We haven’t had any snow in Northern New Mexico since I arrived on November 19. It’s been sunny and unseasonably warm, with temperatures rising to the low 50’s. Great walking weather. At night, it dips down to the 30’s, just perfect for sleeping. I’m returning to Oaxaca on December 30, in time for our January 2, 2025, Women’s Creative Writing Workshop Retreat (we can accommodate one more person, if you are a last-minute decider!). My plan is to return to NM in early April to do my taxes and then go back until July. This is driven by (primarily) politics and climate. Since I’ve removed myself from WAPO and NYT alerts, and selectively reading Bulwark commentators, I’ve been feeling very calm. Mostly, I’m in a self-imposed news black hole. I know I have my head in the sand and one of these days, I’ll take it out and re-emerge into the world of fighting for justice, equality, and women’s health. For now, I’m content to look west out my kitchen window at the Rio Grande Gorge and east out my living room window at Taos Mountain, just barely snow-capped.
When I got to Taos I realized how many Oaxaca and Chiapas clothes were in my collection, most that I haven’t worn! I purchased them for their beauty, intricacy of weaving techniques, fine embroidery, and use of natural dyes. I have been fortunate to have met most of the people who made these garments. They live in remote villages and their families depend on the women for extra income that pays for health care, education, and food. One of my motivators, always, has been (and continues to be) to support indigenous makers throughout Mexico who are working to preserve traditional hand work.
This week, I’ll be offering a select part of my collection for sale. Scroll down. There are 17 pieces, priced at or below cost. More to come later this week. Keep your eyes open!
How to Buy: Send me an email to tell me which item(s) you want BY NUMBER and by name of item. Send me your name, mailing address, email address, and phone number. Tell me if you want to purchase using a Zelle transfer or a credit card. If you use a credit card, we add a 4% service fee. There is no extra fee for using Zelle. If you want Zelle, please tell me how your Zelle account is registered. For mailing, I will add a $14 packing and mailing charge. I am NOT putting these items for sale in the SHOP — only here!
Please purchase before December 18, 2024, when I’ll be preparing for the winter holidays and returning to Oaxaca for several months.
Thank you!
#1. From the Purepecha village of Ahuiran in Michoacan, Mexico, this amazing backstrap loomed poncho is embellished with dyed turkey feathers and fringes. It is made by Albertine Bautista Caballero, as talented as her more famous (now deceased) sister Cecelia Bautista Caballero, who created this pre-Hispanic method of individually tying the feathers individually into the warp threads. Measures 30″ wide x 30″ long. Sides are open. I could say, one size fits most! Just slip it over your head. Great holiday dressing. $395
SOLD. #2. A ruana is a pre-Hispanic garment that is similar to a poncho, but the front is open and the back is closed. This 100% hand-woven ruana features two 17″ wide panels in the front, and the back measures 34″ across. Length is 36″ front and back. The sides are open. The front panels can hang loose or you can drape one or both across your shoulders. This piece is from San Andres Larrainzar, Chiapas, from a cooperative that does very fine work. $225
#3. In Chenalho, Chiapas, this intricate embroidery is called dog paw. I’ve watched women do this during our visits to a cooperative on the outskirts of the village. It takes more time than you can imagine. The inset bits of color create a stained glass effect in this textile. The embroidery is on striped commercial fabric that is a combo of cotton and polyester. This is exactly what women in the village wear. They do not make anything differently for the tourist market, as many villages do. Measures 28″ wide x 22″ long. $195
#4. Hand embroidered and back-strap loom woven blusa from the village of Jamiltapec on the Oaxaca Coast. The fabric is embellished with figures woven into the cloth. The bodice is decorated with embroidery designs specific to this area. Measures 24″ wide x 23″ long. $65
#5. The cross-stitched bodice and sleeves set off this stunning blouse from Michoacan. 100% cotton. This textile is top-quality with dense and detailed hand-work. Measure 22″ wide x 27″ long. $145
#6. This amazing and colorful (tangerine and pink) huipil is woven on the backstrap loom in San Juan Colorado on the Oaxaca Coast. We know about a designer who has replicated similar, calls it a kaftan and sells it online for over $750 USD. This is a fun dress to wear in summer; perfect for winter with a white heat-tech long sleeve T-shirt for extra warmth. Measures 23″ wide x 40″ long. $285
#7. Jewel tones define this blusa embroidered in the Oaxaca Isthmus in the village San Juan Guichicovi. Yes, it’s embroidered by machine, but this is different. Each seamstress embroiderer guides the needle by hand. It’s a free-form process that we consider made by hand. Measures 19-1/2″ wide x 23-1/2″ long. $145
#8 is from one of the finest weaving villages in Oaxaca, Pinotepa de Don Luis, high in the mountains above the coast. This is a six-weft piece joined with a very intricate stitch called randa. All the figures are woven into the cloth — called supplementary weft. Woven by Monica, the daughter-in-law of the purple snail dyer Don Habacuc. Measure 26″ wide x 37″ long. $385
#9. There are extraordinary embroiderers in villages all along the Oaxaca coast. A traditional motif is the double-headed eagle, replicated here in the center. They are flanked by two roosters. This is all hand-work. The red ribbon adds pizzazz. Base fabric is excellent quality commercial manta cotton. Measures 22″ wide x 38″ long. $65.
SOLD. #10. A graphic beauty, this all-cotton blouse is woven on the back-strap loom in San Andres Larrainzar, Chiapas, from a cooperative we have been visiting for several years. Measures 23-1/4″ wide x 27″ long. $85
SOLD. #11. Khadi Oaxaca is an innovator in Oaxaca clothing design. They use the chakra (India’s spinning wheel) to process native white and coyuchi (brown) cotton into thread for weaving. This piece combines a warp of white thread with coyuchi cotton weft. The texture and softness is amazing. Measures 26″ wide x 34″ long. $195
#12. Embroidered whimsy from the Oaxaca coast. Look at the amazing detail on the collar with all the sea and land creatures from the neighborhood. On very good quality white manta cotton. Note the ribbon embellishments. 23″ wide x 24″ long. $125
#13. Ditto from #12. A different colorway in sunshine yellow with a square collar. Measures 24″ wide x 25″ long. $125
#13. This dress is hand-woven on the back strap loom in Zinacantan, Chiapas. It is an open weave which adds interest and texture. Here, you have two dresses in one. It’s reversible! Cotton. Suggest machine wash on cold separately or in a mesh laundry bag. 23-1/2×38. $125
SOLD 14. The Rina Dress. Rina is a weaver, dyer and designer. She is part of the Arte y Seda weaving family in Teotitlan del Valle. She designed, dyed (with wild marigold), and sewed this beautiful dress with hand-made shell button. The waist is 32” in circumference. The bodice is 22″ wide and 46” long. $165
#15. Fuschine dyed shawl, handwoven on the back strap loom in Santiago Ixtlayutla, near Pinotepa de Don Luis on the Oaxaca coast. Fuschine is not a natural dye but coveted by locals for its purple color. The designs in the cloth are woven with silk. This protein fiber absorbs the dye. The fabric is then carefully folded while wet so that the color intentionally bleeds mimicking the design on the cloth. Measures 24″ wide x 82″ long. $195
#16. Fuschine dye huipil, with stunning patterning woven into the cloth. Note the simple and beautifully executed randa (joining stitch). See #15 more more detailed description of the dye process. Measures 31″ wide x 48″ long. $495.
SOLD. #17. It’s rare to find this hand-woven textile from the Oaxaca coast. It is no longer being woven in its village of origin. We found this in a trunk on our last visit to Pinotepa Nacional — in perfect condition. A true collector’s piece and definitely wearable. Measures 40″ wide x 38″ long. $245
Inside Out: Primer to Buying Mexico Handmade Clothing — Quality Tips
On Friday, I took a 40-minute trip with my friend Laurita to Magdalena Teitepac in the foothills on the other side of the Carretera Nacional Mexico 190 (aka Panamerican Highway) for the purposes of textile shopping, always my favorite past-time.
Magdalena Teitipac church next to the municipal building
The Zapotec village is beyond San Juan Guelavia, the basket-making village. A group of entrepreneurial Magdalena women who do needlework staged this First Annual Embroidery and Weaving Fair, promoted with a banner hanging from the highway overpass. Laurita spotted it coming home one day.
Can you tell if this beautiful embroidery is hand- or machine-stitched?
Spaces Open: Chiapas Textile Study Tour
The visit got me thinking about quality variations in clothing that is sewn, embroidered, woven and crocheted here in Oaxaca and throughout Mexico.
Some of the women showing us their needlework blouses.
We are coming into Oaxaca’s peak tourist season when travelers come from all over the world, and many snowbirds plant their wings here from December through March.
Great cut-work and embroidery with unfinished seams
It is particularly challenging for first-time visitors who are blown away by the quantity of blouses, huipils, rebozos and other garments sold by street vendors, in small markets, and in tourist shops throughout the city.
Beaded blouses finished with French seams on 100% cotton, the best
How do you know what to buy and how much to pay for it?
Tip #1: Shop around. Look before buying. Look at lot. Go in and out of stores. Stop and look at the clothing the vendors have for sale. Ask prices. See what you like. Take your time.
Tip #2: Turn the garment inside out. Look at the seam edges of the cloth. Are they finished with a machined zigzag stitch or serger for reinforcement? Has the cloth edge been trimmed with a pinking shears? It is rough and will it unravel after a few washings? How strong are the stitches?
Softest, finest manta cloth, great embroidery, dense pleating
Tip #3: Check out the fabric. Is it populina? This is what locals call the commercial cloth mix of cotton/polyester blend. Locals like this cloth because it dries much faster than pure cotton. It is also less expensive. Is it manta? This is 100% cotton cloth, more expensive, and preferred by many of us for softness, wearability and comfort.
Populina has a sheen. You can feel the polyester.
Tip #4: Check out the cloth again. If it’s manta, is it a fine, lighter weight weave or it is coarse and scratchy? Is it yellow color or white? What are your preferences?
#whomademyclothes .... is a Fashion Revolution movement dedicated to sourcing textiles direct from makers, awareness for buying disposable clothing made from cheap materials, assembled by underpaid workers.
Tip #5: If the clothing is embroidered, how fine is the embroidery? Is it by hand or machined? Are the stitches dense or loose? What about the crochet edge? Is it tied off or are there loose threads? Is it shiny, synthetic thread, dense/coarse polyester thread or good quality cotton?
Amazing pleated work from the Mixteca, with coarse embroidery yarn
Tip #6: Shop first in some of the better clothing galleries like Los Baules de Juana Cata or Arte de Amusgos to compare what you see on the street. See what the best looks like. Turn these inside out. Look at the finish work. Are the edges straight? What about the stitches that join two lengths of hand-woven cloth together? How is the neckline finished? What about the hem?
Want to buy direct from artisans? Take a study tour!
Tip #7: Price is usually based on quality, but not always. I recently bought a beautiful deshillado and embroidered blusa in San Antonino Castillo Velasco. I paid 2,500 pesos, quite a lot! The embroidery is exquisite and the crochet edges are fine. The seams are not finished well and I may need to take it under the needle of my sewing machine to reinforce it. But, I knew that when I bought it.
Locals gather for the Magdalena Teitipac Feria
What are you willing to pay? What is it worth to you? Is there a whimsical design you like and you are willing to sacrifice some of the quality issues?
Tip #8: Don’t hesitate to walk away because you notice stains on the cloth, raveling threads or holes in the seams. Work is done quickly and quality can suffer.
I’ve seen excellent work done on very poor cloth. I’ve seen embroidered, beaded and woven pieces made by one women that are attached to cloth that doesn’t match. Needlework and sewing can often be made by two different people. The sewing can be haphazard. The corners don’t match up and the joining work isn’t good. It is up to us to educate ourselves and to also say in a gracious, caring way, that we would like a better quality product.
We can support artisans and cooperatives who take the time to work on quality improvement.
Banner advertising the event
Tip #9: When is a bargain not a bargain? When the color bleeds. When the seams unravel. When the embroidery stitching loosens. When you get it home and ask, Why did I buy that?
Tip #10: Please know that because you are in Mexico, YOU ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BARGAIN. It is not a culture of bargaining, much to the surprise of many. The average daily wage is 150 pesos, or about $8 USD. We have a big advantage. The exchange rate is about 18-19 pesos to the U.S. dollar. It takes weeks, sometimes months, to create a handmade textile. Let’s pay people a fair wage for their labor and creativity. They will offer a discount because they need to feed their families, not because it is part of the “game.”
On the street, Magdalena Teitipac
Did I buy anything in Magdalena Teitipac? Yes, a lovely, beribboned apron for 100 pesos and some amazing artisan chocolate from Tlacolula, 20 pesos a bag.
Why didn’t I buy a blusa? Because indigenous women here in Oaxaca like their blouses tight across the chest and snug under the arms. Sizes are deceiving and it’s best to try something on first, otherwise you can get it home and find out it doesn’t fit. Nothing fit me!
Basket weavers outside the Magdalena Teitipac market
Cooperatives working with NGOs on product improvement are receiving education about quality control, making finished seams,and patterns to fit women from the U.S.A. and Canada.
If you have any tips you’d like to share, please add them.
Of course, the final caveat is always — if you love it, buy it. You’ll never see the same thing again!
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Posted in Clothing Design, Cultural Commentary, Travel & Tourism
Tagged buy, Embroidery, Mexico, Oaxaca, price, quality, shop, textiles, tips, value