Hoai Nhon is in the main sedge harvest season (April) and is as beautiful as any harvest day painting anywhere. In front of my eyes is the peaceful, immense landscape of the sedge fields of Chuong Hoa village, fluttering in the wind like a giant green silk sheet stretching endlessly to the horizon.
The "ripe" season of sedge is when the sedge plant is old, blooms and is taller than a person's head. Ripe sedge plants do not turn bright yellow like rice, but only bloom while maintaining their green color. From early morning, farmers diligently go to the fields to harvest sedge. The peaceful countryside became bustling and bustling.
Skilled workers cut the sedge quickly with sharp sickles. Wherever they cut, they will filter out the main stem inside. Fresh sedge plants are tied into bundles, placed in rows or spread out in the field. In the middle of the vast sedge field, there are glimpses of sweat-soaked shirts.
Fresh sedge is quickly brought back to compare and select each plant, then split into small pieces and dried. The worker must carefully monitor the process of the sedge body shrinking until the sedge fiber reaches the standard toughness and then collect it immediately. Further drying can cause the sedge fiber to become brittle and break easily.
The dried sedge fibers are now divided into one part to weave rustic plain mats, the other part is dyed to weave flower mats.
To dye sedge, people cook large pots of dye and then dip each piece of sedge into it. They can dye it once or twice so that the color penetrates the fibers evenly, then leave them out to dry in the sun to give the sedge fibers a fresh, lasting color. .
Previously, weaving mats manually required 2 people with well-coordinated operations.
The agile and flexible hands perform many movements of pressing, pressing, cutting, shaping, creating letters, so that the lines are sharp and uniform, joining each sedge strand and color array so that when completed, they will form flowers. harmonious text and motifs.
The finished mat has been neatly cut, braided at both ends, sewn the complete border, and then dried in the sun again to make the mat even shinier and more durable.
Today, weaving machines have helped workers increase labor productivity and create many new designs. Products from sedge are expanded to include sandals, hats, bags... bringing sedge weaving to tourism. Since then, the traditional craft villages in Hoai Nhon have become known to many tourists.
