Handwoven Tote Bag

Hsa Meh makes traditional-style Karenni tote bags of the sort that would have been used to carry all manner of things back in Karenni villages in Burma: fruit, small tools, vegetables, schoolbooks, a midday meal. In Worcester she wove long, fairly wide strips of textiles on her loom and then cut them into pieces, which she then fashioned together to form a practical, utilitarian bag.  She did this in hopes that the tote bags would sell well to American families. The one shown here is a boldly, emblematically Karenni bag (although few American buyers apparently pick up on that). In the center of the inset is a circular motif that symbolizes this ethnic minority group’s proud heritage as a society that has persevered through many enemy attacks. The tote bag consists of several long strips of cloth, each separately woven and then sewn together. The motifs are geometric ones and the fringes have been left to hang down, forming part of the overall pattern of the bag. It is fair to say that all mainland and island Southeast Asian ethnic societies make their own distinctive cloth tote bags. Some of these societies also craft tote bags of bamboo strips, again with long side straps for holding the bag on the back or over the shoulder.