SunBody Hats

Video of Sewing a Palm Leaf Hat - Part 1

Here's the first part of a video I shot in Guatemala last year.  Juan Carlos Morales is sewing a palm-leaf hat.

He begins with three pieces of palm-leaf in a star pattern. To this he sews palm braid in an over-lapping spiral. In this video he completes the top of the crown, measuring it to see that the crown disc is the right diameter (18 cm) for the size of hat he is making (57 cm - 7-1/8).

Notice that he is doing this all on a treadle sewing machine: powered by his feet, not a motor.  Most of the hatmakers use treadle machines.  In recent years some of them have invested in motors for their machine. But, until you see his feet toward the end of the video, I bet you wouldn't guess that Juan Carlos' machine doesn't have a motor.

Juan Carlos is one of about 70 hatmakers that sews hats for SunBody.  Pueblo to People began in 1979 when it purchased hats from his father, Juan, and a small group of hatmakers. That's 30 years ago! 

I worked with Pueblo to People from 1983 to 1995.  When I began SunBody Hats in 1996, we began by buying hats from Juan and the group began by Pueblo to People.

The group named itself "Wokaj Kabahujil"  after a Mayan shrine in the village of Panaxit where the group started and where many of the hatmakers still reside.  Palm-leaf hatmaking in Guatemala actually traces its roots to this village.

Jimmy Pryor
 

Braiding Palm Video

All of our hats are made of braided palm leaves. In Guatemala, seven strands of palm are braided into a flat plait about 1/2" wide. 150 feet or more of this braid will go into a 4" brim standard palm hat.

Here's a video of a woman in Quiche braiding palm:

She is wearing the tradition Quiche "traje", or dress.  Quiche is one of 26 indigenous languages spoken in Guatemala.  Approximately 1 million people speak Quiche, more than any of the other indigenous languages. You can hear her speaking a native language.  I presume it is Quiche, which is predominant in the department (state) of Quiche, but it could be something else.  Do you know?

Last year when I went to Guatemala I shot a lot of video of the hat making process. I hope to be converting more of it to a YouTube friendly format in the coming days and getting it it posted.

Jimmy Pryor

Hatmaking Videos Coming

I just got back from Guatemala where I took some videos of the hatmaking process: bleaching palm, the palm market, braiding palm, and sewing the hats together. Here are a couple of photos excerpted from the videos.
Here's a Quiche woman braiding palm. I think the young apprentices were mostly eager to be photographed. The woman and older girl are dressed in skirt and blouse typical for Quiche women.  The younger girl has chosen jeans and t-shirt for this day, but sometimes chooses "traje". 

Quiche is the largest of 26 Mayan ethnic groups in Guatemala, each with its own language.  There are approximately 1 million Quiche speakers, out of about 6 million native speakers.  The population of Guatemala is about 13 million.

This is Marcelo Lux, working on a treadle sewing machine. He is 76 years old and has been making hats since he was 14.

Watch for some video to be posted soon.

Jimmy Pryor

Hatmaker's Daughter

Knowing the Guatemalan hat makers individually is one of the high points of my work.   When I went down to Guatemala last fall, Wokaj, one of the hat making groups held a party. Their spouses and children came and I had a great time taking pictures. 

Here's the daughter of one of the hat makers.  She's wearing her "traje", the traditional dress for Quiche women.

-Posted by Jimmy Pryor