Palm Leaf Hats Handmade Palm-Leaf Hats by SunBody Hats The Leader in Palm-Leaf Hats
The palm for Guatemalan palm leaf hats is harvested from palm trees on the southern coast of Guatemala where they grow wild near the mangrove swamps. Women split the leaves into narrow strips which are then braided together in a seven-strand flat plait. During the braiding the leaves must be kept moist to prevent them from breaking. A continuous 52 foot braid will be wound into a coil. For our hats, a narrow braid, about 1/2" wide, is then sewn into a hat, which begins at the top of the crown. If you look at your palm leaf hat, you can see a narrow strip of braid about an inch long at the center of the crown. The hat is then sewn in a spiral, overlapping the braid as it goes. At any given point, the braid will be three layers thick. When the crown is done, the hat is turned inside out and the crown is blocked on a wooden block. The brim is then sewn on. Finally, a wider strip of braid is folded double, edge to edge, and sewn around the edge of the brim. A four inch brim hat requires 150 feet of braid. SunBody Hats blocks the hats on wooden molds, using cold water and hand blocking tools. The cold-pressed hats have a richer surface texture and are more flexible than hats pressed in heated molds. Heat-pressed hats are sometimes scorched and dried to the point of brittleness. Hand-blocking also allows them to custom crease hats. While the wooden blocks allow them to produce neat, sharp hats, no two hats will be exactly the same.
Coppermine Photo Gallery - Palm Leaf
Rustler
by Sunbody Hat Co. Alligator textured handmade Guatemalan palm, 4" brim, 4 ¾" crown, simulated barbed wire suede band.
Rustler
by Sunbody Hat Co. Alligator textured handmade Guatemalan palm, 4" brim, 4 ¾" crown, simulated barbed wire suede band.
