Seagrass basket – weaving with high quality in Vietnam from traditional village

For many years, Vietnam has produced a lot of seagrass products and exported them around the world. Seagrass furniture is warmly welcomed by people, including seagrass basket, rugs, poufs and lampshades. Today, Nga Son is a famous traditional village in our country, where artisans mostly are women, weaving mainly baskets and other home décor products for worldwide exporting.

1. The well-known traditional village for seagrass basket: Nga Son traditional village

We are proud that Nga Son is one of the most famous century-lasting traditional villages in Viet Nam. Nga Son is well-known for not only the mat weaving craftsmanship but also the vast seagrass field. Seagrass in this region is well-recognized for its durability and high applicability to make various handicraft seagrass basket products, especially woven baskets.

In Nga Son, since the 1970s, originally from the culturally rich village of Vietnam, our artisans grew up surrounded by natural fiber especially seagrass, and weaving skills that have been passing down from their ancestors. The local artisans choosing to continue in their mother and grandmother’s footsteps are preserving Vietnamese traditional crafts.

2. Seagrass basket is Precious gift from nature – Qualified seagrass material

Come to our home, you will notice mothers and their children playing on the fields to harvest seagrass. When talking with the farmers, they showed the steps to collect seagrass to make seagrass basket, starting from harvesting, chopping to drying. Let’s meet Ms. Nga, one of the skilled craftspeople across the village. Her family has been making silk for generations, growing and harvesting the finest threads from seagrass themselves to create delicate handwoven seagrass basket.

“Choosing seagrass fiber is the very first important step to built up qualified baskets, so you must pay the closest attention and be mindful while you are collecting them.” She shared. “Each seagrass must meet the general standard of length, width, and green color. For those which are damaged by worms will not be chosen.”

3. Our process: From finest materials to top-of-market seagrass baskets

To make a high-quality seagrass basket, is a long process that requires a lot of meticulous care and dedication from the artisans. At each stage, we strive to produce the best quality products, along with thoughtful design and development. Here are 3 main steps.

• Step 1: Collecting materials:

In the first stage to make a seagrass basket, known as collecting materials, the local farmers collect the seagrass fibers for the finest materials and minimize the environmental footprint from transport. Harvesting seagrass is an extremely strenuous task that requires a lot of patience and strength. May and September are the best seasonal periods to gathered seagrass. To avoid losing water from the sun’s strong heat during the day, our farmers need to work on fields from twilight to the dawn of the next day.

Accordingly, after cutting the root, farmers have to shake off the grass and separate the short layers of sedge. The harvested seagrass is then carefully classified into 3 types. The type over 1.65 m is used for weaving baskets of grade 1 or for exporting. The medium type is 1.5 to 1.6 m long, for weaving individual baskets.

• Step 2: Making Seagrass Baskets:

First comes fiber processing: fibers are split, twisted, or braided depending on the design of the products. Splitting is a very important step, which takes a lot of time and effort because if the sedge is not split in time, it will be very difficult to split. After the sedge is split, the seagrass must be exposed to the sun at the hottest time of the day to create a tough, durable texture and beautiful color.

Then, it’s time for hand-weaving: the primary process that makes fibers come to life in an artistic form. After the material has been processed, dried, and treated with mold, the craftsman will proceed to weave the basket. Our artisans pour all their heart and soul into making the best-quality handicrafts. They weave the craft by hand 100% with their century-skilful craftsmanship.

The artisans creatively research the market trend for the most up-to-date designs. After having the designs, the weavers use their rich experience to think of the most effective weaving technique. The hands of artisans can braid the leaves super fast as if they reach to master level of weaving. We believe the joyful and professional spirit of the artisans will be immersed into the weaves and throughout the craft.

Step 3: Finishing After the seagrass basket-making is completed

The craftsman will proceed to shape and clean the dirt with water and dry it according to international quality standards. After this, they are retouched, carefully packaged, and shipped to a happy shelter in the world. We pack the handicrafts with pride and hope in our traditional craftsmanship heritage

These skillful stages have been inherited from generation to generation, accompanied by creativity and innovation to develop the product quality for the better every day. Here is the proud accomplishment of a dedicated process.

4. Sedex certification: Thriving for a sustainable lifestyle

Sedex is one of the world’s leading ethical trade membership organizations, working with businesses to improve working conditions in global supply chains. At Viet Trang, we have got a thoughtful insight into how the quality of seagrass baskets is guaranteed. Besides factors coming from the finest materials, the safe working environment and facilities have also played an extremely fundamental role.

Viet Trang Handicrafts is honored to become a member of Sadex organization. By achieving the criteria set out in the “Empowering Responsible Supply Chains” report, we are reputable supplies, export seagrass baskets, and receive trust from value partners all over the world We proudly create a natural seagrass basket with handles that are not only made of seagrass but also a combination of seagrass and palm (Corypha lecomtei) leaves. They are delicately handcrafted by many generations of artisans living in Nga Son villages from the North of Vietnam.

Why is Viet Trang Handicrafts your top trusted partner in Vietnam?

1. We are: Export expertise

Working with diversified customers from all five continents in more than 20 countries has brought us professional export practices. We understand your supply chain requirements and all concerns, such as shipping, packaging and everything for international shipments.

2. We care: Sustainable lifestyle

We love the earth and the people living on it. We would love to do good by doing business. Creating good-for-earth products and paying respects to local farmers and weavers.

3. We think: Another Mindset Of Handicrafts

We provide high-quality handwoven homewares with more than 250 designs of baskets, 150 models of crafted rugs, and handwoven furniture. Moreover, we offer the best value for your business with our dedicated design support and modern B2B platform.

We would love to bring traditional and cultural products into our modern lives, to bring natural products into our city lives and to narrow the gap between local artisans with our sustainable consumers. Viet Trang Handicraft is confident to offer you professional export service. We understand and well meet your supply chain woven baskets wholesale requirements as well as concerns related to international shipments.

To discover more about our seagrass baskets wholesale, let’s click here!