The woven textiles here are AMAZING …. I´m in love .. there are so many great colours and designs.

Weaving is a part of life for most women (i.e those still living in villages and not residing in the main cities) .. it is just part of their family role. Like just accross the border in Chiapas Mexico, most villages have their own type of style of paterrn on the weaving, and these partterns are used in their clothes (huipiles). It identifies where people are from.

The weavings that i have taken too are from the Todas Santos village that is near the Mexican border in the mountains. I have not been able to visit there yet (a tad difficult to get to and not too much time) .. but there are many examples of their work in the markets and there are families from this village that live in Antigua weaving and selling their work in the market.

One such lady is Marina (left) and her mother Candalaria:

  

Their tops are made out of the woven and embroidered material that the purses, cushion covers and cosmetic bags are based on. The skirts are usually the darker plainer ´Jaspe´material that are used for a lot of the backs or backgrounds of the products.

Here are some pictures of Marina weaving and embroidering a piece for a cushion cover for Happy-Hammock.

      

Here are some of the finshed product ….

        

Some great colours here … Red, Green, Blue, Purple & Turquoise.

Im not sure whether I will be able to sell these on line as each one may have the same base colour but the pattern of the stiching may be slightly different.

I attach a few more pictures of the stiching up close so that you can see the kind of work that goes into each one …

            

This is the back of one of the central pieces .. !

  Lots of work … the pattern is individually stiched into the weave.

As you know my aim is to find and develop products that use traditional techniques and materials to make commercial items for you … cushion covers here … but also they make cosmetic bags using the embroidered huipile design for pattern.

        

Nicely lined with 2 zipped pockets. great colours .. purple and red. Approx 20cm in length.

Another product made form the huipiles is purses of differnt sizes. Unfortunatley they are all different .. amazing but different .. so I will only be able to sell these directly or at one of my market stalls or events over the coming year.

Here are some pictures of the purses and the colours …

                         

It may be easier to see how extrodinary they are .. by looking at a few individually …

         

  

Pretty cool huh …. I´ve accumulated about 6 for myself so far ….

Happy Guatamalan Textile Hobo out