Valtellina.it

“Pezzotto” is perhaps the most famous handicraft product in Valtellina. It’s a very resistant textile made up using lengths, exactly the rolls (in Italian “pezze”), warped by hand loom.
The origin of “pezzotto”, that goes back to the presence of the Umiliati monks in Valtellina, is in the poverty of the rural world and in the homemade handicraft, when poor people created by themselves all the objects, the clothes and the utensils they needed.
In some valleys, as Val d’Arigna near Ponte in Valtellina, the tradition of loom work has always been very keen. In fact, here, the women still weave some pieces of multicoloured cloth on wooden looms, following a traditional art that goes back at least to five centuries ago.
The origin of “pezzotti” is in rough and strong covers made through the warp of tough hemp and lengths of worn-out patches and old rags. They were used to cover the hay, to repair the cattle from cold on the mountain pastures, or, in summer, to lay out the wheat on the farmyards or for the pulses to dry.
Today the old rags have been replaced by lengths of cotton or silk and the choice of the colours and pattern is even more accurate. The strong and rough cloth of the rural tradition has now become a decorative element of the modern furnishing known also from outside. 

Shop Pezzotti of Valtellina on: Store Valtellina