The making of Jaspe is very labor intensive, taking weeks just to prepare the warp threads for the loom. Threads are bundled and bound with water resistant ties. These tied bundles are then dyed to create patterns BEFORE they are woven into the cloth! This technique of tie-dying threads before weaving them developed independently almost 2000 years ago in different parts of the world. In Southeast Asia the loomed fabric is called Ikat. In Guatemala it is Jaspe. In the five years we have been importing clothes made from Jaspe material we have never received exactlly the same design.

We visited this man and his family to see for ourselves the making of Jaspe. It was right after the pandemic, so another family tie-dyed threads and left them hanging outside the door of this family’s front door. The little boy is learning how to wind those threads onto the shuttles. He was so proud to show us his skills. His wife was making cheese in the room next to this one. There was no water source on the property, so they had to walk about a mile every day and to fetch and carry water back to the house and animals. A hard life, yes; but a happy life too, surrounded by the colors and rhythms of weaving Jaspe and the indescribably delicious cheeses and other home-grown grains and vegetables. It is an experience we will never forget.