The need for economic self-sufficiency forced the people
of Sauris to contrive to produce all they needed for daily use themselves.
The majority of the men did wood-carving and carpentry alongside their main farming
activities and over the winter months they repaired their old tools and implements and fashioned new ones.
The more able among them also made carnival masks.
Greater specialisation was required of blacksmiths, weavers and tailors.
Every hamlet would have a furnace where the blacksmith forged the iron parts for tools and
vehicles of transport (carts and sledges). He would also take on the task of farrier.
Articles of clothing and household linen would be made entirely in the valley
During the winter the women carded and spun flax, hemp and wool.
But the weaving was traditionally done by the men. Between the 17th and the 19th centuries
many young people learned the craft of weaving down on the Friulian plains.
Some stayed there, opening a shop and returning to their homes only during the summer to help
their families with the farming.
Others worked in Sauris, producing cloths which were then entrusted to the capable hands of the tailors.
The weavers of Sauris were active up until the middle of the 19th century.
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