You can shop our products on eBay, the ecomarket, or right on our Facebook page!

The wonderful thing about changing seasons is being able to change your look!  With days becoming cooler in the North, jackets and scarves start making an appearance in our daily wardrobe.

What we love about the items purchased from the talented weavers this season is their timeless nature – they are items that you will wear year after year, because they are beautiful and long-wearing with a classic elegance. Our products are not the kind that wind up in your garage sale, as they are special items that, if cared for properly, will last a lifetime. We purchase directly from the artisan so that we know we are buying products that were slowly hand-crafted using 100% natural alpaca and wool, and so we know who we're buying from and can be sure we're practicing fair trade principals.

This season features some new styles of Women’s Ruana, a stunning wrap-around poncho, plus some great variations on our favourites: hand-woven scarves with intricate designs or elegant stripes, luxurious shawls, and some more beautiful home décor and wedding gifts.

Browse through Isaiah Brookshire’s beautiful photos for an impressive glimpse of the best of ancient and contemporary Peru.

Our items are fairly traded and hand-made by indigenous Quechua women in remote villages high in the Andes.  Buying our products helps to support artisans who practice their traditional textile production methods. Many of these items feature natural dyes, while others showcase the natural colours of the alpaca – wonderfully rich hues of brown, grey, black and cream. All items are handmade using the ancient back-strap loom.

The gift-giving season is almost here and our products make unique and meaningful Christmas gifts. If you're not sure what to get your fiber-loving friends and family, a handmade, fair trade treasure from Threads of Peru will surely be cherished.

You can shop our products on eBay, the ecomarket, or right on our Facebook page!

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I know, it’s cliche, but it seems like it was just yesterday that I showed up at the Cusco airport. I was tired, unsure of what to expect, and desperately inhaling the thin air into my lungs. So much has happened — so much has changed — since those first days and now the time has come to say goodbye; goodbye to this place, goodbye to its people, and goodbye to my friends and comrades at Threads of Peru.

I’m not sure I have the words to do my experience justice, to really sum up these last five months. When I try to think back on my time, it’s the big things that come back easiest. I remember the first time I saw Cusco’s plazas and churches with belfries towering over the colonial skyline. I can never forget the overwhelming immensity of the glaciers that dominate the Sacred Valley or the dizzying drops off the sides of the roads here.

But when I think harder, more personal memories begin to emerge: Conversations passing from English to Spanish to Quechua and back. Eating humble meals in darkened houses, protected from the bitter cold of night outside. And laying in warm grass watching young shepherds herd llamas across a hill.

It is these memories that are the most closely tied to my time with Threads of Peru. Working with Threads gave me the opportunity to slow down, to grow closer to the people of the Andes and understand their way of life. Without that, I would have been just another guy in a North Face jacket on my way to Machu Picchu.

I was tremendously blessed with the opportunity to work with Threads of Peru through a full season and to see our products go from raw materials to finished goods. My first trip to the communities brought me face to face with the traditional dyeing techniques that give our garments such rich colors. It was here I met our master weaver Daniel Sonqo and our interpreter Urbano Huayna Arredondo.

On that first trip, I respected both men as guides but by the end of my second trip I called them friends. It was this second trip that gave me the deepest immersion in Andean life. This was my first visit to the remote community of Chaullacocha and the first time I was invited to eat and sleep with the people. Even though I was protected by modern clothing and had many comforts the people in the village did not, I began to understand the harsh realities of life at 4,000 meters and develop a respect for the people who lived here. While I collapsed to my knees after carrying a pack for a few hours, these people — many of them dozens of years my senior — kept a steady pace with huge burdens thrown over their shoulders.

I was doubly impressed on my third trip to the communities when I went with our project manager to pick up many of the beautiful products we sell. Not only do our weavers manage to scrape out a living on the barren slopes of the highlands but they also create beautiful textiles using natural materials.

 The amazing people I met working with Threads of Peru weren’t limited to the weavers and guides. I also got to know an extraordinary group of people who handle logistics, manage inventories, and even model — all to keep Threads running smoothly.

I’m not good at goodbyes. The last time I left the communities and the last time I walked out of the Threads of Peru office, I wasn’t sure what to say. I’m having the same problem here. As I sign off from this blog a final time words fail me. So I guess I’ll end by saying thank you. Thank you to Threads of Peru for giving me this opportunity to live and work in an amazing place with amazing people. Thank you to my fellow volunteers for working with me. And thank you to you, the reader, for following along on this amazing journey and helping us to further our goal of empowering these truly talented artisans.

Even though I’m saying goodbye, you can look forward to many more great blogs from Threads of Peru. They’re just getting started with their fall product line and there are still many stories to tell about textiles in the Andes. Here’s to the future.

Here’s to our weavers. And here’s to Peru. Salud!

P.S. Are you a creative professional with social media, photography, and writing skills? Want my job? Then get in touch with Threads of Peru and maybe you could be the next one to help bring their stories to life. 

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 The process of getting our amazing textiles from the high Andes to our store involves three distinct activities in our weaving communities. The first step is a workshop where we help the weavers hone their dyeing techniques. Next comes a pedido (request) where we assign products to a weaver or a group of weavers. Finally we have an entrega (delivery) where we pick up the finished products. We have already talked about the first two steps so today we are going to focus on the last one — the entrega.

The time between a pedido and an entrega varies but on average it spans about one month. In that time, what began as a few centimeters of woven textiles created during the pedido becomes a completed product. Seeing the weavers’ designs come to life is one of the most exciting parts of working with Threads of Peru.

 At the entrega, each textile is measured and documented by our staff. Then it is evaluated by our master weaver Daniel Sonqo who inspects the quality, color, and craftsmanship of the item. If everything looks good, the weaver is paid for her work and is photographed with her textile. In rare cases where an item doesn’t meet our standards, it is returned to the weaver so she can sell it through other outlets.

 The entrega isn’t only about picking up items, it is also the time when we can provide the weavers with valuable feedback on their work. Sometimes one of the women will have a question about a certain technique or will want to consult Daniel about putting the finishing touches on an item. With his skill, Daniel is able to quickly point the women in the right direction and ensure that their products are top quality.

 Once everything has been inspected and paid for, we pack it away and head home. The weavers’ work is finished for now but the work for Thread’s staff is just beginning. After the entrega it’s on to inventory, photography, and marketing to get the products into our customer’s hands just in time for fall.

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