Tag Archives: shawl

Susie’s Regrets Sale: Three Fine Rebozos (Shawls)

Posted on Sunday, August 26, 2018 | Comments Off on Susie’s Regrets Sale: Three Fine Rebozos (Shawls)

Three fine rebozos at a glance: Tenancingo de Degollado and Oaxaca

Susie’s traveled with Oaxaca Cultural Navigator to Tenancingo de Degollado to explore the ikat weaving and rebozo making culture of Mexico. She has since returned with us to other parts of Mexico, including Chiapas and the Oaxaca Coast. Meanwhile, on that trip she picked up a few beautiful pieces she hasn’t yet worn and after seeing that I was helping Leslie sell her regrets, asked me if I could try to resell these for her. We know the provenance!

#1. The intricate fringe, all hand-knotted on the Rose Rebozo

#1. Rose Rebozo. This rebozo, or fringed shawl, is hand-woven on a flying shuttle, four harness loom in Tenancingo de Degollado, Estado de Mexico (State of Mexico) by one of the finest weavers in town, Jesus Zarate. What makes this textile most remarkable is the fringe. It is completely hand-knotted by Fitalina, considered to be the greatest puntadora or fringe-knotter in all of Mexico. It took her three months to make this luxurious fringe after the weaver sold her the fine cotton hand-woven cloth.  This is a large shawl, called a Chalina because it has no pattern in the cloth, is akin to what Frida Kahlo preferred, and is part of Mexican female identity. It measures 90″ long (including the fringe) and 29″ wide.  This exceptional piece is $335 USD. Price includes mailing via USPS Priority Mail to anywhere in 48 U.S. states.

#1. Full length view of pink rebozo

How to Buy

Send me an email: norma.schafer@icloud.com

  • Tell me which piece(s) you want by number.
  • Tell me your complete name, mailing address and email.
  • I will send you a PayPal invoice.
  • As soon as I receive payment, I will confirm and we will prepare for mailing. You should be receiving your order within 5-7 days.
  • This group will be mailed from a remote corner of Northern California in the Lake Shasta region.

#2. Double weave cotton rebozo from the Sierra Mixe, Oaxaca

#2. This rebozo was commissioned by the famed Remigio Mestas of Oaxaca, who works with the finest back-strap loom weavers in villages throughout the state. This is a double-faced weave, soft and cozy cotton, difficult to execute, woven by Maria Teodora from the Sierra Mixe Alta. One face shows indigo blue natural dye. The red-brown rust color on the second side is achieved with encino or red oak. The Sierra Mixe region of Oaxaca is about eight hours from Oaxaca city on the way to the Pacific coast, high in the mountains. Fringes are hand-twisted. It measures 102″ long (including fringe) and 29″ wide. $345 USD and includes USPS priority mailing to continental 48 U.S. states.

#2. Indigo blue dyed rebozo

#2. View of side dyed with encino (red oak)

#3. Cotton ikat hand-woven fabric, with fringes

#3. This Magenta Rebozo is from the Xoxopastli studio in Malinalco operated by designer Camilla Ramos, famous throughout Mexico for her intricate ikat rebozos and Colonial-style puntas or fringes. It is among the finest workmanship in the country. This one is woven on the four-harness flying shuttle loom. Ikat is achieved by dyeing the warp threads. Every one of the 6,000 threads of the warp must be exactly on register for the pattern to match up. This pattern is called Chispas and is created from brown, hot pink and white cotton threads. It measures 80″ long (including the fringe) and 29″ wide. Cost is $225 USD including mailing via USPS priority mail to anywhere in 48 US states.

#3. Full length view of Xoxopastli ikat rebozo

It’s not likely I will take another group to Tenancingo, so this may be your best chance to get as close to the source as possible!

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Summer Wraps from Mexico for Sale

Posted on Wednesday, June 13, 2018 | Comments Off on Summer Wraps from Mexico for Sale

In my getting ready to go back to Oaxaca from Durham, NC, I’m going through the boxes of my collection to decide what I’m ready to send off from my house to yours! My departure date is June 22, so please, if you are interested in making a purchase, let me know immediately, and I’ll mail to you as soon as I receive payment. Mail deadline is Wednesday, June 20. Eight pieces offered.

How to order:

  1. Send me an email: norma.schafer@icloud.com
  2. Tell me which piece(s) you want by Number.
  3. Send me your mailing address.
  4. I will send you a PayPal invoice that includes $8 USD postage.
  5. I’ll mail to you within 24 hours.

Also see my last post for Summer Frocks — big price reductions!

1. From Pinotepa de Don Luis on Oaxaca’s Costa Chica

#1. SOLD. This is a hand-spun native Oaxaca cotton gauze shawl embellished with local coastal figures like crabs and seahorses along with traditional symbols of fertility and wildlife. The brown is rare, native coyuchi cotton and is part of the woven cloth, called supplemental weft. Measure’s 22-1/2″ wide x 86″ long — long enough to serve as  shawl, rebozo or stole or a throw over a favorite chair or bed. $125 USD.

#1. Coyuchi and white cotton rebozo detail.

Is there a summer wedding or garden party in your future?

#2. Tlahuitoltepec, Oaxaca shawl woven on a fly-shuttle loom, indigo + cochineal

#2 SOLD is a fine quality jacquard rebozo, hand-woven on a fly-shuttle loom with the finest cotton hand-dyed with indigo and cochineal and banana bark. It comes from the Oaxaca village of Tlahuitoltepec where one weaving family creates all natural dye cotton textiles. Measures 25″ wide x 88″ long (including the macrame hand-knotted fringe called the punta). $145 USD.

#2, detail of Tlahuitoltepec rebozo

Will you be dining al fresco and want the perfect wrap?

#3 Chiapas shawl of many colors, from the Oxchuc people

#3 SOLD is a multi-colored shawl/rebozo that includes hand-twisted fringes. It will go with anything! The textile was hand-woven on the back-strap loom in a remote Oxchuc village by Catalina, a young mother who learned from her mother, who learned from her mother! To keep the tradition going it’s important to have buyers, so I chose to support them and bring their work to you. The village, where I visited, is about an hour and a half up the mountain from San Cristobal de Las Casas. Measures 23″ wide x 78″ long. $145 USD.

#3. Detail, Oxchuc rebozo, called a Chal in Chiapas.

What about that summer concert under the stars?

#4 is a lightweight gauze shawl from Venustiano Carranza, Chiapas

#4 is a beautiful white shawl hand-woven on the back-strap loom and embellished with red, rust, yellow and purple accents in designs unique to the village of Venustiano Carranza. The region is closer to the Pacific coast and gets pretty hot and steamy, so the fabrics woven there are lightweight cotton and comfortable. Drapes beautifully. Measures 26″ wide x 76″ long. $135 USD.

#4, full view of soft, white shawl from Venustiano Carranza

#5 is a Venustiano Carranza wrap in luscious pale peach

#5 shawl from Venustiano Carranza is a beautiful, subtle luscious peach color cotton woven on the back-strap loom. Imagine this draped over your shoulders. The design that is woven into the textile is also a contrasting peach color using thread that has a sheen. This gives a lovely matte-shiny finish to this piece. Measures 26-1/2″ wide x 80″ long. $135 USD.

#5 Peach rebozo detail

#6 is an ikat scarf hand-woven by Luis Rodriguez from Tenancingo de Degollado

SOLD. This #6 ikat scarf features warp threads dyed with indigo and wild marigold. The pattern created on the loom looks like a Matisse painting. The blue and yellow together offer a range of shades from yellow to chartreuse, a great compliment to the indigo blue. The punta, or fringes, are hand-knotted. Measures 16-1/2″ wide x 72″ long. $75 USD.

#6 ikat scarf detail

#7 Coyuchi cotton quechquemitl from Khadi Oaxaca

#7 is a luxuriously soft native brown coyuchi cotton hand-spun on the charkha — Ghandi spinning wheel — in the Oaxaca mountain village of San Sebastian Rio Hondo. The intricate needlework trim and joinery is forest green. The quechquemitl is a pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican garment favored by women as an over-the-head short poncho. I call it a pull-over scarf. It is perfect to wear of an evening or to cover the bodice or shoulders of a sun dress. Measures 21″ long from the V-neck to the point and 31″ wide across the front. Rotate it to get a different look. Wear it like a scarf, too. $95 USD.

#7 detail of coyuchi cotton quechquemitl

#8 Indigo and Wild Marigold Quechquemitl from Khadi Oaxaca

#8 SOLD Quechquemitl combines cotton dyed with Oaxaca-grown indigo and native wild marigold flowers. The iridescent color combination sometimes tricks you into thinking there might be some green in there. Because the cotton is hand-spun, it offers beautiful texture and slubs. Similar measurements as #7. $85 USD.

#8 Detail of indigo blue and wild marigold quechquemitl

 

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Posted in Clothing Design, Textiles, Tapestries & Weaving, Workshops and Retreats

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Let’s Go Shopping: Eleven Mexican Shawls, Scarves, Rebozos for Sale

Posted on Thursday, October 5, 2017 | 5 comments

Rebozos are part of Mexican female identity and culture. Frida wore them. So did the women of the Mexican Revolution, 1910-1920. Aristocrats from Spain loved their shoulder coverings as they strolled the Alameda. Indigenous women still rely on them to swaddle and carry infants. Women in El Norte (USA and Canada) find them comforting on a chilly fall evening or to adorn a favorite outfit.

These rebozos I am offering for sale today are part of my collection. They are new and never worn. Most are from Tenancingo de Degollado, Estado de Mexico, where the men weave ikat cotton and women hand-knot elaborate fringes. I have one piece from Zinacantan, Chiapas, two from Santa Maria del Rio, San Luis Potosi, and one from Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca.

How to Buy: Send me an email and identify which one you want by NUMBER, plus your mailing address. I will then send you a PayPal invoice that will include mailing costs.  I will mail on the next business day.

Style 1: Zinacantan Chal, machine embroidered on back strap loomed cloth, 45″ x 20-1/2″, with handmade tassels.  Zinacantan is a village outside of San Cristobal de Las Casas, Chiapas. Floral motifs are predominant here. $120 USD plus shipping.

P.S. I have two spaces open for the February textile study tour to Chiapas. Email me if you are interested and I’ll send you the program description.

Style 1: Zinacantan Chal, $120

Style 1. Zinacantan Chal detail.

Style 2: SOLD. Large Navy Blue Ikat Rebozo, $175, hand-woven in Tenancingo on a flying shuttle loom with hand-knotted fringe. This large shawl measures 92″ long (including an 11″ hand-knotted fringe) and 29″ wide.

Style 2: Navy Blue Rebozo, $175

Style 2: Navy Blue Ikat Rebozo, detail

Style 3: SOLD. Multi-Rebozo with Blue, Red and Yellow, $175. This is what is known as Grande, 92″ long (including 11″ fringe) and 29″ wide. It is a very fine ikat cotton. Hand-woven in Tenancingo with a hand-knotted fringe.

Style 3, Red, Blue, Yellow Rebozo, extra large, $175

Style 3: Blue, Red, Yellow Rebozo

Style 4: SOLD. This striking contrast of rose and black together with a hand-knotted fringe that says Remember Me gives this very fine quality rebozo a subtle, yet powerfully contrasting design. $125. Size Medium. 88″ long (including a 12″ fringe) and 27″ wide.

Style 4: Rose and Black rebozo, Medium Size, $125 — Recuerdame

Style 4: Recuerdame detail

Style 5: SOLD. Chakira Chalina, $150. Rare, pale blue/gray shawl in plain weave, with intricate fringe that is knotted with beadwork.  Each bead in the fringe is part of the hand-knotting process.  A dying art form! Size medium, measures 82″ long (incuding 11″ fringe) and 29″ wide. Made in Tenancingo de Degollado, Estado de Mexico.

Style 5: Chakira Chalina, $150

Style 5: Chakira Chalina, fringe detail

Style 6: Black and Red Ikat Scarf. $95. This is loomed in Santa Maria del Rio, San Luis Potosi, and woven of rayon, which the locals call seda or silk, because it has a smooth, shiny, silky finish. The scarf measures 90″ long (including an 8″ fringe) and 13-3/4″ wide.

Style 6, Red/Black Ikat Scarf, $95

Style 6: Red/Black Ikat Scarf, detail

Style 7: SOLD. Small Black/Brown Ikat Scarf, $35. Measures 50″ long (including 5″ fringe) by 18-3/4″ wide. A nice addition to keep your neck warm as the weather chills.

Style 7: Black/Brown Ikat Scarf, $35

Style 7: Black/Brown Ikat Scarf, detail

Style 8: SOLD. Indigo-dyed Scarf, $115, by Juan Carlos from Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca. Juan Carlos is my neighbor and his work is exceptionally fine. This is a deep, rich blue, all natural with hand-spun wool. 72″ long (including 4″ fringe) by 14″ wide. The fringe is hand-knotted by his wife.

Style 8: Indigo dyed wool scarf, $115

Style 8: Indigo Scarf, detail

Style 9: SOLD. Super Grande Rebozo, $150. This is made in Santa Maria del Rio, San Luis Potosi, handwoven rayon that the locals call seda (or silk) because of its smooth, silky hand. Color is predominantly dark blue and lime green. Measures 114″ long (with huge 20″ hand-knotted fringe) by 30″ wide. A stunner.

Style 9: Super Grande Shawl, $150

Style 9: Fringe detail

Style 10: SOLD. This Rose Chalina shawl, $125,  is made from the highest quality cotton and has a very fine hand. The fabric is soft and glows. The intricate fringe is all hand-knotted. It’s called a Chalina because it is a plain weave with no pattern. It measures 90″ long (including a 12″ fringe) by 28″ wide. Made in Tenancingo.

Style 10: Rose Chalina, Super Fine and Large, $125

Style 10: Rose Chalina detail

Style 11: SOLD. Black with Coral Accents Ikat Rebozo, $110, size medium, measures 78″ long (including 9″ fringe) by 28″ wide. A graphic masterpiece. Made in Tenanciingo de Degollado, Estado de Mexico on a flying shuttle loom.

Style 11: Black Ikat with Coral Accents, $110

Style 11: Black Ikat Shawl detail

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Rebozo Weaving Technology in Mexico: How to Make an Ikat Shawl

Posted on Monday, February 13, 2017 | 8 comments

On our textile study tour to Tenancingo de Degollado, Estado de Mexico (State of Mexico) we met ikat rebozo weavers, called reboceros, who use up to 6,400 cotton warp threads on a back strap loom.

Evaristo Borboa, grand master of Mexican folk art, weaves on a back strap loom

About 3,000 to 5,000 cotton warp threads are used on the fixed frame pedal floor loom.

Rebozo weaver Gabriel Perez at his floor loom

The technology is simple. The fabric created is complex.

The floor loom is faster.  Weavers can produce a rebozo in about a week using this loom. It takes three months or more to make a rebozo on the back strap loom.

Weaver Jesus Zarate defies imagination with his ikat butterfly design

Because fewer warp threads are used on the floor loom, the cotton threads can be thicker and the finished cloth might be coarser.

A weaver’s took kit

As you might imagine, the cost for a rebozo made on a back strap loom is much more than one woven on a pedal loom. Except for the rebozos woven by Jesus Zarate! What do rebozos cost? From 400 to 16,000 pesos.

Bits and pieces of supplies that might be needed for dyeing

Would you work six months to earn $800 USD?

The pattern can be more blurred and not as detailed as those created on the back strap loom. Except for the rebozos woven by Jesus Zarate!

Fermin Escobar marks stiff bundles of thread with ink to make a pattern

There are fourteen different steps required to make an ikat rebozo. The most difficult and time-consuming part is the preparation of the threads before they are dressed on the loom.

Threads are soaked in starch to dry and stiffen before marking.

Ikat pattern markers are coated with ink, rolled along stiffened cords.

The weavers we met all repeated that the actual weaving is the simplest part of the process.

Weavers throw hardwood bobbins between the warp sheds to make the weft

Dipping the yarn into the starch to stiffen it

A better view of the pattern marked on the stiff cotton cords

Separating the cords so they dry evenly

Each mark must be hand tied to create the dye resist

Once the cords are marked in ink with the pattern, each mark is hand tied. The cloth will then be dipped in the dye bath. It is then washed and dried. The knots are cut and the pattern emerges on the warp thread, ready to be threaded on the loom.

Mexicans innovate and cobble together materials to keep things running

For rebozos with multiple colors, they can be hand-dipped in the dye pot or the part that is already colored will be tied off so it does not absorb the new color.

Over 4,000 warp threads pass through the hettles of these looms

The loom might be considered low technology, but it is a complex system for making cloth. Today, industrial cloth is made totally by machine. We are interested in the hand-made process.

Bobbin making system — a bicycle wheel

Making ikat for a rebozo on the pedal loom

One of Evaristo’s beautiful blue ikat shawls in blue, finely detailed

The enpuntadora hand ties each knot to create fringe, the finishing touch

Knotting the rebozo can take equally as long as weaving it — three months or more, depending on intricacy. We know one enpuntadora who takes a year to tie a complex fringe.

The fringe must equal or exceed the beauty of the shawl

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Pop-Up Sale: Oaxaca Quechquemitl, Mexico Stylish Scarf/Poncho

Posted on Saturday, June 18, 2016 | 15 comments

This pop-up clothing sale features the indigenous Mexico short poncho or triangular bodice cover-up called a quechquemitl in the Nahuatl language, used by pre-Hispanic women throughout the country.

It’s my favorite accessory and that’s why I have too many of them! Slip one over your head, and your shoulders and bodice are covered beautifully, even if you are only wearing a tank-top or halter. It’s a one-piece scarf, too, that never falls off!

My 2011 Quechquemitl Blog Post

How to Wear a Quechquemitl

Here I am offering — in like-new, rarely worn condition — some beautiful indigenous clothing made by women and men in Oaxaca villages, most made with natural dyes, some hand-spun native cotton. As you might expect, they are from some of Oaxaca’s finest weavers, dyers and designers.

All prices include shipping within 48 U.S. states!  Send me an email and tell me which piece(s) you want. I’ll email you a PayPal invoice. Purchases must be made by June 30. I will ship from Santa Fe, New Mexico after July 7.

Native Oaxaca coyuchi cotton quechquemitl, trimmed in green cotton, $125 USD

Native, rare Oaxaca coyuchi cotton quechquemitl, hand-trimmed in green, $125 USD

  1. Coyuchi Cotton Quechquemitl (above) handwoven in the village of San Sebastian Rio Hondo on the back strap loom by Khadi Oaxaca. Color is a warm caramel. One size fits all. $125 USD.
1B. Coyuchi cotton quechquemitl, close-up

1B. Coyuchi hand-spun wild cotton quechquemitl, close-up

Note about coyuchi cotton: This is rare, wild native cotton grown in the high mountains of Oaxaca that separates the valley and the coast.

2. SOLD. This pericone (wild marigold) dyed quechquemitl (below) is exactly the same style as the one above, made in San Sebastian Rio Hondo by Khadi Oaxaca. It is golden-yellow and the hand weaving shows the variegation of the process. One size. $145 USD.

Pericone and indigo quechquemitl from Khadi Oaxaca, soft gold and variegated blue

Pericone and indigo quechquemitl, hand-spun cotton, soft gold and variegated blue

Pericone quechquemitl trimmed in indigo blue cotton thread, hand-dyed. $145 USD

Pericone quechquemitl with indigo blue cotton thread. $145 USD

3. Below. Pericone/indigo/coyuchi dress, size M/L. I made a pattern from a favorite Dosa dress and have sewed it multiple times with French seams, patch pockets, and lots of designer detailing and hand stitching. For this dress, I bought hand-spun cotton fabric from Khadi Oaxaca that is hand-woven and dyed with wild marigold, indigo and integrates native coyuche cotton. $165 USD.

3B. Detail, Dosa-inspired dress with Khadi Oaxaca fabric

3B. Detail, Dosa-inspired dress with Khadi Oaxaca fabric

Here is the full dress below.

Size M/L. A-line dress made with Khadi Oaxaca handspun + woven cotton. $145 USD

3A. Size M/L dress made with Khadi Oaxaca handspun + woven cotton. $165 USD

4. Alfredo Orozco nut-dyed quechquemitl, below, is woven on a flying shuttle pedal loom in the deshillado technique, which means there is an open-weave. You can see the detail in photo 4B. This one is more pale beige than brown. Touches of cream-colored ikat add interest. One size. $85 USD.

Hand-woven, nut-dyed quechquemitl with ikat dyed warp threads by Alfredo Orozco, $85 USD

Hand-woven, nut-dyed Orozco quechquemitl with ikat warp threads, $85 USD

Below is the weave detail of the fabric above. Finish work is done by Alfredo’s wife Veronica on the sewing machine.

4B. Orozco beige quequemitl detail with open weave.

4B. Orozco beige quechquemitl detail with open weave.

5. SOLD. Below, same Orozco style as #4, but with indigo blue dyed threads to add detail of design. One size fits all, $85 USD.

Orozco quequemitl with nut and indigo dyes. Detail is with open weave. $85 USD

Orozco quechquemitl with nut and indigo dyes. Detail is with open weave. $85 USD

#5B. Full view of Orozco nut/indigo dyed quechquemitl. It is more beige than photo shows. $85 USD

#5B. Orozco nut/indigo dyed quechquemitl, more beige than photo shows. $85 USD

6. Melon colored cotton top, below, size medium, from the Oaxaca shop of Remigio Mestas, Los Baules de Juana Cata, the finest in town. Machine chain stitching, commercial thread, signed by back-strap loom weaver. $75

Crop top from Remigio Mestas' Los Baules de Juana Cata, $65 USD

Cotton top from Remigio Mestas’ Los Baules de Juana Cata, $75 USD

6B. Detail of cotton top from Remigio Mestas

6B. Detail of cotton top from Remigio Mestas

7. SOLD. Turquoise quechquemitl, one size, with machine chain stitch detailing, hand-finished seams and hem. From the best shop in Oaxaca, Los Baules de Juana Cata and Remigio Mestas. $125 USD.

Quechquemitl in brilliant turquoise from Remigio Mestas, one size, $125 USD

Quechquemitl in brilliant turquoise from Remigio Mestas, one size, $125 USD

7B. Detail of turquoise quechquemitl.

7B. Detail of turquoise quechquemitl. Not discolored, just photo light variations.

8. Wine Red Quechquemitl, below, from Los Baules de Juana Cata and Remigio Mestas who personally works with indigenous weavers and embroiderers to make the finest garments. One size. $125 USD.

Wine Red Quechquemitl, one size, $125 USD, from the shop of Remigio Mestas

Wine Red Quechquemitl, one size, $125 USD, from the shop of Remigio Mestas

Detail of wine red quechquemitl from Remigio Mestas' Oaxaca shop

Detail of wine red quechquemitl from Remigio Mestas’ Oaxaca shop

Let me know which one you would like to purchase by number —  send me an email. I’ll be going to the USA in early July and will mail to you via USPS after July 7.  Thank you very much!

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Posted in Cultural Commentary, Oaxaca Mexico art and culture, Textiles, Tapestries & Weaving

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