Mexican Blankets

Mexican Blankets are heavy woven blankets from regions like Saltillo, Oaxaca and the Tlaxcala highlands, with bold geometric patterns and bright colours. Articles look at the difference between a true Saltillo serape with its diamond centre, a Zapotec wool rug from Teotitlan del Valle, the cheaper recycled-fibre falsa blanket sold at every market in tourist towns, the natural dyes still used by some weavers including cochineal red and indigo, and the long process of weaving on a treadle loom. There are also notes on care, on common sizes and on telling a hand-woven piece from a power-loom imitation.