It takes thousands of tiny twists, plaits and knots to turn beautiful natural fibres into finely woven designs. Using both traditional and modern techniques, our artisans print, weave and sew every item by hand.
BASKETRY CAN BE CLASSIFIED INTO 4 TYPES:
-“Coiled” basketry using grasses and rushes
-“Plaiting” basketry using materials that are wide and ribbon-like, such as palms, yucca or New Zealand flax
-“Twining” basketry using materials from roots and tree bark. Twining actually refers to a weaving technique where two or more flexible weaving elements (“weavers”) cross each other as they weave through the stiffer radial spokes.
-“Wicker” and “Splint” basketry using reed, cane, willow, oak, and ash
FIBRES & MATERIALS USED:
Basketry is made from a variety of fibrous or pliable materials•anything that will bend and form a shape. Examples include pine straw, stems, animal hair, hide, grasses, thread, and wood, wheat straw, banana leaves, olive tree, palm tree leaves, etc…
THE BASKET WEVING PROCESS
The parts of a basket are the base, the side walls, and the rim. A basket may also have a lid, handle, or embellishments. Most baskets begin with a base. The base can either be woven with reed or wooden. A wooden base can come in many shapes to make a wide variety of shapes of baskets. The ‘static’ pieces of the work are laid down first. In a round basket they are referred to as ‘spokes’; in other shapes they are called ‘stakes’ or ‘staves’. Then the ‘weavers’ are used to fill in the sides of a basket. A wide variety of patterns can be made by changing the size, color, or by placement of a certain style of weave. To achieve a multi-coloured effect, aboriginal artists first dye the twine and then weave the twines together in elaborate fashions.
We love creating and desiging products made from the natural raw materials of tropical islands: imigwegwe, sisal, palm and banana leaf! A quintessential part of any tropical island landscape, banana trees – which look like miniature palms – grow abundantly atop the country’s beautiful green rolling hills, and their leaves have been used for centuries to weave traditional island baskets.
The artisans of local villages often pick their banana leaves by hand from local plantations or sometimes buy them from a distributor. Once the leaves are harvested, they are left out in the sun to dry and take on varying shades of brown, black, and white depending on the length of their tanning time and the type of tree they come from. They can also be dyed to take on deep new hues from the brightest of pinks to the darkest of indigo blues.
Once the leaves are dried, dyed, and ready-to-go, the artisans use them to weave a range of beautiful products, altering their techniques based on the specificities of each object. For example the artisans will use their fingers to twist and weave the banana leaves by hand to make bag handles or bracelets, but will braid them to make baskets. To create more complex items – like woven stools or chairs – they will often use a needle and thread to finely weave the leaves into the desired shape and size.