Mendong

Village of Weaving

The village where the handicrafts we sell are made is a local centre for woven grass products and sights like this mendong drying in the sun are common.  Mendong plants are grown in wet fields alongside the ubiquitous paddy fields. It takes four months from planting to harvest and so farmers can harvest three crops in a year. The harvested mendong stems are then sun dried in an open field, before being dyed and woven into sheets of different patterns. Mendong can be used as an unique alternative to fabric materials, or can be mixed with other materials for different applications.

Once mendong grass is harvested, they are then bundle of approximately 1.5-2.5kg each.  Each bundle is dried for a couple of days before the dying process take place. It's being dyed to the desired choice of colours and sun till they are dry.  Wood burning is preferable to fossil fuel use since it is both more cost-effective as well as more environmentally friendly.

Click here to read Pak Asep's Story

Click here to read Pak Endang's Story