Special Diaspora Session: Plain Weave and Cacao / TBD

This is a very special session meant to help connect members of the Native diaspora everywhere through the art of backstrap weaving. The 1.5-hour session with start off with a moment of gratitude and opening with cacao, and continue to cover introductory plain weave on a backstrap loom. It will be lead by Doña Lidia López, a Kaqchikel master weaver from San Antonio Aguas Calientes, Guatemala. 

Please feel free to prepare your own cacao for this event.

This session includes:

• Access to 1.5-hour live Zoom session with Doña Lidia (we will also send the recording if you can't make it live)
• A loom of your choice 
• Beginner Plain Weave PDF guide with high-def images and pre-recorded videos 

------

There are really only two steps to the plain weave on a backstrap loom. Once you get the movements, it becomes rather therapeutic to repeat them. But getting to that point might be challenging on your own - so join us to learn from master weaver Doña Lidia, step by step! 

Doña Lidia has been teaching backstrap weaving nationally and internationally for several decades. She is a wealth of knowledge and a patient teacher with experience teaching in English. 

This class will be held on Saturday,May 7th, from 10am-11:30pm Guatemala time (that's 9-10:30am Pacific time) via Zoom from Doña Lidia's home. Please make sure to check the time difference from where you are. The class will also be recorded and the recording will be made available to the participants after the class, in case you'd like to go back and see the steps again. (This also means that if you can't make it "live" to the session, you will still have access to the Zoom recording.)

Please join us with your backstrap loom ready to go. Choose from the options below, and please note any color preferences you may have. We'll do our best to accommodate your preferences. The Kids' Loom is prepared by our partner weavers at Lake Atitlán (Tzutujil) and are dyed with natural dyes. The Brocade Loom is prepared by Doña Lidia and her sisters with commercial mercerized cotton.

 ----

Scholarships:

We are pleased to offer 1-2 scholarships for this class. If interested, please reach out to Sarah at sarah.monroy.326 at gmail dot com by April 3rd.

We are putting together a little Scholarship Fund with the aim of making backstrap weaving accessible for the indigenous diaspora looking to reconnect with their roots. We appreciate contributions if you feel you are able, and would like to support the cause.

——-

We will be sending you an email with more class details (Zoom info and class PDF) during the week leading up to this class.

Questions? See the FAQs on our blog, and if not covered there, email us at hello@kakawdesigns.com.

Maximum number of participants: 12