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.
This is JoAnn Paulsen at the Ixchel Museum of Indigenous Dress in Guatemala City, Guatemala.
Lidia Lopez showing a ceremonial huipil and a huipil from Tactic and telling the meanings of the patterns on them.
Guatemalan women use raw cotton for weaving textiles. They prepare the cotton before spinning and dying it with natural dyes.
The women of Guatemala have worn the same traditional dress (called ‘traje’) for centuries. They have passed down the art of weaving these textiles through many generations.
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.
Lidia Lopez and her family demonstrate cooking a traditional Guatemalan meal called Pepian (also spelled Pipian.)