About us
The Studio
Artisan weaving and upcycling in Cercal do Alentejo — where every piece begins with a choice.
Our craft
A studio made of choices
Alma Mater creates one-of-a-kind textile pieces, woven by hand and sewn without haste. Through artisan weaving and creative upcycling, each object is born of a conscious choice: of material, of process, and of the mark it leaves on the world.
That intentional choice begins at the design stage, with raw materials of the finest quality — Portuguese wool, linen, organic cotton, hemp, alpaca and bamboo.
To be a Portuguese reference in sustainable textile design — where craft tradition and modernity meet in a language of their own, timeless and committed — is this Studio’s vision.
There are objects you buy. And there are objects you choose.
Manifesto
At Alma Mater, every piece begins before the loom — in the choice of fibre, in conversation with the people who grow it, in the decision not to use what does harm. We turn what was discarded into something that deserves to go on, and we believe a reusable cloth pad can be a manifesto, too.
We don’t make quick pieces. We make the right ones. And we teach anyone who wants to learn to do the same — for those who value the time things take, and choose to stay.
Who We Are
Respect for the material, from thread to form
I’m Samara — textile designer, artisan weaver and founder of the Alma Mater textile studio. I trained in Fashion Design, and over the last decade I created MoonPads — reusable cloth pads; Tece.lã.do — artisan weaving; and Up.Cycle.Me — sewing and weaving with textile waste.
My work is born of respect for the material — for what it is, where it comes from and what it can become. I brought three projects together in one space — weaving, reusable cloth pads and upcycling — under the name Alma Mater, the Nourishing Mother.
The Studio works with a number of artists and artisans across the many disciplines of textile craft, invited to share their art in regular workshops — and in the making of some of the pieces.
Our values
Where it happens
The Space
In Cercal do Alentejo, the studio is both a working space and a showroom. Visits are by appointment — to see the pieces, meet the loom, and talk about what can be made to measure.
Land & community
Rooted in the Alentejo
The patterns of traditional Alentejo blankets, with their precise geometry and unmistakable palette, inspire our woven pieces — ponchos, shawls, bags, cushions and cloths. We don’t reproduce the past: we hold a conversation with it. And we don’t do it alone — we collaborate with local artisans and producers, and belong to a more conscious network of makers, alongside CACO, the Cooperativa Integral Regenerativa de São Luís and the Rede das Guardiãs da Natureza (a network of women guardians of nature).
Tradition reimagined · Design with roots
