Nanduti Lace of Itaugua

Nanduti means spider web in Guarani, and the lace that carries the name is Paraguay's defining craft: circular motifs worked in fine thread on a stretched frame, radiating like webs and joined into tablecloths, hammocks, dresses and sunburst wall pieces in every colour. Itaugua, a town on the highway east of Asuncion, is its capital - workshops and family showrooms line the road, women work frames on porches, and a July festival crowns the craft. Patterns carry names from local life: guava flower, cow's eye, little coconut. Good pieces take weeks; great ones take months.

What you actually see

• Workshop visits - lacemakers working circular frames by hand.
• The showrooms - tablecloths, sunbursts and dresses along the highway.
• Pattern vocabulary - motifs named for flowers, fruit and daily life.
• The Nanduti festival - Itaugua's July celebration of the craft.

When to go

Workshops sell year round on weekday and Saturday daytimes. The festival in July adds performances and the widest selection. Combine with the gold filigree town of Luque nearby for a craft-focused half day from Asuncion.

Honest expectations

Prices range enormously with thread fineness and size - machine-adjacent and coarse pieces are cheap, true fine nanduti is expensive and worth it; compare several shops before buying. Bargaining is gentle, not aggressive. The town itself is ordinary highway Paraguay; the craft is the whole reason to stop. Buying directly from the maker keeps the money where it belongs.

Nearby

Luque's filigree jewellery, Aregua's ceramics on Lake Ypacarai and Asuncion.