The beautiful Huipils and other textiles made by the Mayan women of Guatemala are all hand made. The first step in the process is to clean and spin raw cotton into thread. The thread is then dyed and wrapped around a spindle so it can be managed easier when weaving on a backstrap loom.
Guatemalan people celebrating ‘Feria de Panajachel,’ a festival held every October.
Lidia Lopez is an expert in backstrap loom weaving. Here she is showing the different patterns used on huipils from the different villages around Guatemala.
Feria Panajachel takes over the town every October to celebrat Saint Francis of Assisi.
Lidia Lopez teaching the art and techniques of backstrap loom weaving.
Women in Guatemala begin weaving by creating a ‘warp’ out of yarn. They wind the yarn around pegs on a warping board, crossing the strings in the middle to create a striped pattern. The warp is then attached to the bars of the loom and they are ready to begin the weaving process.
This little girl from Guatemala is wearing traditional clothing and carrying worry dolls.