Purple, Blue and Red Collage Shawl

All Whispirit’s shawls are handmade in New Mexico from a combination of alpaca (75% and merino wool (25%). We use alpaca from our own herd of 40 some animals, and wool from other New Mexico and US ranchers. Our shawls are needle felted by hand in our fabric design center into a very sheer silk (Silpaca) or cotton (Copaca) gauze, using an American-made piece of felting equipment, the FeltLoom. We use hand-dyed fabrics in our shawls, especially those with vibrant colors.

Our black, grey, fawn, brown and white fabrics are the natural colors of our herd, which we selectively breed and raise for the most exquisite, high quality fleece. That makes them unique and one of a kind – no two runs of alpaca fabric are the same, therefore no two winter alpaca hats are, either.

Using a new technique Sandy learned from felt artist Melissa Arnold, Sandy has been creating new collage shawls and wraps.  Using hand dyed silks and alpaca/merino batts for the base, Sandy lays out pieces of repurposed fabrics, scraps, threads, salvage remnants, threads, ribbons, and yarns into unique one of a kind beautiful collages.  These are needlefelted into a light combination, stitched freehand and then felted using water, soap and agitation into unique one of a kind shawls, wraps or scarves.

This commitment to local and American-made makes it possible for us to proudly proclaim that our hats and other accessories, jackets, shawls, scarves and vests are all 100% handcrafted in the USA from barn to closet. Do they cost a little more that imported, machine made garments of lesser quality? Yes, and they are worth it.