this shibori shawl colored with wild marigold and over-dyed with indigo. It measures 22-1/2″ wide x 76″ long. 100% cotton. $145.

SOLD 4. Another Tixinda cooperative shawl, a real beauty, woven with indigo, caracol, coyuchi and cochineal. Measures 26″ wide x 110″ long. $285.

SOLD 5. From the Mixe Oaxaca mountain village of Santa Maria Tlahuitoltepec, a very fine pedal loomed scarf created by Artefer, dyed with alder wood and banana bark. Measures 12″ wide x 84″ long. Wrap it around the neck twice for super comfort. $125.

#6. In Zinacantan, Chiapas, they create these beautiful hand-woven neck scarves — fold in a triangle and wear like a bandana! The pompoms serve as ties! Red, black, and peach. Great color combo. Not natural dyes. 25″ square. $75.

SOLD #7. This herringbone design from Tlahuitoltepec is made on the pedal loom with cotton threads dyed with indigo. Gorgeous scarf. Measures 12″ wide x 84″ long. $125.

8. Another fine shawl, lightweight and perfect for winter warmth from Tlahuitoltepec. It is woven with a cotton warp and wool weft. The cotton is dyed with banana bark and the wool weft is indigo. Measures 24″ wide x 96″ long. Wrap it around your body or use as a throw! $225.

9. What can I say? We will miss her. Recently deceased Cecelia Bautista Caballero wove this shawl in her village of Ahuiran, Michoacan. She hand tied the knots in the 13″ punta (fringe), too. I bought this from her when I visited her home in 2019. You can have a piece of Mexican weaving culture history with this shawl. Commercial dyes. A masterful textile, rare and beautiful. Measures 32″ wide x 110″ long. $445.

SOLD 10. This textile is a traditional technique from the coastal Oaxaca mountain village of Santiago Ixtlayutla, near Pinotepa de Don Luis, where I purchased it. The dye is fuschine, which some call cochineal, but it isn’t. It is a synthetic dye that adheres to the silk designs woven as supplementary weft into the cotton. The dye brings out the figures of religious symbols and animals typical to the region. The bleeding of the dye is actually what it does and is considered part of the design. Very beautiful and psychedelic! Measures 24″ wide x 88″ long. $295.

11. From my collection, vintage African mud cloth textile dyed with indigo. Good vintage condition. Some wear. Measures 27″ wide x 96″ long. The 12″ fringes are hand-twisted. $95.

SOLD. 12. Patzcuaro flower garden shawl measures 27″ wide x 82″ long. Made on the back-strap loom in Tzintzuntzan, Michoacan, by Teofila Servin Barriga, the most famous weaver-embroiderer on Lake Patzcuaro. The flowers are all embroidered using French knots and other embroidery stitches. It is stunning. Measures 27″ wide x 82″ long. $385.

SOLD.13. This is a masterpiece from Malinalco, Estado de Mexico, where ikat weaving reigns. Camelia Ramos learned rebozo weaving from her father and has passed it on to her children. She is recognized by Fundacion Banamex for her outstanding workmanship. This rebozo, from her studio Xoxopastli, is woven with threads dyed in cochineal and indigo, a rarity for this type of work. The punta or fringe is triangular in the Colonial style preferred by the Spanish women who came to Mexico after the conquest. It takes three months to weave the cloth and another three months to hand-knot the fringes. Measures 31″wide x 100″ long. $425.

Thank you once again for browsing and shopping with me. I very much appreciate your support and your dedication to our Mexican artisans. -Norma

Bonus photo: Tarantula in my backyard. Harmless. Half the size of our Teotitlan arachnids. Furry nevertheless!

It’s An Indigo World Sale: Shawls, Scarves

Well, mostly indigo, plus some other spectacular natural dyes that are used to color the threads of these twelve (12) beautifully back-strap loom woven scarves and shawls. Here, you will find alder wood bark (palo de aguila), wild marigold (pericone), banana tree bark, purple snail (caracol), coyuchi (native brown cotton), and cochineal (red bug) dyes. These pieces, from my personal collection, are from Michoacan and Oaxaca. All are in pristine condition, most never worn. (Remember, I’m not opening a textile museum!) I’ll explain in more detail with each piece. One size fits all! Perfect for holiday gifting — for her, him, they!

How to Buy: Send an email to norma.schafer@icloud.com and tell me the item(s) you want to purchase by number, your email, your mailing address and which payment method you prefer: 1) Zelle bank transfer with no service fee; 2) Venmo or 3) PayPal each with a 3% service fee. I will send you a request for funds and then add on a flat rate $14 mailing fee. Happy to combine shipping. Thank you. Note: Thank you for understanding that all sales are final. Please measure carefully!

#1. Indigo shawl embellished with caracol rare purple snail dye from the Oaxaca coast village of Pinotepa de Don Luis, created by the famous Tixinda cooperative led by Don Habacuc. This is an ample shawl that measures 23″ wide x 80″ long. 100% cotton. All natural dyes. $265.

#2. This was a prize winner at the Dreamweavers January 2021 expoventa in Puerto Escondido. It is a handwoven scarf made on the back strap loom with threads dyed with indigo, coyuchi, caracol purpura, and fuschine. Measures 9-3/4″ wide x 78″ long. 100% cotton. $165.

#3. Master weaver Roman Gutierrez from Teotitlan del Valle wove and dyed this shibori shawl colored with wild marigold and over-dyed with indigo. It measures 22-1/2″ wide x 76″ long. 100% cotton. $145.

#4. Another Tixinda cooperative shawl, a real beauty, woven with indigo, caracol, coyuchi and cochineal. Measures 26″ wide x 110″ long. $285.

#5. From the Mixe Oaxaca mountain village of Santa Maria Tlahuitoltepec, a very fine pedal loomed scarf created by Artefer, dyed with alder wood and banana bark. Measures 12″ wide x 84″ long. Wrap it around the neck twice for super comfort. $125.

#6. In Zinacantan, Chiapas, they create these beautiful hand-woven neck scarves — fold in a triangle and wear like a bandana! The pompoms serve as ties! Red, black, and peach. Great color combo. Not natural dyes. 25″ square. $75.

#7. This herringbone design from Tlahuitoltepec is made on the pedal loom with cotton threads dyed with indigo. Gorgeous scarf. Measures 12″ wide x 84″ long. $125.

8. Another fine shawl, lightweight and perfect for winter warmth from Tlahuitoltepec. It is woven with a cotton warp and wool weft. The cotton is dyed with banana bark and the wool weft is indigo. Measures 24″ wide x 96″ long. Wrap it around your body or use as a throw! $225.

9. What can I say? We will miss her. Recently deceased Cecelia Bautista Caballero wove this shawl in her village of Ahuiran, Michoacan. She hand tied the knots in the 13″ punta (fringe), too. I bought this from her when I visited her home in 2019. You can have a piece of Mexican weaving culture history with this shawl. Commercial dyes. A masterful textile, rare and beautiful. Measures 32″ wide x 110″ long. $445.

10. This textile is a traditional technique from the coastal Oaxaca mountain village of Santiago Ixtlayutla, near Pinotepa de Don Luis, where I purchased it. The dye is fuschine, which some call cochineal, but it isn’t. It is a synthetic dye that adheres to the silk designs woven as supplementary weft into the cotton. The dye brings out the figures of religious symbols and animals typical to the region. The bleeding of the dye is actually what it does and is considered part of the design. Very beautiful and psychedelic! Measures 24″ wide x 88″ long. $295.

11. From my collection, vintage African mud cloth textile dyed with indigo. Good vintage condition. Some wear. Measures 27″ wide x 96″ long. The 12″ fringes are hand-twisted. $95.

12. Patzcuaro flower garden shawl measures 27″ wide x 82″ long. Made on the back-strap loom in Tzintzuntzan, Michoacan, by Teofila Servin Barriga, the most famous weaver-embroiderer on Lake Patzcuaro. The flowers are all embroidered using French knots and other embroidery stitches. It is stunning. Measures 27″ wide x 82″ long. $385.

SOLD.13. This is a masterpiece from Malinalco, Estado de Mexico, where ikat weaving reigns. Camelia Ramos learned rebozo weaving from her father and has passed it on to her children. She is recognized by Fundacion Banamex for her outstanding workmanship. This rebozo, from her studio Xoxopastli, is woven with threads dyed in cochineal and indigo, a rarity for this type of work. The punta or fringe is triangular in the Colonial style preferred by the Spanish women who came to Mexico after the conquest. It takes three months to weave the cloth and another three months to hand-knot the fringes. Measures 31″wide x 100″ long. $425.

Thank you once again for browsing and shopping with me. I very much appreciate your support and your dedication to our Mexican artisans. -Norma

Bonus photo: Tarantula in my backyard. Harmless. Half the size of our Teotitlan arachnids. Furry nevertheless!