Guatemalan Textiles Lecture by Virginia Glenn

Virginia Glenn and her husband Norm are intrepid travelers.  Virginia loves ethnic textiles and shared her recent travels to Guatemala where she and her husband bought many pieces that she shared with the guild at the September meeting. 

 

Many of the textiles she brought back with her are handwoven huipil with various types of embroideries.  Some were hand embroidered, some had machine embroidery and some had decorations that were hard to tell how they had been attached.

One of the outstanding pieces in Virginia's collection was this cloth shown below.  It is a warp and weft ikat called Jaspe.  Here is a little article about this marvelous type of textile and how it is made.   Virginia intends to have this yardage sewn into a garment for her own use. 

 The photo below is of a huipil that is entirely covered with embroidery.  It  was the most expensive thing Virginia purchased in her Guatemalan travels and is exquisite.  Virginia explains that she does not barter with the indigenous people as she travels.  She feels that the amount of expertise and time that goes into the making of their textiles , is worth whatever they ask.

In the photo below, Virginia stands between two sisters showing off their handwoven huipil. Many huipil have neck openings that are too small for most American sized women.  The Guatemalan women tend to be shorter and smaller in stature.

 

Below is one of the sashes Virginia has in her collection. This textile is very similar to one shown on the cover of Peter Collingwood's book, The Maker's Hand.

 

 

The lecture and accompanying textiles were a delight and the guild was very happy to have had this opportunity to hear the lecture.  Thank you Virginia and Norm for making it possible.

There are a couple of books that Virginia recommended and are readily available in the U.S. from Thrums Books.  A Textile Traveler's Guild to Guatemala and  Traditional Weavers of Guatemala  Both books are by Deborah Chandler who wrote a book well known to weavers - Learning to Weave with Debbie Redding. (Debbie Redding and Deborah Chandler are one in the same person).