Chinese Minority Baby Carriers and Blankets/Quilt Covers

Miao and other minority women living in Southwest China are exquisite creators of textiles. They lavish particular attention on their baby carriers. Many carriers are created prior to marriage. In some villages girls wear empty baby carriers as an advertisement for their skills and potential as a wife.

There are distinctive regional differences in style, technique, and material which are identifiable by townships or even villages.  Many baby carriers are T-shaped with the tops attached to a foundation material and to long ties which are typically crossed in front of the chest and then to the back where they secure the child under his or her bottom

Silk, sometimes hand spun, is exclusively used for the fine embroidery. The foundation materials can be silk, cotton, or hemp/flax. Exquisite baby carriers are also made with wax-resist indigo-dyed cotton.

Some minority groups in southwest China also have a tradition of weaving, embroidering, or batiking blankets or quilt covers as part of the the treasures they will bring to their weddings.

Most of the blankets show wear or at least fading from their exposure to the decades. Some of the greatest quilts are created by the Tujia of eastern Guizhou and western Hunan Province, the Maonan of northern Guangxi Province, the Zhaung of Guangxi and Yunnan Provinces, the Dong of SE Guizhou, and the Dai of Xishuangbana in Yunnan Province

Click on the Baby Carriers and Blankets to see more detailed photos and further information.