Alexandra is the owner of a small shop in Montecristi for the past 22 years (opened in 1993). Since 2008, she has sold baskets made from straw to Minga.
Alexandra says that the weaving is just too hard for her to do but her favorite job is to talk to customers about the handmade crafts she sells for the artisans. Her mother, Modesta, is the one who painstakingly hand weaves every basket. Modesta says when it takes a long time to shape them her hands grow tired, but constructing baskets is worse for her back.
When travelling down the “Artesanía Calle” one will often see women leaning over a block of wood placed atop a tall stool. This is for forming the crown of hats, and the weaver has to lean her chest against the wood to do the weaving. Modesta says it takes one month to make a fine Panama hat and one week for one that uses coarser straw.
Rev. March 29, 2015