ITEM #1. These beautiful belts/ribbons gleam and shine as they are
made out of a silky material called artisela (rayon). They
are hand woven in Pátzcuaro on small looms made for narrow objects.
The belts are 2 1/4 inches wide and 47 to 50 inches long including the
fringes. They would be wonderful wrapped around a dress or skirt,
or could be slung around the neck. There is a variety of uses which
one could invent. I only have the five illustrated here right now
- multicolour, black & white, maroon & white, bright orange and
turquoise. $15.US/each belt.
Mexico3
#1. This huipil, made for a child is from Chiapas Mexico.
It measures 18 3/4 inches wide and 22 inches long (fringe
included). The neck opening is 20 inches around. If the
huipil is to be worn and the opening is too small it can be cut open a
little more and the wrapping around the opening replaced.
Hopefully it will work as is though, or sit beautifully
displayed. Everything on this piece is done by hand from the
weaving, to the sewing and to the embroidery. As is typical now
the fabric is synthetic or part synthetic - natural yarn is just too
expensive. The piece is just beautifully and intricately made
though with many many hours of work involved so this is quite a bargain
price. The tassels on the sides add a light touch to it as well.
$85.US.
Mexico3 #2. This wide belt or narrow shawl from
Cuetzalan, Puebla is totally made by hand. The unbleached cotton
is woven on a backstrap loom, the fringes sorted and tied and tassels
decorating each end. The piece is 6 1/2 inches wide and 84 inches
long. It has a nice tight weave and is one of the few pieces that
I saw that was 100% cotton. $98.US.
Mexico3 #4. This wide belt was made by the same woman as
the one above. The 100% cotton - bleached to a clean white colour
has been hand woven on a backstrap loom. It was knotted and
tassels were made just like in the one above. This is 6 1/4
inches wide and 90 inches long. It was bought at the market
during the annual feria del huipil in Cuetzalan, Puebla.
$98.US.
Mexico3 #5. I bought three shawls in Cuetzalan, Puebla
during the annual feria del huipil. It was an excellent
experience and I was interested in buying from the hard working, fabric
producing women there. These shawls are a new idea, and faster to
weave on hand looms than the traditional ones. This shawl is very
light in weight, 15 inches wide and 71 inches long. $28.US.
Mexico3 #6. This shawl is a narrower version of the style
above. It is 13 inches wide and 74 inches long (including
fringes). $28.US.
Mexico3 #7. This is the largest of the three shawls - 24 inches wide and 94 inches long. $45.US.
Mexico3 #8. There are two wristbands here, made of
knotted cord in a macrame type of construction. #1 is the larger
with the wrist size being 6 3/4 inches around. #2 is a little
smaller with a wrist size of 6 1/4 inches around. They are both
around 1 3/4 inches wide. They are knotted to close so you need
help to fasten one on. Then it feels and looks very natural.
$15.US/each
Mexico3 #9. There are three groups of strands of
seedbeads here - they are often pulled over the head and knotted to
hold them together, worn with traditional white embroidered blouses in
Cuetzalan, Puebla. The beads most likely are made in China but
the colours are chosen on the strands to match with the embroidery
cotton. $9.US/each group
Mexico3 #10. The seeds in these necklaces from Cuetzalan,
Puebla were called "colorina" but I still don't know what the plant
is... They are strong onto knotted cotton. $18.US/each
necklace
Mexico3 #11. $22.US/necklace $16.US/bracelet
TEXTILE #1. Here is a beautiful hand woven belt. I
bought it in Cuetzalan, Puebla and it is very typical of the work done
by the Nahua people who live in the mountains of the region. I
bought it from a woman who had both woven (on a hand loom), embroidered
and finished the piece herself. The piece is 54 inches wide and
the plain part is 2 1/2 inches wide. I love the colours and the
shapes of the flying birds. Cuetzalan is very famous for its
birds... $75.US.
TEXTILE #2. This is a large totally hand woven
shawl/rebozo which would look beautiful laid on a table or draped over
a chair. The weaving has lots of texture to it - thick
substantial looking threads of unbleached cotton. The piece is
not exactly embroidered but red threads are pulled through the piece
woven over and under threads to create a pattern. The piece was
made in Ayacaxtle Chicontepec, Veracruz. The image is reduced in
size - it is 106 inches long (including fringes) and 32 inches wide.
$230.US (sold)
TEXTILE #3. This
is a large totally hand woven shawl/rebozo which would look beautiful
laid on a table or draped over a chair. The weaving has lots of
texture to it - thick substantial looking threads of unbleached cotton.
The piece is not exactly embroidered but red threads are pulled
through the piece woven over and under threads to create a pattern.
The piece was made in Ayacaxtle Chicontepec, Veracruz. The image is
reduced in size - it is 106 inches long (including fringes) and 32
inches wide. $230.US (sold)
TEXTILE #4. This is a typical shirt of the Chiapas are
where it was made through a local training and trading program.
It would be a great gift for a child of 2 or so - and an average
child could wear it til 3 or 4. The shape is based on a rectangle
just as tradition shows. Rectangles were used all over the world
for hand loomed textiles so that there would be no loss of fabric by
cutting it away. This blouse is unbleached cotton (machine woven)
and hand embroidered with rich colours. When laid down the blouse
is 15 inches wide and 14 1/4 inches tall. The sleeve is 4 1/2
inches tall and 3 inches wide. $18.US.
TEXTILE #5. The beading on this blouse is absolutely
beautiful. It is from Cuetzalan, Pueblo, Mexico and similar
pieces can be seen on some of the Nahua/Nahuatl women who come to town
to sell at the market. The beading is quite perfect and is
attached to a white cotton blouse. It would be much too much work
for me to create something like this... I am a size 4 and it
seems that it would fit a size 4 through 8 without problems.
$145.US. (sold)
ITEM #2. I was amazed to find these two pieces of fabric
(items #2 and #3) (embroidered in order to become traditional aprons worn
over long skirts particular to this specific area of the Purepecha) for
sale in the market in Pátzcuaro. The labour in making them
is almost endless, cross-stitch after cross-stitch - and they are rarely
put up for sale. One often sees women who are selling vegetables
or goods in the market, using spare moments to stitch their aprons.
Since they are done on different occasions you will find that some stitches
are backwards from others, and not everything lines up perfectly - please
do not look for perfection, but for the value of a woman's hard work instead.
The first one here is stitched with white cotton on one of the favourite
types of materials in use now - a small checker design which helps the
sewer to keep track of keeping the small squares in line. The fabric
seems to be a cotton/polyester blend. Women will design their own
patterns or use designs which they have bought or borrowed. Sometimes
simple ones are stitched, but these two are quite thoroughly coloured and
complex. A fancy edge is often scalloped around the apron.
The sides of this one have simply been turned over and stitched closed
by hand. They would be easy to undo so that you would have a slightly
larger piece of material to work with. The patterned area is 35 inches
wide and 22 1/2 inches tall. The fabric is 36 by 31 inches plus borders.
You can see aprons being used in the photo at the top of the page - with
fully traditional clothing during a dance in honour of a Saint. They
are also worn on a daily basis though, over long skirts with simpler blouses.
$165.US.
ITEM #3. This is the second piece of embroidered apron fabric.
It is a nice, deep chrome yellow cotton thread stitched into another small
checker cotton/polyester fabric. It is quite lush with flowers.
This is a curious piece with many odd parts here and there - petals that
have remained unfilled in, a cross stitch done in different directions,
or unfinished, etc. The woman doing these don't seem to mind, and
I don't mind either as I find the texture and the particular-ness of the
pieces to be quite wonderful. This pattern covers the entire width
of the fabric at 38 inches. The pattern extends almost 18 inches
tall on a fabric which is 27 1/2 inches tall. The edges have been
folded and machine stitched, with a ribbon running along one side.
You can unstitch these to give yourself a little more fabric around the
edges. I am a great admirer of the constant work that was done to
create this. $185.US.
ITEM #13. This is a marketplace find in a small jewellery store
in a coastal town. The owner's brother is a jeweller in Taxco and
puts necklaces and other items together from items brought to him.
This is an 18 inch strand of red coral plus black. The red is roughly
cut with rough bits here and there. The black has been tumbled and
is perfectly round. I don't honestly have a way to ensure that it
is truly black coral as the beads are shiny and perfect looking and I don't
want to break one. I thought this was an interesting and exuberant
piece no matter what. $145.US.
ITEM #14. I
just have one comb at the moment. The sirena (mermaid) is being
pulled along by an alligator, floating through the water I imagine...
The comb is 5 1/4 inches across. $24.US.
ITEM #15. This is an amusing necklace which I bought in the
Coyoacan Sunday market. The vendor only had one which was unfortunate.
This is very simply made with seeds as the beads knotted on the string,
and a skull face pendant carved out of some curious material which I am
not sure about. It reminds me of tagua nut, which could have been
dyed to suit. The skull pendant is almost 1 1/4 inches tall, and
the necklace is 19 inches long. $28.US. (sold)
I have some beaded work here, done by Mayan women and sold in the market.
beads were brought in with the first traders, and were found to be a source
of creative ornament from the beginning...
ITEM
#8. The work on these pieces is amazing and time consuming.
This necklace (collare) is 30 inches long with 16 strands of beads,
woven into cones in 5 places around the piece. It slips on and sparkles.
$45.US.
ITEM #9. This 30 inch long seed bead necklace (collare) is
a little more subtle in colour than the one above, but it still sparkles
with life. It also has 16 strands of beads. $45.US.
ITEM
#10. There are two necklaces here (corbatas) - - when laid
out they stretch 15 inches from one end to the other. They slip on
like North American native Indian ones do, and use the same basic type
of stitches. It is only natural as there is a limited amount of ways
that beads could be strung together. Like all of the seed bead work,
they are rich in colour and full of life. $22.US/each
ITEM #11. Here are two bracelets or pulseras to fit tightly
around one's wrist. They each fit a 7 inch wrist - no larger.
The pulsera with the fish is $10.US and the peridot green/gold one below
is $6.US.
ITEM #12. This is a gorgeous little zip topped bag (bolsa).
This is well made and lined with black fabric. This measured 4 inches
by 2 3/4 inches so is perfect for a little change or a safe place to keep
a little jewellery in. It is the same pattern both front and back.
$25.US.
back
to the MEXICO first page
for
earrings from Oaxaca, please check here
to
learn more about textiles in Mexico, here is an interesting page
