Transforming Seagrass into beautiful Purses

When we founded World Travel Art we started right away to offer colorful, tatami style woven purses from Cambodia, made by Baskets of Cambodia. One of the Fair Trade Partners' Slogans says: "from humble beginnings come great things'" - we could not agree more to this! It is stunning how the weavers and purse makers transform the reed into these light, strong, fun and unique purses. Still today Seagrass Purses are one of our best-selling items on site and on outdoor markets. 

The process  starts with the selection and the precise cutting of each strand of seagrass that can grow as high as 8' tall. There is only one major harvest per year in the Mekong and surrounding deltas due to the monsoons in Asia.

The reed is then dried and dyed several times in certified, non-toxic dyes in order to reach the rich color of the finished product and hung to dry. Two weavers work then together on one loom to make the long, wide mats. One person threads each strand of grass while the other person operates the actual loom. The mats are cut into respective pieces to make purses, floor mats or place mats before being handed over to the sewing group that finishes the process.  

It is confirmed by our customers again and again that these fine reed purses are  great, durable and wearable year round plus make a great conversation piece when out with the girls.

  

A visit to Lake Atitlan, Guatemala

We just returned from the Highlands of Guatemala where we visited with "Maya Traditions", known locally as "Fundacion Tradiciones Mayas" in Panajachel.  Founded in 1998 by the late "Jane Mintz" (1943 - 2009), a social worker and weaver from California, the Foundation provides much needed assistance to the Maya people in the region surrounding Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. 

Currently the foundation works with six community weaving groups that produce the beautiful fair trade backstrap loom purses and scarves that  we offer on World Travel Art and expanded over the years into education, community health and artisan workshops next to maintaining a beautiful medical herb garden.   

We had the opportunity to visit one of the weavers' groups about one hour drive outside of Panajachel in a remote highland village called K'iche. Five women initially joined forces together to find a way to make a living in a remote location like K'iche. Currently the group has 10 women and they are able to earn a consistent income while caring for their children, livestock and crops. All of the women do participate in the Foundations' health and education projects.  

Backstrap weaving is a symbol of the life of a Maya woman. With the loom strapped around her waist and the other end tied to a tree or post, the weaver is an integral part of the loom and virtually connected to her craft. We are grateful for having the opportunity of working with this wonderful foundation and though we had not known Jane in person, her spirit was present everywhere we went through our visit. 

Backstrap Loom Woven Purses

The word "loom" (from middle English lome, "tool") is applied to any set of devices permitting a warp to be tensioned and a shed to be formed. Looms exist in great variety. Even though the backstrap loom is basic and humble, some of history's most beautiful and complex textiles have been woven on this simple arrangement of sticks.

Guatemala is one of several countries where this small, portable, and inexpensive loom is still very much a tradition and in use today. It is said that the Mayan goddess Ixchel gave the art of weaving to her people. Today's Mayan descendants still make use of that gift in generating beautiful textiles, accessories and woven bags for the local and international market.

The primary feature of the backstrap loom is that the lengthwise threads (warp) are stretched from a fixed device such as a post or tree to a belt that a person wears around the waist. By backing away from the post or tree the threads are pulled into tension.

The device that provides a method of separating the warp threads into two parts is called a "rigid heddle". It is basically two more sticks strategically placed in the middle that allow the weaver to manipulate the warps, move the heddle up or down to separate the threads vertically forming what is called a shed. The weft threads need to be packed tightly which is don with a beater which is often a comb.   

In the western highlands of Guatemala the Mayan women typically used cotton yarn for their weavings and natural plants from their area to dye the yarn various colors. They still dye yarn by hand but also buy cotton yarn that's already been dyed.

The backstrap loom can make different widths of fabric. If a textile or cloth needs to be wider than what can be woven two pieces or more are joined together with heavy embroidery stitches. An example of this would be the skirt of the Mayan women, which if hand-woven would have pieces joined with embroidered stitches.  

Visit our site for sturday backstrap loom fabric woven bags from Guatemala. A blend of indigenous weaving technique and contemporary color and design concepts.