Weaving and Sewing for Our New Preschool

Grupo Cajola (the community group that has been accompanying us in creating and growing our business) is starting a preschool that will be for our preschool children and the children in the other women’s business (the egg farm) this first year (then it will be opened up to the community.) The school will be very good for our children and will be very good for our work, too!

The school is based on the ideas of the schools in Reggio Emilia, Italy. These schools, dating back to the 1940’s and considered by UNESCO as the leading pre-schools in the world, have developed a child-centered approach to learning based on leading child development theories and emphasizing the development of critical thinking and collective work. Our school will be based on learning our maternal language, Mam, and learning Spanish as a second language. The name of our school is "Wisdom of Our Elders School" meaning that the school is being founded on the principles of the Maya Mam cosmovision and spirituality.

We have been weaving and sewing for the school. So far we have made cushions for the children to nap on, large pillows for the reading area, bags for the children to carry their things in, and table cloths for the eating are. The photo shows one of the table cloths. The tables have been made by Talent Tree Carpentry of Cajola, another project of Grupo Cajola. This is our first “rounded” project. We learned to sew a fell seam, and we see that we need to practice our curved seams a bit, too!

Weaving New Combinations

Something we like about our work is that we are always creating new designs, using new colors, or using our same palette of colors in new ways. We brainstorm a bit about what we want to do next, each of us thinking of different color combinations. Then we have to weave a sample to see how it actually looks. Lots of times it looks as beautiful when it comes off the loom as we imagined it might. But other times it isn’t quite right and we have to make a few changes or try something different. We are weaving several of these combinations of one fabric in diamonds of two colors and the other complementary stripes in four colors. Sometimes combining unlikely colors creates something very interesting (and sometimes not so interesting!)

Here are our latest diamonds and stripes…in lime green and rose pink. And just wait until you see how they look made into table linens!

Fair-ly Trading at the Philadelphia Gift Show

We are pleased to report that we had a great experience at the Philadelphia Gift Show. We met lots of people, wrote a few orders, made new friends, and really learned A LOT. Best of all, everyone responded so well to our work. Jean, Caryn, and Bernie (the US “team”) wore our aprons and were talked about wherever they went. Our shawls continue to amaze people, as did the equally-amazing work from our backstrap looms -- our “celebration placemats” and headbands in particular. We talked with other Fair Trade vendors as passionate as we are about handmade and being able to earn a living from your work. The team returned to New Jersey energized for the next trade show!

Off to the Philadelphia Gift Show

We are so excited to be on our way to the Philadelphia Gift Show to be presenting our products to gift boutiques and other gift buyers. Jean of J.BAES has designed our handsome booth (see our photo below). Though tiny, we think it shows off our handwork, the lush colors of our textiles, and how it might look in a boutique. We will be showing products we have selected for the spring and summer season. And for the “most likely” potential and actual clients we will be giving out small delicious chocolates that Doña Pancha has made especially for us that have been tied with our very own fabric ribbons.

You can see more of Jean’s work at www.jbaes.com.