She weaves for beauty
Connie at the recent Fiesta in the City
* The soft-spoken, petite weaver mastered the art of weaving on her own at the tender age of 10. While her grandmother (the family's first weaver) would leave her loom for an errand, she would endlessly experiment until she was able to discover her skill for loom weaving
Crafts are as old as human history. Normally, they are a means of producing objects of inherent aesthetic appeal. Among the earliest basic crafts are basketry, pottery and weaving. Nearly every craft now practiced can be traced back many hundreds of years.
In some parts of the province of Iloilo, crafts are still produced as they have been for centuries; basket weaving in Maasin, pottery in Pavia, and hablon and patadyong weaving are examples. Considered the most popular in the province is handloom weaving. This craftwork formed the basis of town economies such as Miag-ao, Oton and Igbaras. Woven goods are made today by much the same methods used by our forefathers; foreign co0untries has made grants to support such traditional work.
Weaving was one of the earliest methods for making cloth out of plant fibers. The production of textiles requires the ability to process fibers, spin them into thread, and make cloth from the thread. Although today many textiles are produced by automated processes, this talented weaver from Barangay Indag-an in Miag-ao continue to create her colorful hablon and patadyong fabrics on hand looms.
Dimples for Bo Parcon
Connie Atijon, 54, a recognized weaver in the region have joined a number of local and national trade fairs and exhibit since 1996 and have traveled to Canada in 1997 due to her weaving skill. Her hand-woven fabrics have appeared in countless local and international runway shows for International Lifestyle Designer PJ Arañador, Patis Tesoro, Nono Palmos, Tess Salvador, Mel Varca, Roy Sesbreño, Angelette Borja-Ragus, Jaki Peñalosa, Bo Parcon, Don Protasio and Alex Soncio and celebrity faces. Her work looks very clean when you watch her blend colors into wonders. Her sought-after weaving technique has made her a staple in every designer's phone book, yet, no weaving job is too small for Nang Connie who started earning at P25.00 for every dozen of patadyong woven.
The soft-spoken, petite weaver mastered the art of weaving on her own at the tender age of 10. While her grandmother (the family's first weaver) would leave her loom for an errand, she would endlessly experiment until she was able to discover her skill for loom weaving.
She started in the weaving business in 1991 by joining the Indag-an Multi-Purpose Cooperative but later on went solo in 1995 with a starting capital of P500. Her participation to trade fairs had helped her link to customers who feel an intensely personal bond with her fabrics. At present, Nang Connie's owns 14 looms (the oldest dated August 1948 which she purchased from a relative of a neighboring barangay at P1,000.00) with 14 weavers (the oldest being her aunt at age 60 and a 14 year old part time weaver being the youngest) producing 3 meters of hablon fabric for every weaver a day. The loom-weaver ratio allows for an unparalleled attention to detail such as the back of the fabric that is just as beautiful as the front. That's Nang Connie, distinguished in her own style, like the fabric she weaves: natural, colorful and she weaves for beauty!
You can get in touch with Connie Atijon through her cellular phone number at 09193937285.