Maria and Claudette: traditional and contemporary weavers share a platform on TAFA

TAFA member, Whitney Taylor, (Little Mango Imports)

works with Mayan weavers in Guatemala.

Whitney with Sovesteña in Panajachel

Maria lives in a village in Guatemala.  She weaves brightly colored fabrics which will make their way to the American and European markets.  She also works on traditional huipiles, the blouses worn by women in her village, when she has time.  Maria has been to the capital a couple of times and visits relatives in nearby towns, but mostly stays in her village and likes it that way.  She knows how to read and write, has four small children, loves to laugh, and dreams of having a new fence built around her garden so the chickens will stay out of it.

Claudette also weaves.  Her work often depicts contrasts between light and dark, using urban themes that reflect her life in Paris.  She zooms in on a car's headlight, a hand on a door, high heels on the sidewalk...  sometimes there might be splashes of red, alluding to blood or violence.  Her work is not "pretty" and it will take that special collector who will want to buy it.  Claudette has exhibited internationally and traveled around the world .  She has no children, sometimes she drinks too much, and she definitely wishes she could stop thinking all the time.

 "Big Green Barn" by TAFA member Laura Foster Nicholson

Maria and Claudette are fictional, just made up characters in my mind, but symbolic of the range of women represented by TAFA's membership.  TAFA: The Textile and Fiber Art List is a project I started earlier this year.   Launched in February, the membership has grown to 115 working artists and fiber related businesses.  TAFA's main mission, to provide its members with access to larger markets, has at its core an intentional agenda of bringing Maria and Claudette together, sharing the same platform and audience.  These two women have little in common aside from the materials they use to execute their craft.  Their personal interests, how they spend their time, and the goals they have for their lives reflect not only the physical distance that separates them, but the cultural expectations their peers have of them.  They do, however, share a form of sign language.  If they stood side by side with their looms, they could speak to each other and learn from each other through their threads, the movements of their hands, and the final products.  A language only weavers would understand.

Both also share in the need for a market that will support their work.  Maria might be represented by someone like Whitney Taylor (first photo), or by TAMMACHAT Natural Textiles who work with weavers in Laos and Thailand.

Traditionally, the two weavers, Maria and Claudette, and those who represent them, would have looked for their markets in very different places.  Maria does not have computer skills nor access to galleries.  Her weaving would be described as a craft and would not qualify for most competitions.  Claudette would have to put a portfolio together, have professional photos taken and either look for high end customers on her own or have a gallery represent her in doing so.  Their markets and the words used to define who they are and what they do have been as separate as their physical worlds.

 "Koch Snowflake Fractal"  
Univeral Language Series 

by TAFA member Donna Loraine Contractor 

I've worked with handmade crafts from around the world for over twenty years.  Even now, I struggle with what words to use when I describe a product.  Is it art? Craft?  Handicraft?  Folk Art?  Traditional? Contemporary?  We are struggling with these terms on TAFA as well.  The middle column has a list of labels titled "Themes and Places".  Intended as an index, key words describe the mix found in TAFA's membership.  We decided to use  "Member Made" as a way to describe a member who makes their own work.  "Cultural Textile" describes members who are representing a group.  The challenge lies in keeping the list short enough to make it usable for those who visit the site and yet inclusive enough to cover the different kinds of work represented on TAFA.

Even worse: how do we describe Maria and Claudette?  Is Maria an artist? Fair traders often refer to people like her as "producers".  Claudette would certainly have a fit if she were labeled a crafter.  The divide that has separated these two has historically come from an ethnocentric position that, I believe, is fundamentally racist, classist, and must change.  Maria might actually have better technical skills than Claudette.  What makes her work less valid in the art world?  One might argue that she lacks imagination in design, that she is simply replicating work that has been done for centuries in her village.  Yet, many contemporary weavers are not weaving powerful, moody work like Claudette's.  They are interested in the materials, patterns, look of the weave itself.  TAFA member Laos Essential Artistry has an interesting video which tries to address this tension between the artist, creativity, and the relationship to the product itself.  In my mind, we stumble in trying to perpetuate this divide:

Why racist and classist? Because if the same work were made by an American, a Parisian, or an Australian, it would be called art and, a key point here, the price would also reflect it.  I believe that we have been passive about giving credit where it is due.  We believe that it's OK for the Marias of the world to live on minimal income generated by their skill while those of us who live in the "developed" world can charge what we consider a fair wage for our work.  Sure, there are many issues that affect the price point of a weaving or textile:  materials used, intricacy of detail, age, the currency exchange rate, creativity, fame, and so on.  But, the same debate that has raged on in the quilting arena also rages here.  Quilters debate what is art or craft all the time.  So, now we have "art quilts" which have their own shows and juried criteria, separate from "traditional quilts".  And, again, definition often makes a big difference in price point.  An Amish quilt may sell for several hundred dollars while an art quilt with the same skill level may enter the market for several thousand dollars.  It's a matter of how we perceive and define our selves, our work and those around us.  But, when it comes to Maria, I believe that most of us think it's OK for her to earn less because she is a peasant, lives in a hut, doesn't have much education and should just be grateful that we are helping her by buying her "stuff".



Fortunately, things are changing for Maria and other like her.  Several global trends in these last twenty years have decreased the supply of cultural crafts.  Industrialization, war, natural disasters and migration have all affected the production of traditional arts world wide.  It used to be easy to get gorgeous, intricate embroideries from any of these villages for almost nothing.  Travelers who became small importers brought these goods to market and appreciation for them grew.  Now it's hard to find the older stuff and we have to pay more for current work.  Less people are also making the traditional work, opting instead to work in factories or as maids or in the hospitality industry for secure pay and possible benefits.  War and natural disaster have disrupted village life around the world.  As less of the vintage textiles have become available, more efforts and recognition has been given to those who have the ability to perpetuate these age-old skills.  We also see more exchanges happening between the Marias and Claudettes, increasing market receptivity by developing products that use the skills, appeal to elite markets and generate a higher ticket price.  Escama Studio in Brazil is one such example.  Low income women crochet clothing and accessories out of pop tabs:

Women like Maria are traveling more, seeing how a Claudette would interact with their work. Novica carries their purses, selling them for a couple hundred dollars each, accompanied with a photo, bio and quote by the artist.  The Santa Fe International Folk Art Market sponsors traditional crafters from around the world every year.  They are called "artists" on their website and literature.  HandEye Magazine offers a glorious exploration of materials, techniques, and overwhelming eye candy from around the world.  They make no distinction between traditional and contemporary.  It's all crazy and all good.  FiberArts Magazine always has a section dedicated to traditional cultural crafts, although their focus is on contemporary textile art and craft.  The trend moves towards inclusion and recognition.  We need this to happen in order to both preserve the knowledge the Marias have and to encourage the vision a Claudette might bring to the medium.  We still have a long way to go, but all of us can help redefine what the platform is that we share with each other.  It starts with exposure, by standing next to each other, and continues with the dialogue that is in our hands, that sign language that we can speak through our craft.  Finally, it matures when all of us can make a decent living through our work, have our basic needs met, and know that life as a working artist can happen here, in Paris or in a village in Guatemala.

 Alia Kate with Fatima

TAFA member, Kantara Crafts, 

works with weavers in Morocco.

Interested in becoming a TAFA member?  TAFA members all have an established web presence.  They are working artists, textile or fiber related businesses, authors, collectors, or gallery owners.  For more information, check out the Membership page on our site.

Maria and Claudette: traditional and contemporary weavers share a platform on TAFA

Flying Messages to the Dead by Erin Stoy and John Barrie

Kite Flying in Guatemala Honors the Dead

Communication and contact with ancestors is an important part of life for people in communities throughout the world, who often put aside a time each year to commemorate and honor this connection. In Guatemala, as in much of Latin America, this commemoration takes place on the first and second days of November, with the first (El Día de Los Muertos or ‘Day of the Dead’) being the focal point. Among many activities that take place across the country, one of the most striking can be found in the town of Santiago Sacatepéquez, situated at a distance of 25km from Antigua.

A Gigantic Circular Kite with its Barrileteros

An amazing spectacle appears in the first days of November: Gigantic circular kites up to 15m (50 ft) in diameter, bearing designs of breathtaking intricacy and color, are exhibited by their proud creators. Other kites of up to 5m (16ft) in diameter fly high above the crowds. The giant kites are constructed over a period of three months by groups of barrileteros (kite makers), who compete on November 1st for prizes in different categories. The prizes received are modest, but the honor and respect gained by winning are great.

The practice of building giant kites in Santiago Sacatepéquez is now in its 109th year, and -- while its origins are somewhat hazy – many people there view the tradition as symbolizing the communication between this earthly realm and the elevated sphere of the dead. Another popular view is that the flapping of the kites’ tails in the air scares away evil spirits, giving good spirits the freedom to enjoy the day with their still-living relatives.

Guatemalan Kites Communicate with the Dead
and Scare Away Evil Spirits

The great majority of those involved with building and flying kites in Santiago are Kaqchiquel-speaking indigenas (indigenous people), and many traditional Mayan spiritual ceremonies take place around the creation of the kites each year. The process of creating, showing, and flying kites in Santiago has become an integral part of the identity of the indigenous people of the town, something that is rightly regarded with enormous pride. The residents of Santiago are happy to share this tradition with outsiders, both Guatemalan and from further afield, and every year on November 1st the town is filled with visitors eager to witness the spectacle for themselves. Visitors are also welcome to attend the wider range of events leading up to November 1st. The people of Santiago Sacatepéquez invite you to witness their colorful festivities first-hand!

Erin Stoy, John Barrie and Little Azucena in Guatemala

Erin Stoy, a regular contributor of Fiber Focus, owns La Chapina Huipil Crafts. She is an American whoʼs lived in Guatemala for over a year and a half, caring for the daughter she and her husband are in the process of adopting. During her time in Guatemala,she has developed a passion for Mayan textiles. She has been selling arts and crafts she makes from used huipiles (traditional, hand-woven Guatemalan blouses) since October 2007. Her blog is http://huipil-crafts.blogspot.com/ and her Etsy shop, which is stocked full of treasures, is http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5857359. Visit her!

Flying Messages to the Dead by Erin Stoy and John Barrie

La Chapina Huipil Crafts Expands Etsy Store: Guatemalan Supplies!

Recycled Huipil Baby Doll made by Erin Stoy

It's not easy to find your niche on Etsy- the competition is fierce! But, some sellers find their market and are able to grow their stores into healthy operations. I've had the pleasure of watching Erin Stoy of La Chapina Huipil Crafts do exactly that! I asked Erin to share her experience as I think she has hit on the key to making a living through online sales: balance your handmade creations with complementary supplies. Look around your environment and see what you can find that others might want!

Other key lessons to learn from Erin: clear photos, affordable prices, healthy selection (her store is stocked with over 200 items right now), and good descriptions.

When I joined Etsy in May of this year, my plan was simply to continue selling my hand-sewn crafts made from recycled Guatemalan textiles. I'd had success doing that off-Etsy for the previous seven months, especially with my Christmas ornaments and personalized art for kids' rooms. However, with sales in my new shop starting off slowly, I began to brainstorm ways I could expand my product offerings. I noticed that the top sellers on Etsy were almost all suppliers, and that certainly made sense: Etsy is a market full of creative people wanting to buy interesting things with which they can make their own arts and crafts! So instead of trying to compete solely based on my handicrafts, I began my search in the local markets and shops here in Antigua, Guatemala, for textiles to sell as supplies. I'd already been selling bags full of my textile scraps, so this was the next logical step, and I began offering cintas (hand-woven hair ribbons) and squares of textile fabric, along with the occasional whole huipil (traditional hand-woven blouse worn by indigenous women and girls in Guatemala).

Recycled Huipil Scrap Sampler Bag

It took a change in mindset to make the move to sell something unrelated to textiles, as the name of my shop was and is "La Chapina Huipil Crafts". At first the idea of this change made me uncomfortable, as if I were abandoning my original vision, but then I came across a great little shop that sold ceramic beads made in Guatemala and Peru. I loved these little beads and charms, and I knew many of my customers would, too. Tiny Guatemalan people in traditional dress, little animals, fruits and veggies, and skulls (for Day of the Dead!) are just some of the styles of beads I now regularly stock in my shop.

Pendant Beads

Once I started selling beads, I found myself really wanting to try my own hand at making jewelry for the shop. However, jewelry is one of the most saturated categories on Etsy, so I needed to make a niche for myself. I found a local source for beads made of tagua, which grows in the South American rainforest and is an excellent and eco-friendly alternative to ivory. Using dyed beads and slices made from tagua seeds and nuts, I've had a great time making some simple jewelry, and the fact that it is environmentally friendly fits with my previous emphasis on recycled materials.

Ecofriendly Tagua Bracelet and Earrings Set

A few months into my expansion, three of my ten shop sections are dedicated to supplies. Some of my best sellers are different sizes and styles of Guatemalan worry dolls, ceramic beads, and lovely small prints -- great as scrapbooking embellishments -- by a local watercolor artist. I also carry some wood items like miniature handpainted masks and fruit.

Watercolor Maya Mother and Baby

Large Guatemalan worry dolls

Although huipiles are no longer the sole focus of my shop, they still have a special place among the other Latin American crafts and supplies. Offering supplies has greatly increased sales (though lowering the average selling price per item) and brought in many new customers who are not necessarily interested in the items I make myself. And perhaps most importantly, the search for new supplies is a lot of fun !

Spanish Rubber Stamp - Excelente with Star

Erin Stoy of La Chapina Huipil Crafts is an American whoʼs lived in Guatemala for over a year, caring for the daughter she and her husband are in the process of adopting. During her time in Guatemala,she has developed a passion for Mayan textiles. She has been selling arts and crafts she makes from used huipiles (traditional, hand-woven Guatemalan blouses) since October 2007. Her blog is http://huipil-crafts.blogspot.com and her Etsy shop is http://lachapina.etsy.com.

La Chapina Huipil Crafts Expands Etsy Store: Guatemalan Supplies!

Mayan Hands: Working in Guatemala and in the US to Support Indigenous Women

The history of Weave A Real Peace, or WARP, is closely tied to Mayan Hands, an organization working with Guatemalan textile artisans. One of WARP’s founders, Deborah Chandler, is the in-country director. And Mary Joan Ferrara-Marsland, Mayan Hands’ US director of marketing and distribution, is a long-time WARP member, as is Brenda Rosenbaum, founder of Mayan Hands (MH). Both Deborah and Mary Joan have served as WARP board members. Those who attended WARP’s 2007 Annual Meeting in Guatemala visited several cooperatives and met weavers who work with MH.

This article was written for WARP's Summer 2008 newsletter and both organizations have requested to have it reprinted here on Fiber Focus. WARP is a must read for those of you who are interested in connecting with other weavers committed to social justice


Part 1 - The Guatemalan Side by Deborah Chandler

I am writing from my desk in our warehouse on the edge of Guatemala City. I work here with Julio Cardona, my administrative assistant. Our designer, Joanne de Rybar, works in her home studio in the city. Mayan Hands also shares the rent of a small house in Panajachel, where the group leaders we work with go monthly to meet with Teresa Gomez, our field worker, to deliver their work and pick up their new yarn and orders. The 200+ weavers/crocheters/ embroiderers/basket makers live in ten communities scattered across the western and northern highlands; it takes a very long day to get from one end to the other (two days is better). Teresa also visits nearly every community every month. Some days I think that describing Mayan Hands realistically would just be a listing of problems to be solved: acquiring quality yarn, way more difficult than you would imagine; transporting people/goods through mega-highway construction that adds hours to any trip, on buses that too often get drivers or passengers robbed or killed; suppliers who say every day they will send what we need but don’t do it; coping with shipping fees that jump by 100%; the government suddenly requiring verification of paperwork done years earlier that takes a day or two of standing in lines; the phones going out for three weeks; the bank changing their policy of freeing funds on US checks from same day to 10 days to 15 days to 21 days and calling that a privilege; discovering that instructions were given to the women incompletely and most of a month’s work is unacceptable. Etc.

We regularly must decide how to respond to challenges in the women’s lives such as: an attack of African bees during a group meeting that wounded humans and killed livestock; husbands and sons who disappeared en route to the US to find work; family members murdered while in Guatemala City; women or their children living with debilitating health problems; robbery of the entire month’s income for a whole group held up by ten (yes 10!) masked gunmen. And don’t forget flooding, earthquakes, mudslides, and other natural disasters, all part of the Guatemalan landscape. In every case, what do we do to help, if anything?

But other days I remember: last year we paid the women over one million quetzales (almost $150,000). We spent approximately Q. 250,000 on yarn. After those two biggest expenses, in the five years I have been with Mayan Hands we have reduced our operating expenses from unknown to 12% to 8%, and as a result last year actually broke even, i.e., covered our expenses for the first time. (That does not include the salaries of the four of us working here in Guatemala, which are donated.) Through constant encouragement and provision of school supplies, we can now say that all the women’s children are going to school, including their daughters. In addition, we have developed our sister education project, Oxlajuj B’atz’, which provides the women with workshops in four areas: artisan techniques, small business skills, democracy and organization, and women’s health.

The women all say that being able to count on having an income every month is even more important than the amount they earn, because it allows them to plan ahead. By providing steady work we are making a significant difference in the lives of the women, but the real changes will be for the next generation, for their daughters and sons who will have options the women never had. And for that, the struggle is worth it.

Part 2 - the US Side by Mary Joan Ferrara-Marsland

The US distribution seems pretty mundane in comparison to the Guatemala side of things, but this part is absolutely necessary, too. Without a market, all the work in Guatemala would be for nothing. We certainly do not have many issues to deal with, compared to the obstacles that confront the Guatemala side daily. After nine years of working out of my house, last year I moved the operation into a warehouse space of about 1800 sq ft. in the rolling countryside of Ijamsville, Maryland. The space can be very cold in winter and very hot in summer—the downside— but is still much better than lack of space and having products all over my house and in sheds out back. We also worked out of my one-car garage, which was even more uncomfortable than the warehouse. Our work team now consists of me, the US director of marketing and distribution, and two part-time employees, my assistants and the main packers, Dana Dallas and Laura Mayer. As was my house, the new space is shared with another Guatemalan crafts organization that helps women, one with which many of you are familiar, UPAVIM Crafts.

A separate, smaller division of Mayan Hands is located in Albany, NY. The founder of Mayan Hands, Brenda Rosenbaum, works out of her home, doing retail sales and organizing consignments for people who want to help MH. Brenda also gives talks when asked, and is very much our “ambassador.” Much as she loves the contact with customers through sales and presentations, her favorite activity is developing new products, always looking for something new and exciting for our customers.

We receive orders from our print catalog via e-mail, fax, or phone. We hope to go to a wholesale website in the near future. Our regular customers are in the US, Canada, the UK, and occasionally other parts of the world. They are mainly shops, many of which are fair trade, and also church groups, website based companies, non-profit organizations, and individuals who do shows and fairs. Presently very little is sold retail from the warehouse but there may be more sales here when we get a retail website going. We usually process and ship orders within a day or two. Customers have 30 days to pay once they have established an account. The early part of the year is slow—it picks up as the year goes on until we are non-stop super busy in October and November, our two busiest months and when half of our sales for the year take place.

Although I am also in charge of marketing, we really are unable to do much. There is no advertising budget so I try to come up with ingenious low budget ways of letting people know about things—special mailings and e-mails mostly. Most people find our site on the web or hear of us by word of mouth. Even without advertising, we have managed to increase sales every year, perhaps a result of consistently high quality products and the attentive service given to our customers. Even now, while a lot of businesses are suffering, Mayan Hands sales are up for the year.

Shipments leave Guatemala once every six weeks or so, and arrive at Dulles Airport in Virginia. A customs broker does the necessary import paperwork and clears the shipments for us. Then a trucker brings the shipments to our warehouse. There is usually about a one week turnaround time from pickup in the Guatemalan warehouse to delivery to our warehouse. It takes a couple of days to unpack and process the shipments. It is hard work, but it is always fun to see what comes, both products we are expecting and any new products recently developed.

At my end, the first of the two main frustrations is having to backorder products because we do not have what people want. When I first started it was impossible to get much at all. Once Deborah started overseeing production (five years ago), backorders decreased significantly. After reading the Guatemala side of the story you can fully understand why we do not have certain products at times. Unfortunately a lot of customers do not understand the challenges at that end, and they get very frustrated, too. It can take up to a year to get some items when there are problems with material procurement or groups.

The second biggest frustration is people that do not pay on time (or at all!) and need constant reminders. For the most part, though, I say we have the best customers in the world. They are very supportive of what we do and really want to help people better their lives through fair trade. Because they are committed to fair trade they seem to be more conscientious. Overall, it is great work and we are all really happy to be able to do something meaningful and fun that benefits so many women every year. Who could ask for more than being surrounded by beautiful textiles day in and day out? I think the answer to that is really easy….

Note: Some of Mayan Hands products are available online through A Greater Gift, a program of SERRV International. Looks like Mayan Hands could use some volunteers! Contact them if you have time or expertise that would help them deal with the logistics of production and marketing.

Mayan Hands: Working in Guatemala and in the US to Support Indigenous Women

Job Opportunity: Executive Director of MayaWorks

MayaWorks, a proud member of the Fair Trade Federation, is a microenterprise nonprofit organization focused on marketing the handiwork of Maya artists in Guatemala. Founded in 1990, the organization is seeking a passionate, committed, and entrepreneurial new executive director to lead the organization through its next stage of growth. The Executive Director will be responsible for setting the strategic vision of the organization, and for overseeing all aspects of financial management and fund development for the organization’s $600,000 budget. This position is located in Chicago, IL, with periodic travel to Guatemala.

To Apply:
MayaWorks has engaged Koya Consulting to manage this search. Please send cover letter and resume to Dana Levy at executivesearch@koyaconsulting.com, and put MayaWorks in the title
line.

Candidates will be reviewed on an ongoing basis. MayaWorks is an equal opportunity employer.

Job Opportunity: Executive Director of MayaWorks

Yolanda: A Lifetime of Embroidery in Patzun, Guatemala

by Erin Stoy


Huipiles are the traditional, hand-woven blouses worn by women in Guatemala, and the designs vary by village. Those made in Patzun feature red or burgundy fabric with thin stripes. They are different from many other Guatemalan huipiles because the adornments are embroidered onto the fabric instead of being woven into it. Yolanda Rodriguez Yos, a 22-year-old woman from Patzun, estimates that 90% of women in her hometown wear traje (traditional Mayan dress). The remaining women work in the capital and wear ropa americana (American clothing) much of the time.

Yolanda's mother taught her second eldest daughter to embroider when she was 12 years old. This is a common age for girls to learn, although daughters of wealthier families may not learn until they are 15 or 20 years old. These wealthier girls do not need to embroider to help the family earn money.

The women of Yolanda's family, however, embroidered huipiles to sell at the Sunday market in Patzun. Yolanda believes that about 85% of women in Patzun know how to embroider. For families like hers, it is too expensive to purchase completed huipiles, so they purchase fabric from local weavers and create and embroider the huipiles themselves. The Rodriguez Yos family purchases its fabric from an aunt, who weaves but does not embroider.

As a young teenager, Yolanda would go to school until noon, come home and eat lunch, then work on embroidery from 1:00-6:00pm. After a break for dinner, she would embroider again from 7:00pm-midnight. Her mother would have one huipil made by Yolanda; one by her older sister, Erika; and one by herself to take to the market each Sunday. The exchange rate is currently 7.38 quetzales per dollar. Each huipil would sell for about 175Q, 110Q of which was materials (70Q for woven fabric and 45 for thread). That left a whopping 65Q (less than US$9) for 70 hours of work! And most of that money had to be re-invested in fabric and thread for the next huipil.


Yolanda's sister, Erica, began embroidering at age eight and never liked it. Yolanda laughs that Erica's huipiles would feature about four flowers, whereas the average one has about 20. Yolanda and her mother frequently had to finish Erika's huipiles to get them ready to sell. Yolanda enjoyed using her imagination to design flowers and choose colors, which remain her favorite aspects of embroidery. (Sewing the randa, or piece that joins the two pieces of woven fabric, is the part she likes the least.)

"Randa", embroidery covering the seam between two pieces of fabric.

For Christmas, each girl would receive fabric and thread in order to make a huipil for herself.

Yolanda is particularly efficient in her embroidery, in that it takes her one week to do what it takes many women two to four weeks to do. Instead of layering two colors on top of each other, making the embroidery very thick, she interconnects the different colors, making only one layer of thread. This saves not only time, but also money spent on thread. And she prefers the finished look to that of the thicker embroidery.

The basic steps for creating a huipil from Patzun, if one is starting with cloth already made:

1. Sew two panels of fabric together. This embroidery can be done in patterns of triangles, jugs, straight lines, or knots in the form of flowers.

2. Choose the shape of the collar opening shape: round, square, diamond, or star.

3. Divide the fabric into visual quadrants. With pen,draw flowers, leaves, and buds. (Some women, like Yolanda, prefer to draw and then embroider one quadrant at a time.) Be very careful when drawing the circle around the collar to make sure you're not going lopsided. The design should be the same in all four quadrants, but the colors can be different on the front and back. This is the step in which the embroiderer can use the most creativity and imagination, selecting a combinations of colors and designing the flowers. Keep in mind the question of purpose: Is the huipil for a wedding or fiesta or for everyday use? This will help determine the formality of the design.

4. Design sleeve adornments, if they will be used. Some people prefer large flowers here, some small, some none at all. Yolanda's mother is of the belief that there should be very little adornment on the sleeves, if any. Large flowers are too extravagant, the equivalent of wearing too much jewelry or makeup.

5. Complete embroidery.

6. Sew sides of huipil.

Yolanda has made about 200 huipiles in her life (10 are ones she wears even today) but hasn't done much embroidery in the last three years. Between her social work studies at a local university, her English classes, and her job as a housekeeper, she hasn't had any extra time for sewing. However, she would like to do more in the future, and plans to teach her future daughters because it's a valuable skill for Guatemalan women to have.


Erin Stoy of La Chapina Huipil Crafts is an American whoʼs lived in Guatemala for over a year, caring for the daughter she and her husband are in the process of adopting. During her time in Guatemala,she has developed a passion for Mayan textiles; she has been selling arts and crafts she makes from used huipiles (traditional, hand-woven Guatemalan blouses) since October 2007. Her blog is http://huipil-crafts.blogspot.com and her Etsy shop is http://lachapina.etsy.com.

This photo of Erin with her daughter, Azucena, was taken in November, 2007.

Yolanda: A Lifetime of Embroidery in Patzun, Guatemala

Guest Artist: Erin Stoy of La Chapina Huipil Crafts

Used huipil Erin purchased in Santiago Atitlan's market.

Erin Stoy is an American who’s lived in Guatemala for over a year, caring for the daughter she and her husband are in the process of adopting. The case has been frought with difficulties, making their stay an unusually long one. Despite the financial and emotional stress of the situation, Erin is grateful that – as Azucena’s legal foster mother in Guatemala – she and her husband have had the opportunity to have their little girl with them since the age of eight months. Another positive thing to come from the experience has been Erin’s new passion for Guatemalan textiles; she has been selling arts and crafts she makes from used huipiles (traditional, hand-woven Guatemalan blouses) since October 2007.

Erin with Azucena in Nov '07.

In August of 2007, a local orphanage was raided here in Guatemala, and political tensions surrounding international adoption were running very high. Agencies began suggesting that fostering parents, like us, stay inside with our kids until things calmed down. Rumors abounded that the police were going to question any gringos they saw with Guatemalan children. So for close to two months, I only left the apartment with our daughter, Azucena, a handful of times.

Market in Santiago Atitlan

As one would imagine, being confined to apartment grounds with a toddler for that long was challenging. Eager for something to do while Azucena napped or played on her own, I started looking at craft blogs for inspiration. I hand-sewed about 20 stuffed animals and little dolls out of Azucena’s outgrown baby clothes and, later, felt. It was a fun diversion from the stressful reality of our situation.

Baby Doll

I had long thought something really pretty could be made from the embroidered collars of huipiles. Once I got the sewing bug, I started visiting a shop here in Antigua that frequently had used collars and other huipil scraps for sale. The first things I made were some pillows that featured collars from Chichicastenango; I embroidered Spanish words like “esperanza” (hope) and “amistad” (friendship) within the circle formed by the collar.

One of the pillows Erin made from a huipil collar from Chichi.

For my next project, I purchased several small of bags of huipil scraps in order to make Christmas ornaments for some family members back home. Afterwards, I posted photos of the ornaments on my personal blog, and the next thing I knew, I had people leaving comments saying they wanted to buy sets for their own families. An online friend who was coming to Guatemala kindly offered to transport any items I sold back to the US for shipping through the USPS. I accepted and was thrilled to have the opportunity to earn some money to help with the many expenses we were incurring by having to maintain households in both the US and Guatemala. Largely through word of mouth throughout the online adoption world, I ended up selling about $2500 worth of Christmas ornaments over the next couple months.

Christmas ornaments.

After Christmas, I began making new items from the huipil fabric, including animals, simple baby dolls, fabric magnets inspired by Semana Santa street carpets, and personalized art for children’s rooms. Lately I’ve been doing more collages. This spring, I moved the craft items from my personal blog to a separate crafts blog and opened a shop on Etsy. I hope to continue making and selling arts and crafts from these beautiful used Guatemalan textiles; they are too lovely not to be re-purposed and enjoyed. Maybe I’ll even get a sewing machine when I get back to the States!

Christmas ornaments.

Erin’s work as can be seen on huipil-crafts.blogspot.com and lachapina.etsy.com.

Guest Artist: Erin Stoy of La Chapina Huipil Crafts