Tenido a mano

TAM-164
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OF OUR NATURAL DYE WORKSHOPS

Our studio

Elsa Sánchez and Eric Chávez founded Teñido A Mano in the city of Oaxaca in 2013. Our studio specializes in the use of local natural dye stuffs with sustainable practices. 

 

All colors change with time and exposure to the light, for us it’s important to invest time and materials to improve color fastness. 

 

We offer a variety of programs for people interested in learning about Oaxaca’s hand made textiles, the stories behind them, and craftsmanship of natural colors.

Purple
Wool dyed with cochineal and over-dyed with indigo. Photo by Hillary McMullen
Cochineal
Cochineal insects (Dactylopius coccus) Harvested from farms in San Bartolo Coyotepec and Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca.
Indigo
Añil - Indigo (Indigofera suffruticosa) Indigo is planted and harvested in Santiago Niltepec, located in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec Region in Oaxaca.
Manostdv
Hands after dyeing in the organic indigo vat in Teotitlan del Valle

Our natural dye workshops

Join one of our private workshops to learn about the use of natural dyes. We aim to help you understand how the color works on the fibers during our hands-on sessions. You will gain a solid basis that will allow you to experiment on your own with local dye materials.

Table top studio TAM
Elsa´s hand

Our textiles

Our rugs are are woven by hand with natural wool fiber, all done with the tapestry weaving technique. Each one has a story to tell, a color palette of natural dyes and original designs.

Our designs

The designs and patterns often reflect our region’s history and cultural heritage. Some are passed down from older generations, others are inspired by myths, legends, and our daily life. In our studio we are in constant exploration and experimentation starting with the color, we love making abstractions from landscapes and the traditional designs to create contemporary pieces. The results are unique textiles that celebrate nature’s beauty.

Eric´s rug from drone
Detalle Yute
Circulo de color
Hilos taller
Tapete tejido

Working with color

We only work with natural dyes, and love combining colors to create a natural harmony. From nature to our dye kitchen, we take inspiration from hundreds of yarn swatches in our studio and establish color palettes to produce one-of-a-kind rugs one at a time.

We intend to share with you our traditions and heritage through our work.

The weaving process

The weaving process is time consuming and requires skill, to complete a rug from beginning to end could take months of work.
Starting with the selection of the wool, we buy wool already spun from the highlands from Oaxaca and Puebla.
Then, preparing wool for dyeing consists in carefully washing and mordanting the wool to prevent it from shocking it and achieving fastness in the color.

Rueca

How to buy one of our textiles?

Our production is entirely hand-crafted one piece at a time, resulting in a slow textile creation with minimal environmental impact.

We encourage you to contact us directly to request a quotation and production timeframe, we will gladly answer all of your inquiries.

You can also choose from our online catalogue and we will send you a quote. We specialize in custom orders and ship to the United States and Canada.

 

ABOUT US

Elsa and Eric have collaborated with local and international dyers, artists and brands.

Learn more about their professional backgrounds and experience in the world of textiles.

About us