Our Handicrafts
Mocora straw Panama hats
Apr
Mocora straw, scientifically known as Astrocaryum Standleyanum, comes from Paján-Manabí. This plant generally grows in humid and dry forests, such as, for example, in the Campozano parish.
This palm can be approximately 15 meters tall, and it is identified because its trunk contains many black thorns that can measure up to 20 centimeters long. Its leaves have or give the shape of a fan and reach up to 7 meters long.
The bark of the mocora is used to make petates, and the straw, to make earrings, shoes, handbags, hats, hammocks, sandals, typical dresses, hats, pavas (wide-brimmed male hat), among other handicrafts.
Curious fact
Currently, the raw material is exported to countries like Chile and Peru, so the production of mocora handicrafts has been reduced.
Mocora straw hat manufacturing process
The buds are harvested, obtained by each palm, for this, it is necessary to look for the most tender one and remove the thorns from the leaves, so that it can be processed and thus prevent it from decomposing.
Then, the material is boiled for approximately 20 minutes so that it does not warp and to obtain flexibility. Subsequently, the fiber is left to dry from 2 to 7 days.
To finish the process, we proceed to smoke it over charcoal, in a wood oven with sulfur for 4 to 6 hours, in such a way that the fiber is bleached.
Finally, they are folded, cut and ironed to later be braided, although they can be left that way depending on what needs to be manufactured.
Die Hüte aus Mocora sind auch sehr gut gemacht, ich mag sie, ihr Prozess ist sehr interessant und die Vielfalt der Produkte, die hergestellt werden können, ist wunderbar. Ecuador ist ein großartiges Land mit wunderschönem Handwerk. Grüße aus Deutschland.