Weaving Diary

While I was home, I decided to take the opportunity to learn and get an overview of how a basket is made, wanted to know more about some local materials and some basic weaving technique.

Nenita does weaving for a living. Together with one of her children, they make baskets, trays and other home items to be sold and some to be exported. My mom bought some baskets she made before and that is how we knew her. She lives 10 kms away from my house, in a small neighboring village.

I went to her house for 2 weeks everyday and saw how she makes the baskets while sharing some stories with her. I kept a diary of our activities for each day. Here are some of the entries—

December 9, 2019

It has been a week after the typhoon and since I have been home, still dark, cloudy and raining.

Nenita was in a shed across her house weaving when I arrived. She asked me what I wanted to learn, not sure of what to say, I just asked quickly if we could make something similar to the one we bought from her before.

We made a basket bag with a tapered form using two materials— split rattan, and braided abaca. She told me to be careful with the split rattan because it is sharp and could cut my fingers easily.

It was not easy for me to get used to the rhythm of this particular weave, it took some time before I got the sequence.

December 11, 2019

It was rainy and as dark as yesterday, the sun would show up from time to time for about a few minutes then would disappear again.

I thought it would be easier for me to start working on flat items, with a simple weave, so I asked Nenita if we could start with this. We made a placemat made of rattan sticks, she told me the material is called wicker. I loved working with it, it has a rounded profile, soft and easy to mould and weave through the spokes. We were able to finish 2— one with all wicker, another one with braided abaca.

In between weaves, she told me about her family, 10 sons and 1 daughter. I met 3 of them, most of her children live in Manila, some already have their own family.

As we were making the rounded placemats, I kept thinking about a D shaped mat— half circular, half rectangular. This shape has been on my mind for a while now, wanting to explore other shapes…

December 12, 2019

Today I arrived late, it was almost 10.

I showed Nenita a sketch of the D-shaped mat and asked how we could do it. She said we would need a metal frame for a precise shape, I asked if we could try to do it without obsessing over the form, it could even be crooked, I said I didn’t mind.

I made another sketch of how I was thinking of doing it and we tried, she started the base and I continued weaving, it was possible to do after all.

When noon came, it was time to leave, I was getting hungry and had an intense headache. I should bring a bottle of water next time, I left the D mat to be finished tomorrow. I can’t wait.