OUR PROCESS

Our artisans work with 100% raw cotton and alpaca wool – both naturally sustainable materials.

In the case of the alpaca, the process begins with the people who care for and protect the community’s livestock. The shearer removes the fleece from the alpacas. Once the fibre of the alpaca has been removed, with a pair of scissors, the triming is done, which is to remove the top of the burnt wicks and the dirt. If the stain is not removed, the dyeing will not turn out well. Then follows the stretching with two hands that facilitates a faster and better quality spinning. After that the fibre of alpaca is hand-spun with a spindle or distaff, twisting the yarn and turning it into a two-threaded string.

The dyeing process follows. First the alpaca fibre is washed. After that our artisans start the dyeing process using natural pigments obtained from native plants from Peru. Tola plant to obtain green colour, Pura Pura plant that is a wild indiginous plant from Peru that grows at 5,000 meters above sea level is used to obtain a yellow colour. And to obtain vibrants colours as red, purple, etc. our artisans use cochinilla (Inhabitants of Peru has been producing cochinilla dyes for textiles since 600 CE and often for ceremonial textiles and worn by rulers). The tones obtained from natural dyes are never completely uniform.

Our artisans weave with the hand-dyed yarns in their own crafted wooden looms. As the concept of ayllu (comunity in the Andes where members engage in shared collective labors) continues to exist to the present day in the Peruvian Andes, our artisans tend to share resources and ideas between their neighbouring weavers. 

At Andina World, we empower culture and preserve heritage, we only work with remote communities from The Peruvian Andes and we have used Traditional Inca techniques to weave all our throws, scarfs, capes and accesories. And all our products have been botanically tied with native plants from the Peruvian Andes.

I hope that each Andina World piece adds warmth and beauty to your home and outfit for years to come.

Andina world, weaving life