People in Ky Thu commune, Ky Anh district, Ha Tinh province can make 1-2 hats a day, earning nearly 2 million VND per month.
Villagers of Hoa Binh, Dan Trung, Trung Giang, Thanh Binh, Trung Giang, Truong Thanh, Lien Mieu, Cau Mieu, Ky Thu communes have been making hats for hundreds of years, inheriting the tradition from their ancestors. Currently, there are 300 households in the area that are engaged in occupations, besides farming and trading.
There are two types of conical leaves, white leaves, and green leaves. The conical leaves are about 50 cm long, taken by people in the forest in Ky Anh and Quang Binh towns to sell. A stalk of about 1-7 leaves, each bunch of about 45 stalks, sold for 25,000 VND.
Bamboo to bend the brim of the hat is grown by people themselves or bought at local markets. If bought at the market, a bunch of about 40 bamboo sticks more than 3m long, priced at 15,000-25,000 VND.
Dried conical leaves are heated on a hot pot, pulled back and forth, and then smoothed with a wet towel.
A hat consists of 3-4 bamboo rims curled from the top down, in addition, there are small surrounding spokes that are bent from the trunk of the tree.
At the stage of threading conical leaves to the rim, large, uneven leaves are placed inside, small and flat leaves are connected outside.
Ms. Vo Thi Tin, 73 years old, residing in Hoa Binh village, uses her mouth to brush a small thread to thread the needle for ease. She said that in the past, making hats for the main income, every house was focused on workers. Now many people change jobs, only the elderly or some middle-aged men and women take advantage of their leisure time to work part-time to increase their income.
“At mid-afternoon and mid-afternoon every day, we each group of 3-5 people often bring tools to gather at the house of a household in the village to sit down and make hats and have fun talking,” Ms. Tin said. .
Mrs. Nguyen Thi The, 84 years old, residing in Hoa Binh village, is using a small thread needle to sew a hat in a circle from top to bottom.
According to Ms. Tin, this stage requires skillful hands and meticulous observation. When stitching, it is necessary to encroach on the thread, hide the connecting nodes of the string inwards so that the finished hat has a high aesthetic value.
Sometimes many people also make flower hats according to customers’ orders. The worker uses green leaves to cut the four-petaled flowers, then weaves the flowers into the second layer of leaves and then covers the outer layer of white leaves.
A hat will connect 2 flowers, placed parallel on both sides. Guests who want to distinguish just need to put the hat in the middle of the sun or bright space and the flowers will float.
When almost finished, the craftsman uses red yarn to knit the point of the hat. A roll of wool costs 12,000 VND, enough for 40 hats.
Mrs. The next to the hats she made. On average, a worker can make one hat per day, if anyone is productive, they can make 3 hats in two days.
The price of hats is 25,000-45,000 VND per piece, depending on the type, with flowers costing 60,000-120,000 VND. Hat straps are usually velvet or fabric, sold separately, priced at 3,000-5,000 each.
When a customer comes to her house to buy a hat, Ms. Tin uses turpentine oil diluted with gasoline to keep it durable. Oil will help seal the open stitches, when it rains or splashes with water, it won’t get inside.
Mr. Nguyen Duy Thanh, Vice Chairman of Ky Thu Commune People’s Committee, said that the hat industry previously gave a good income, but now it is gradually disappearing due to the market mechanism. The commune has established a cooperative group to replicate the profession and is about to send a delegation to Thua Thien Hue, Quang Binh… to learn the model of traditional craft villages in order to improve quality, towards making tourism products and souvenirs. concept.
The profession of making hats of people in the Ky Thu commune. Follow vnexpress