The house of the embroideries of Zuleta - Angochagua

Embroidery House - Zuleta

Es otra habilidad de la población femenina de Zuleta, surge por la carencia de fuentes de trabajo y por la necesidad de subsistencia. 

Traditional Zuleta embroidery

In the community the habit of embroidering originated in 1940 from the hand of Avelina Laso, mother of former president Galo Plaza (1948-1952). She brought the technique from Spain and showed it to all the women in the community. Designing landscapes, flowers, birds, indigenous people with traditional clothes is an innate and more common skill than is believed in Zuleta, a community located in the southeast of the province of Imbabura, in northern Ecuador, where their women have preserved the tradition of hand embroidery with thread for many years.   

Product quality

It is a product of national consumption and export, they are exhibited in warehouses and in the artisanal market of Otavalo. It is a high quality product.

Sales place

Sales are made at the house of the same artisans on a weekly basis where their products are delivered to Otavalo buyers.

Used materials

• Circular needles.
• Crochet.
• Measuring tape.

Elaboration process

The raw material, that is sheep's wool, can be bought spun or not. In case of being colored sacks the wool can be dyed with anilines or bought already colored, then proceed to the elaboration of the sack according to a model, size, color, customer style. 

In the town of Zuleta and its surroundings we find the local women carrying in their purse, cloth and threads that will be joined by their right hands and needles, in different figures and shapes with different colors that highlight the look.

In the town of Zuleta they make elegant tablecloths, towels, blouses, shirts, among other items. These are made by girls, young people, ladies and grandmothers. In personal attire, embroidery is mostly inspired and meticulously elaborated, since identity is embodied there.

Embroidery

There is an embroidery association that offers a biweekly fair in the communal house, Saturdays and Sundays, but it is possible to visit throughout the year in the commercial premises.