Spain. Lagartera Embroidery in Spain
Country of the crafting: Spain
Type of the crafting: Textile
Region of the crafting: Toledo
Town of the crafting: Lagartera
Lagartera is a Spanish municipality in the province of Toledo, in the autonomous community of Castilla La Mancha.
The steps of the Lagartera classic handicraft process range from the fraying of the fabric, making warps, cutting and pulling threads, sewing or basting, making the “curd” to prevent the threads from unraveling and finally making a hem in the four sides, topped by a special hem called “repulgo” in Lagartera.
Generally wool yarn or natural color yarn dyed afterwards is used. Silk is also frequently used, especially to embroider the ribbons of the chevrons that make up the female attire. Linen Cotton Sailcloth and tergal fabric “Mouliné” threads. Fine pearls and ribbons. Already in the XVII century, when the residents of Lagartera began to act as muleteers, they sold small cloths made in their own looms throughout Spain and brought, in turn, ceramic plates to decorate the portals of their houses, thus making them true museums that have come to this day with their striking collections of ceramics and copper. It is known about the existence of a labrador workshop owned by Catalina Fernández Lozano in the neighborhood of Lagartera of Toledillo, which dates back to the 16th century. In the past, linen was used for clothing and household linen, nowadays it has been replaced by factory yarn fabric and in some cases acrylic, but that is why lagarteran women who maintain their tradition stop doing true works with their hands of art with great skill and dexterity.
