Viva Mexico!

It's been ages since my last post and having been away on holidays for four weeks is only part of my excuse. But a good part.
Amongst other places, we spent two weeks on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. This has to be the most colourful country on earth.

Colourful ceramics

Colourful houses

Colourful markets

Colourful Occupations

Colourful food

And the most exquisitely colourful embroidery.

 The embroidery we saw was mostly the work of Mayan women. This is either worked by hand, like the blouse above, or by machine. At the artisans market in Valladolid I watched women working superb and elaborate embroidery with vintage treadle sewing machines. I didn't take a photo, but in this still from Three Amigos you can see a Mexican woman in 1916 using a machine very similar to the machines I saw in use. I couldn't believe they were capable of such work. 

This is the kind of embroidery that was being done:

The Mayan women proudly wore their hand embroidered dresses for everyday wear. Here is a cheeky glimpse:

This kind of work is done on an open weave canvas. The deep crochet lace border on the woman's half slip completes the look.

However, I wanted to buy some hand embroidered work. And moreover, I wanted to buy something that I would actually wear. And whilst I gazed at the glorious dresses in the markets with the utmost admiration, I knew I would never wear one. 

Finally, I settled on these:

They need a slight adjustment for size, but I will wear them this upcoming summer.