Pop-Up Sale: Norma’s Collection + Rugs, Teotitlan del Valle
When: Saturday, February 22, 2025 Time: 11:00 am to 3:00 pm Where: Norma’s Casita, Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca RSVP: WhatsApp or text +1 919-274-6194. Send an RSVP and I’ll send directions. Payments: We accept pesos, dollars, Zelle transfers. With PayPal, Venmo, and credit cards we add a 4% transaction fee. Spend $100-299 and we will […]
Sale from Norma’s Taos Collection
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 […]
At Original, Textiles from Chiapas Tell Stories
A group of us spent five days at Original this past week. This is a textile extravaganza in Mexico City that honors indigenous weavers and designers from throughout Mexico. With over 1,000 artisans showing and selling what they make, to say the event was mind-boggling is an understatement. The show also featured pottery, lacquerware, copper, […]
Fireworks Sale: 9 Huipiles from San Juan Colorado, Oaxaca
Happy July 4th everyone! Here in Taos, New Mexico, the town has lifted the fireworks ban and the celebrations are popping with live music everywhere. I hope you are celebrating what it means to live in a democracy and how we can best protect our personal rights that were heretofore guaranteed by the federal government […]
Life Update and All Things Mexico Spring Clearance
Here in Northern New Mexico the winds are gusting. While some of the early spring wildfires are contained, more are igniting, mostly from lightening strikes. Near Georgia O’Keeffe’s home in Abiquiu a new fire erupted in El Rito, a small mountain community about 30 miles from where I live. Scary stuff. Smoke obliterated the mountains […]
San Juan Colorado, Oaxaca, Where Textiles Tell Stories
San Juan Colorado is up the mountain about an hour-and-half from Pinotepa Nacional along the Costa Chica. It’s at the end of the road, so secluded that the Spanish Conquest and proselytizing priests didn’t reach here until much later. It’s why traditional backstrap loom weaving and natural dyeing have survived over the years. Mostly women […]
Collector’s Textile Sale: Preview 3
It’s been 19 months since I’ve been to my home in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca. In the past several years I’ve been walking, and eating for health (gluten and lactose free). Most of the handwoven clothes I have, mostly from Oaxaca and Chiapas, do not fit! If you wear a size Medium, Large or Extra […]
Give Meaning: Las Sanjuaneras Textiles from Oaxaca–Handmade, Heartfelt
A handmade, hand-woven textile from Oaxaca is a meaningful gift this year when so few tourists are there to support artisans. Instead of taking you into remote villages to meet the makers this year, I am bringing what they make to the USA to offer them to you. Please support them. Today’s Sale Features Las […]
Back to Textiles: Amusgo Weaving, Xochistlahuaca, Guerrero
So-Chees-Lah-Hwa-Kah. I spell it out in transliteration so you can say it more easily. Short hand is So-Chee! I took the last two weeks off from writing and blogging to take a road trip to the Midwest where I visited friends in South Bend, Indiana, and Columbus, Ohio. It was a welcome diversion from routine. […]
What do we call them? Huipiles. Not Caftans!
In addition to cultural appropriation, there is a debate raging about what to call the hand-woven, back-strap loomed garments from Mexico that many of us know as huipiles. This is plural. The singular is huipil. (Some huipiles for sale below!) How do you say it? Whee-peel. (or What do you do with a banana? We […]
Collectibles and Wearables: Artisan Made and For Sale
My tradition is to look through my collection and offer distinctive pieces for sale just before I leave Oaxaca to return for visits to the USA. Most pieces are new and never worn, collected as part of my commitment to support artisans where I travel. A few are part of my personal wardrobe, rarely used, […]
My Oaxaca Tienda: Sale
I’m leaving for the USA on July 10 and as is my custom before I go back, I loop through my collection and offer a few pieces for sale. I’m now a size small-petite and these beautiful clothes are large-extra large. They are never worn or gently worn, perhaps a couple of times. How to […]
Mexico Monday: Clothing and Bags for Sale
Here is a selection of hand-woven agave fiber market bags and totes, a few woven purses and shoulder bags perfect for carrying cell phones and coin purses. I’ve added tops and a poncho cover-up, too. All from Oaxaca and Chiapas. Don’t miss anything: there are 14 pieces, so scroll down to the end! To buy, […]
Oaxaca Indigenous Clothing for Sale: Wearable Art
After a year of walking with some days up to and exceeding 10,000 steps, my beautiful huipiles and blusas no longer fit me. For the next week, I’ll be offering for sale some of my clothing treasures from Durham, North Carolina before I return to Oaxaca on May 11. Most of these are new or […]
Cuetzalan del Progreso Hosts Annual Fair, Puebla, Mexico
It’s sunrise in Cuetzalan del Progreso, Puebla, Mexico. I’m high in the mountains of the Sierra Norte where the indigenous language of Nahuatl is spoken. Beaded and embroidered blouses are predominant here. This is one of the original ten Pueblo Magico‘s and my second visit here. Definitely worth the return! The triangular scarves and ponchos called huipiles […]
24-Hour Oaxaca Textile Web Event: Tuxtepec Huipiles Sale
Buy before 2 p.m. Central Daylight Time (tomorrow) November 4. I will bring your purchase(s) to the U.S.A. when I travel on Thursday morning and ship from California to anywhere in the U.S.A. early next week. Shipping included in price. I’m making this unexpected trip to help care for our mom. Must be prepaid with […]
Oaxaca expoVENTA: San Felipe Usila Textiles for Muertos
Pop-Up expoVENTA coming Oct. 29-30, from the land of the Dance of the Flor de Piña (of Guelaguetza fame) and those exquisite huipiles of San Felipe Usila, a remote village high in Oaxaca’s Papaloapan region near Tuxtepec, 8 hours from Oaxaca City. Jose Isidro and his mama, will come from their village with hand-woven textiles at […]
Pop-up Expoventa San Felipe Usila Saturday Only
Textile show and sale from San Felipe Usila When: 1:30-4:30 pm, Saturday, March 7, 2015 Where: Las Granadas B&B, Avenida 2 de Abril #9, Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca What: think Danza de la Pina — Dance of the Pineapple– at The Guelaguetza to picture what these garments look like San Felipe Usila is a […]
Telling Stories: Art Huipil Mixed Media Workshop
The Art Huipil Workshop in Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, Mexico just ended. Our instructor Lena Bartula says, Textile is text, which is why she incorporates stories, messages, poems and other writing into the mixed media art workshop she teaches. Textile is also cultural subtext, telling personal stories of the makers through pattern and design. The […]
Pop-Up Show + Sale — Huipils from San Felipe Usila, October 28, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Pop-Up Huipil Show and Sale from San Felipe Usila at Restaurante La Olla, Calle Reforma #402, Oaxaca, Centro Historico in front of Las Bugambilias B&B Tuesday, October 28, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. — One day only I must confess that I left two great huipiles behind in San Felipe Usila and I’ve been ruminating […]
Tuxtepec, Oaxaca: Huipils, Dance of the Pineapple Flower and Guelaguetza
Oaxaca’s July Guelaguetza features some of the most glorious traje — indigenous dress — throughout the state. But few, if any, surpass the beauty from the state of Tuxtepec. I am on a textile tour to discover the artistry of some of Oaxaca’s most remote villages. The evening our group arrives in Tuxtepec from […]
Textile Fashion Show: Journey to Remote San Felipe Usila, Oaxaca
For the past six days I have been on a textile journey through the Cuenca del Papaloapan Region where the Sierra Madre de Oaxaca mountain range meets the coastal plain of Veracruz. This has been off-the-beaten-path travel into remote villages where textile traditions, back strap loom weaving and intricate embroidery techniques, manage to survive in […]
Pre-Hispanic Women’s Clothing Design: The Huipil Endures
Years ago, after I first arrived in Oaxaca, I discovered an incredible small book by Mexico City fashion designer Carla Fernandez. Taller Flora: Indigenous Dress Making Geometry of Mexico, Pre-Hispanic Origin (2006) is now difficult to come by. But, it has become my bible for easy-to-make, easy-to-wear, comfortable, flowing clothing that is versatile and beautiful. […]
Art Huipil Mixed Media Workshop Retreat: Explore Your Inner Artist
A perfect mixed-media art workshop for a getaway in Oaxaca, Mexico! With artist/instructor Lena Bartula. Arrive January 8 and depart January 14. 6 nights and 7 days to explore your inner artist. All-levels, including non-artists, welcome. The Mesoamerican huipil is an indigenous garment, similar to a blouse. It is woven on the back-strap loom by […]
Lost Textile Tradition of Making Needle Lace Revived in Oaxaca
The town of Tlacolula de Matamoros, Oaxaca, is widely known for its Sunday market or tianguis. Tourists and villagers from throughout the region flock there to shop, eat or stock up on whatever is needed for home or workshop. Visitors know little about the textile traditions of Tlacolula, where up until the 1960’s cotton and […]
When Indigenous Oaxaca Dress Becomes Inspiration for High Fashion
Years ago I discovered Mexican designer Carla Fernandez and her sweet little book (out of print) that taught me the difference between indigenous and Western clothing design. Rather than form fitting construction with darts, waistbands, zippers, buttons and collars, pre-European style clothing of the Americas is made for easy fit and comfort. The emphasis is […]
Sewing Lesson: Making a Huipil From Indigenous Cloth
I’m in love with the book, Taller Flora by Carla Fernandez. In it she describes the various ways of putting webs (geometric shapes of cloth–squares, rectangles, triangles) together to create dresses, pants, skirts, blouses, shirts, sashes and jackets. Fernandez describes indigenous pre-Hispanic techniques for constructing garments, and compares this with western techniques. Westerners cut cloth […]