Abel weaver Magdalena Gamayo, often known as "Lola Magdalena," was born on August
13, 1924 in a tiny village in Brgy. Ilocos Norte's Pinili. Her aunt introduces her to the world
of traditional weaving when she is 16 years old, at the height of the Second World
War. Her unrivaled mastery of inabel weaving was acknowledged in 2012 when she
received the GAMABA, or National Living Treasures Award.
What is Inabel?
The inabel is one of the numerous glories of the Philippines' Ilocos region. The Ilocano
term for weave is "abel," thus "inabel" can refer to any type of woven cloth. However, in
the realm of weaving, inabel is specifically used to refer to textiles of an Ilocano
provenance.
The abel cloth is well known and much loved for its softness, beautiful designs, and
strength.
The traditional process of Ilocos weaving begins with picking cotton balls and turning it
into yarns.
The dyed yarns are then prepared in a wooden handloom and hardwood pedal looms to
produce unique designs and patterns.
Now that the loom is “dressed,” the Ilocano weaver can start weaving. Each cotton thread
is carefully counted and intricately arranged according to color before being wrapped into
the loom to set up the inabel pattern.
MASTERY
Since then, Magdalena has perfected her skills on her own, teaching herself
traditional inabel patterns such as binakol (whirlwinds, her specialty), inuritan (geometric
patterns), sinan-sabong (flowers), and kusikos (spiral forms).