Karen Bags

Not Your Mama's Handbag!

The Karen are a group of people who come from primarily southeastern Burma and their population has recently grown in Buffalo. They not only bring a very welcomed wave of diversity to the western New York area, but their fabulous bags. Yes, bags! 

Over a cup of tea and scrumptious home-made treats, Thaw Yee, a new arrival to Buffalo invited us to her home and discussed the culture of the bags.

 

 The tradition of weaving that her mother and village elders taught her as a young girl is common among women in her culture. Men typically make other items such as baskets. It's a pastime cultivated throughout the generations.

In Buffalo, these practical, yet eye-catching garments have caught on like wildfire for those who love unique, one-of-a-kind, and handmade goods. The bags begin as simple string - of many textures and colors. Below is a picture of Ms. Yee stretching a fine silk-like string.

Next, she rounds the string into a ball (much like yarn for knitting) so it's easier to roll out during the looming process. Propped up on her sofa is a hand-made loom, typically created in Karen from bamboo shoots. 

Ms. Yee continuously loops the long string (of different colors and textures) over and around and back again until they are pulled together to form the strong, yet delicately designed fabric.

 

Ms. Yee teaching Ms. Nichter how to use the loom!

Another process used to create the beautiful patterns and cloth is the sitting loom. A painstaking process which requires the pushing and pulling of string to make each individual marking and barely visible line in the cloth! Ms. Yee is currently working on a new beautiful head scarf.

After all the parts have been created, the bag and the strap are hand-sewn together.

Et voila! This wearable work of art is ready!

 

Each bag understandably takes a few days to make and can be custom made. Ms. Yee and friends also make dresses, shirts, smaller bags, sarongs (can be worn as a skirt), and scarves. They are for sale!

Please contact Thaw Yee or Ms. Nichter at nenichter@buffaloschools.org for more information!

Remember, the more you know about the wonderful world around us, the more you glow! (And look just plain fabulous!)