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Cotton shawl, 'Natural Word'

Product ID: U169966

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Cotton shawl, 'Natural Word'

Delivery Estimate

This item is available for pre-order and will ship within 2 to 8 weeks. Learn More

Available in 2 to 8 weeks. Learn More

Details

Ixbalam Ke Women Weavers design a fabulous shawl featuring five bands with repetitive openwork patterns. They are symbols for life in the countryside featuring corrals (rhombuses) and inside, the patterns represent a dog's paw print. Butterflies flutter outside and the dots symbolize corn. The cotton wrap is woven on a traditional back strap loom while the fringe is braided and tied by hand.

Made in Guatemala

  • 100% cotton
  • Do not bleach
  • Hand wash or machine wash on gentle cycle
  • Washer and dryer safe
  • Wash in cold water
  • Free Gift Wrap? Yes
  • Premium Gift Wrap? Yes
  • 85 grams
  • 0.2 lbs
  • 177.8 cm L x 55.88 cm W
  • 70" L x 22" W
  • Fringe: 7 cm L
  • Fringe: 2.8" L
View in metric units View in US/English units

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Ixbalam Ke Women Weavers

Meet the Artist

Artfully crafted by Ixbalam Ke Women Weavers from Central America.

 

Meet the Artist

Ixbalam Ke Women Weavers

Ixbalam Ke Women Weavers

"What makes our products special is the amount of time it takes us to weave, but also the love and dedication that goes into the coordinated dance between arms and threads."

Born July 7, 1977, Amalia Gue learnt to weave when she was eight years old. Today she is the president of the Group of... Women Weavers Ixbalam Ke. She tells us the story of how the Group came to be through her limited command of Spanish. She speaks Q'eqchi, one of the many Maya languages and also the name of this community. It is one of the "co-official" languages of Guatemala.

"The group began to take shape in 2002, when a volunteer from the Peace Corps brought a group of tourists to visit our community, and they were fascinated by the quality and style of weaving. One of these tourists, the one that showed more interest, asked a lot of questions, like what did white represent, and why we did we weave? We could only tell her that this type of weave is representative of our region, and that it is something we have inherited from our families.

"We decided to call our group Ixbalam Ke because it means Lord of the Moon, but also, splitting the words, Ix means Woman, balam means moon, and Ke means new. And so 25 women got together under this name to start on this new adventure.

"This type of weave is worn on the traditional huipiles (skirts, dresses) from the Cobán area, and it is predominantly white. It is known as Pikbil de Cobán, and its woven on back strap looms. These weaves are characterized by floral or animal openwork patterns inspired by the region's wildlife.

"Prior to weaving, the women treat the cotton threads with nixtamal, which is prepared with corn and lime to make the threads thicker and sturdier. Weaving a standard size shawl can take up to a week, and it is finished off by hand, braiding the fringe into elaborate patterns.

"All the women in my community know how to weave. We've all grew up around looms. A girl begins to learn how to weave when she is eight years old, and she is taught little by little how to use the back strap loom when she comes home from school.

"I remember the first piece I wove, it was a small napkin and I was so happy when I finished it! I remember my mom being proud of it too. In my community, when a girl finishes her first weave she takes it as an offering and places it on the altar of the Church of the Calvary, so she may be blessed as a weaver for the many years and weaves to come.

"In 2004 we formalized our legal status as a Group, but we really didn't know much about anything. We hadn't studied, we didn't know what quality meant. We had never worried about the dimensions of a certain piece because the only thing we had ever woven were our own huipiles to wear, and so everyone's size was different. That same year we managed to obtain a special training program from a government institution, and they taught us all about high quality and about shawls, scarves, napkins and placemats, and the dimensions for each one. This training course lasted about a year and since then it has been the foundation on which we base our weaves.

"It also allowed us to teach more women and make our Group bigger. Now there are 65 of us!

"We work with white threads as a symbol of how near our land is to the sky and the clouds. It is a land of mountains and valleys. Our designs are inspired by the beauty that is all around us.

"What makes our products special is the amount of time it takes us to weave, but also the love and dedication that goes into the coordinated dance between arms and threads.

"I have a dream: that as a Group we get to sell our products to people in other countries. I would also like it if more women joined our Group because they can benefit from it. I can proudly say that all of our children are is school right now, and they are getting the best education they deserve thanks to our efforts as weavers and the support we get from the group.

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Return instructions

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This item is available for backorder and will ship within 2 to 8 weeks. Artists love to get backorders. Placing a backorder ensures that the artisan will do their best to create and deliver your item to our local office for shipment.

Although we cannot guarantee availability, we do expect to be able to fill the order within the timeframe indicated. But sometimes life happens - special materials may not be immediately available to the artist, or there might be some other circumstance beyond our control that could delay the shipment.

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WOMEN S M L XL XXL
4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22
BUST 35 - 36 37 - 38 39 - 41 42 - 44 46 - 48
WAIST 27 - 28 29 - 30 31 - 33 34 - 36 38 - 40
HIPS 37 - 38 39 - 40 42 - 43 45 - 46 49 - 50
MEN S M L XL XXL
CHEST 36 - 38 39 - 41 42 - 44 46 - 48 50 - 52
WAIST 30 - 32 32 - 34 35 - 37 38 - 41 43 - 45
NECK 14 - 14.5 15 - 15.5 16 - 16.5 17 - 17.5 18 - 18.5
SLEEVE 32.5 33.5 34.5 35.5 36.5
FINDING YOUR SIZE

Take your measurements with the tape measure over your under garments. If your measurements fall between sizes you may prefer the next larger size. Inseam, skirt and dress lengths vary by style and will be listed in the item description. Our sweaters are knit in standard American sizes, however actual measurements vary by style.

BUST / CHEST

Measure around the fullest part of chest under the arms and over the shoulder blades keeping the tape measure level.

WAIST

Measure around the smallest part of the waist keeping the tape measure comfortably loose. Most garments use the low waist measurement noted below.

LOW WAIST

Measure around the body approximately 1.5" below the natural waist (above). This is the area where most pants and skirts actually fit.

HIPS

Standing with your heels together, measure around the fullest part of the body approx 7"-8" below the waist.

NECK

Measure around the base of the neck keeping the tape measure comfortably loose.

SLEEVE

Bend elbow slightly and starting at the center back of the neck, measure across the shoulder, to the elbow and down to the wrist.

INSEAM

Our standard inseam length for women is 32" and 34" for men; however inseam measurements will vary slightly by style.

 

Belts with buckles are measured in inches that correspond to a waist size however, most people do not wear belts on the waist, they wear them closer to the hips. A buckle belt measurement is take from the end of the "pin" of the buckle to the middle hole on the belt. Generally there are 5 holes for size adjustment, with a 1" space between each, so the middle hole will the be average size of the belt.

For at tie belt (no buckle) measure the belt portion end to end and half of the tie portion. This again is the medium size of the belt.

For a soft fabric tie belt it can be called "1 size fits most" and the entire length of the belt should be measured and listed.

See buckle/tie belt size standards below.

WOMEN S M L XL  
4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22
inches 26 - 30 28 - 32 31 - 35 34 - 38 38 - 42
cm 76 - 86 81.5 - 91.5 86.5 - 96.5 91.5 - 101.5 96.5 - 106.5

+/- tolerance: 0.5 inches or 1.25 cm

MEN S M L XL XXL
inches 30 - 34 32 - 36 35 - 39 39 - 43 43 - 47
cm 81.5 - 91.5 86.5 - 96.5 91.5 - 101.5 96.5 - 106.5 109 - 119

+/- tolerance: 0.5 inches or 1.25 cm

Sash tie length

Lay sash/tie out flat away from the garment and measure from end to end.

Belt with buckle

Measure from the end of the pin of the buckle (where it touches the buckle) to the middle hole.

Belt without buckle

Measure from the belt portion end to end and half of the tie portion. This is will give you the medium size of the belt.

Download our printable ring sizing chart to find the perfect fit!

DOWNLOAD

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