Our Mission
At Rainforest Baskets our very small team brings beautiful handmade woven art to your space, and empowers indigenous weavers to create a better future for themselves and their families.
Harvesting Palm Fronds
Selecting Palm Fronds
Only the freshest, newest palm fronds are selected and gathered from the wild Chunga palm. These trees are covered in 6″ spikes, making gathering these fronds a dangerous effort using hand-crafted ladders and machetes.
Vegetal Dyes
Sourced from the Rainforest
Shredded palm fronds, dried in the sun, readily absorb the vegetal dyes created out of local resources. Roots, berries and river silt are just some of the items that are used to boil, bury, and simmer palm fronds in to take on vibrant colors.
From Our Collectors
“Our basket gets admiring attention when we have guests, and from time to time we just pick it up from the low stand it is on and marvel again at the workmanship.”
James T., Arro Grande, CA
Traditional Coil Construction
Hand-Stitched by Master Weavers
Each piece is begun with a small knot of gathered and dried palm frond, then as that bundle of palm starts to wrap around the center it is meticulously covered. The internal coils are covered completely by the colored palm fronds, thin as thread, using a sewing needle.
Be in the know
Request a Catalog
Our small team publishes a short-run catalog a few times per year: spring and winter. Sign up to receive the current issue.
click on cover page above to view catalog
Where our weavers are located
Darien Rainforest, Panama
Crossroads of the World
Functioning as a “bridge” between North and South America, Panamá is often referred to as the “Crossroads of the World.” Stretching anywhere from 30 to 130 miles in width, today, this flourishing country welcomes visitors from across the globe, as well as 12,000 ships, through the famous canal that bears its name.
