Weaving

Weaving

Throughout the colonial era beginning in 1598, until World War II, a pastoral economy dominated by sheep husbandry gripped New Mexico. Wool weaving engaged entire families and small villages; it became one of the most prolific crafts of the past two and a half centuries. Weavers supplied material for clothing, blanketry, bedding and carpeting for domestic use as well as blankets and yardage for trading. Yearly trade caravans sent hundreds of blankets south into New Spain. In 1807, master weavers Juan and Ignacio Bazan were brought in from Puebla (Mexico) in an effort to upgrade the weaving done in the Rio Arriba. The influence of the master weavers was soon felt and contributed significantly to a lasting textile industry in New Mexico.

If weaving was the most prolific craft produced in New Mexico, the embroidered wool ground known as colcha was and is perhaps the most time-consuming craft practiced by Hispanics.