Folk Art in Santo Tomas Jalieza

This is a small and pretty village with a tradition of making cotton products on waist or back-strap looms. The name "back-strap" comes from the way it's used. There are straps that wrap around the backs of the artisans while the loom rests on their laps to facilitate threading work. Of the objects made, there are tableclothes, placemats, runners, napkins, vests, belts, backpacks, purses and more. There is a central co-operative where most weavers work, especially on Fridays when people pass through on their way to the nearby Indian market at Ocotlan.