Malaysian Straw bags

Introduction

Woven from colorfully dyed or stained mengkuang or pandan leaves, as they are called in Malaysia, they make stunning yet very affordable utility items like food covers, floor mats, bags, baskets and tablemats. Mengkuang leaves, having bigger leaves and slightly coarser in texture, are usually used to weave into bigger items like floor mats and food covers, whereas, pandan leaves with shiny surface and smoother to touch, are used for smaller items like bags and placemats. These unique pandan leaves are derived from a plant called "Screw Pine", which belongs to the monocotyledonous pandanus family. There are altogether about 200 species of pandan found in Tropical Asia and Africa, with 37 of them found right here in Malaysia.

Weaving is a popular traditional craft among village folks. Indeed, in the past, a maiden was not considered sufficiently accomplished unless she could weave attractive mats. Nowadays, handicrafts woven from these materials are in a high demand and brings considerable income to the practitioners of this ancient art of weaving.

Pandan plant is usually about 1.0 to 1.5 meters in height with its roots surfacing above the ground. Mengkuang plant, on the other hand can grow up to 2.0 meters high. Their leaves can grow up to lengths of up to 2 meters. Unlike reed and willow, which have no thorns - pandan / mengkuang leaves, resembling the pineapple leaves, have to be stripped of thorns first. They are then split into strands, soaked, dried, dyed and then woven according to the required designs. In the past, the creators of these diamond-shaped patterns gathered their inspiration from nature. Motifs, which had their source in Malaysian flora and fauna, were arranged and carefully woven into beautiful, attractive products like bags and mats.

Beg Jinjang

(S)23.5cm X 8cm X 21cm(H) (M) 22cm X 9cm X 26cm(H)