Marrakesh Express

Women Weavers OnLine

Ben Smim

 

 

 

 

This is Aicha Oukhalifa, another new weaver. She and her sister-in-law Itto (below) both brought rugs to sell. Aicha has two children, a son of 9 who is in the third grade, and her daughter here who is six and hasn't started school yet. They live in a nearby village called Ait Talbaqa. She sometimes sells her rugs at the nearby weekly open-air market in Azrou, alone or with her husband, and she sometimes sells to shopowners. I'm eager to ask her about the price differences selling that way and on the web site, which I hope provides a much better profit.

 

 

 

 

 

Piece 3.12948 was made by Aicha about 10 years ago, before she was married, and she says it took her about a month to finish. It has a black ground with complex design bands in mainly white and also a checkered design. There are accents in dark red, bright pink, orange and turquoise, which you can see better here. There are also tufted accents in orange and green, plus a tufted border in pink and greeen, and some sequins for added interest. If it sells, she will buy more wool to weave. It measures about 4'10" x 10'9" and costs $295.

 

 

 

 

Itto L'Eafawi is married to Aicha's brother, and wanted to be photographed with her niece. In fact Itto's daughter who helps her weave was along, but she didn't want to be photographed. Itto's husband is a farmer who raises wheat, and they have four children, three daughters and a son. Two of the girls are in high school, but the one who weaves only reached fourth grade - she said she disliked school so left. The son is the youngest at 8, and is in second grade. Notice the lovely embroidery on Itto's jellaba; it's a style I hadn't seen before. Itto brought the two rugs below, and said if they sold she plans to buy gold earrings for the daughter who helps her weave.

 

 

 

 

Piece 3.12950 is a flatweave with plain stripes in bright red, true blue and black and design stripes with those same colors as accents, plus a bit of turqoise and bright pink. You can see the accents better on this close-up. It has no sequins, rather unusual for this area. It looks somewhat lumpy in the photo, mainly because the wind was blowing. Later when we tried it on the floor however, we found it did not lay entirely flat and the ends were different widths, so this is for those who like items that are clearly handmade. The width varies from 4'6" to 5'4", but the length is 9'1". The price is $270.

 

 

 

Piece 3.12952 was also made by Itto, above. It is also a flatweave, with a red ground and white design stripes with varieties of diamonds, plus white "Xs" in the red bands. On the close-up you can see the accents in a pretty shade of periwinkle blue, and the sequin accents. This piece does not lie totally flat and one edge has a bulge rather than being straight - but that's one way to tell that things are hand made. The width varies a bit, from 53" to 58", but the length is about 9"8" and the price is $420.

 

 

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