This is a great example of a traditional Guatemalan household. The people in the video are Lidia Lopez and her family from San Antonio Aguas Calientes making Pepian and tortillas. They are dressed in ‘traje’ which is traditional clothing Mayan women have worn for centuries. This household is very indicative of many of the homes in Guatemala today.
Huipils and textiles made by Mayan women in Guatemala are handmade. The thread is made by cleaning and spinning cotton.
Guatemalan Woman Showing Huipils
Guatemalan families often incorporate corn into their meals in the form of tortillas.
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.
The Guatemalan women make thread out of raw cotton and wrap it around a yarn winder. This keeps the string from getting tangled as they weave it in and out of the pegs on a warping board.
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.