I’m so very happy to be offering this first time tour to the famous Zapotec weaving village of Teotitlan de Valle 45 minutes east of Oaxaca City. We take a deep dive into this ancient indigenous culture through the lens of contemporary threads, dyes, fiber, weaving and other cultural traditions including food, dance and artisans. It’s a chance to get off the beaten path and go a little deeper.

This is a hands on tour where we’ll create our own natural dyes from plants and bugs. Suitable for all dying skill levels you’ll learn about mordanting and about using modifiers to tease different colors from the same material. We’ll work with classics like cochineal and indigo. But we’ll also explore dodder, marigolds, pecan leaves and endemic zapote and huizache. Plus a chance to make a wool rebozo using shibori techniques and natural dyes. And everyone shares in the collective experiments of the week taking home a colorful range of naturally dyed yarns and your own sample and dye recipe book.

Demetrio Bautista Lazo, our maestro, teaches us about natural dyes, yarns and tapestry weaving. His knowledge is deep and wide. His family will host us at their compound, a beautiful bed and breakfast, La Cupola, that is also their studio and showroom. His wife Maribel fuels us daily with home cooked breakfasts and lunches. Our mornings are spent here (birdsong is in the air) and our afternoons are spent exploring the beautiful village markets, churches, community museums and visiting private homes. We’ll meet artisans, culture keepers and expats living in this special land.

Plus, in keeping with the off the beaten path flavor of this tour, we visit a remote village to meet the last of the women hand carding and spinning wool with a drop spindle. No Spanish spoken. My kind of place. ❤️❤️❤️ Demetrio regales us with stories of going here as a child with his father. Real living history. Another outing takes us high up in the hills gathering lichens and leaves to dye with. We’ll see native begonias, giant ferns, bromeliads and more.

This trip ends with a night in Oaxaca City making it easy to fly out the next day. Oaxaca is a UNESCO World Heritage site pulsing with creative energy. We‘ll check into our centrally located hotel then visit the Textile Museum and I’ll point out the best shopping before we head to a big Carnevale Parade and a final farewell celebration.

We’ll meet in Oaxaca City and take you out to Teotitlan de Valle where we’ll have an orientation to La Cupola including an intro to weavings annd natural dyes. Simple supper at our hosts.

We spend the morning mordanting which means getting our threads and fabric ready to dye. After lunch we head to the center visiting the church and community museums. Lovely dinner in the village.

Our second day takes us to the warm red, oranges and pinks of cochineal with a little purple possible too! Lunch is a tasting menu at and an afternoon visit to the candlemaker.

A special day to go off the beaten path, up into the hills and explore the Oaxacan countryside as we gather and forage dye material. Back in the village we’ll visit other weavers and see the wide variety of approaches to this traditional craft.

First we head out to the Teotitlan daily market for a hearty local breakfast and a chance to experience this special space.

where women rule. Then we’ll meet an innovative family of weavers who have helped revive ancient dye plants. We’ll learn about this project and then have a chance to try our hand at shibori dying a wool rebozo. Good times had by all. Simple supper at La Cupola.

Today we go deep and visit the wool spinners in the small Zapotec village of Chichicapam. This is a really special opportunity to meet the last women practicing this craft. On our way home a chance to visit basket makers and some mezcal tasting might even be in the mix.

We will work with a variety of plant materials. But also the famous cochineal insect. Learn about modifiers and mordanting. Plus pecan leaves, marigolds, fodder, Brasil wood and other plants give us a rich palette

Our time in Teotitlan has been so rich, today we head out with our erudite guide Pablo to explore the ancient city of Yagul and visit artisans including potters and apron makers. Plus lunch at my favorite hole in the wall Oaxaca style.

Today we’ll have a leisurely morning finishing up our dyebooks before checking into our centrally located hotel. Then we’ll visit the textile museum and my favorite textile stores (because TEXTILES) followed by a big Carnevale preview parade. This is an only in oaxaca event. Super fun. We’ll finish off the day with a final farewell celebratory meal.

We’ll be in Oaxaca City so it will be easy for you to get a cab to the airport or stay some extra days and enjoy the explosive art fabulousness of the city. We hope you leave inspired, connected and happy.