Fibers I Have Worked With

Wicker (Rattan)

So far my favorite and most used weaving material, wicker has a round profile and comes in several thicknesses, I use mostly the 3mm diameter, although I have also used 4mm and 5mm. Easy to weave, flexible when treated properly and has structure. I have used wicker coming from the Philippines that I get from our weavers, more rough and less uniform in color compared to those coming from other countries.

Bakbak

When I was learning how to weave with Nenita, we also tried this fiber that she had readily available, she calls it bakbak, which in dialect means “to peel” not sure what it’s called in english or if there is another term in Tagalog. She told me that it comes from the Abaca tree, from the outermost layer of its stalk.

Weaving with bakbak is easy, unlike wicker, it is soft and more flexible like rope but does not have form. I have always used it with another more rigid material as frame.

Split Rattan

With its flat profile and sharp edges, I am most cautious when weaving with split rattan. Taken from the outermost peel/layer of the rattan vine, it has two sides- shiny and rough. It can hold its shape but not as rigid as wicker. In Tagalog, we call this material uway.

Abaca Rope

Coming from the same plant as bakbak, Abaca rope is also braided but with more stretch. I use it to tie my hanging mobiles and along with manila paper, as packaging for our objects.

Caragumoy

After my time with Nenita, I went to a cooperative of weavers in a small town close to mine which works a lot with caragumoy. I took advantage of my remaining time at home and sat with them as well to see and learn their techniques.

The cooperative has their own plantation of caragumoy which I also got to visit with them. The plant grows in damp soil, usually close to a body of water, the one we visited in fact was close to a small creek. The plants were already overgrown, about 2 meters tall. I read later that snakes like to stay under the cargumoy plant beacuse of the moisture and humidity.

For me, this is the most difficult material to use but since it is so common to see objects made of cargumoy in the Philippines, I thought that it was something easy to work with. The strands are soft and do not have structure, flat and depending on the age/dryness can be paper thin. I made 2 small mats and a box with the use of a wooden mold to form its shape.