Weaving linen fabric

To create unique brocade products, many meticulous and skillful steps are required from Mong women, such as spinning yarn, wax printing, indigo dyeing, and embroidery. After the weaving process, to produce distinctive brocade fabrics, Mong women continue with techniques of wax printing, drawing, and embroidery. This work reflects the dexterity and diligence of Mong women. The brocade products, adorned with a rich variety of unique patterns and motifs in main colors like white, red, yellow, green, and purple gradually appearing on the linen fabric, have long become a distinctive cultural feature of the Mong people.

Mong women embroider brocade patterns

The patterns and motifs on traditional Mong clothing are mainly geometric designs. These include horizontal lines, bold borders, and angular shapes that form squares, rectangles, and diamonds all handcrafted and requiring a great deal of time and effort. To preserve the traditional craft of weaving and embroidery for future generations, young Mong girls are taught embroidery by their mothers and grandmothers from an early age. This enables them to sew their own traditional costumes according to their personal preferences, while also showcasing the skillfulness and talent of Mong women in this region.

Passing down traditional crafts to the younger generation.

The craft of spinning flax and weaving fabric among the Mong ethnic people has existed since ancient times. Mong women have passed it down from generation to generation, embodying their skillfulness, perseverance, diligence, and resilience. Today, the Mong people in Ban Xeo commune continue to maintain the flax-spinning and weaving craft, primarily to produce brocade bags and garments worn during festivals and special occasions. Notably, according to Mong customs, when a person passes away, they must be dressed in garments made from linen fabric.

Despite changes in market demands, the Mong people still preserve their unique cultural identity through their traditional costumes. In the past, the Mong believed that flax threads were a spiritual link connecting them to their ancestors and the afterlife. Today, beyond its traditional symbolic meaning, the exquisite handcrafted products made from flax by the Mong people are increasingly reaching visitors from all over the world. These products have become a cultural bridge, connecting the remote highland communities with people from the lowlands, and bringing the cultural values of the Mong people to a wider international audience.

Linen fabric is dried after dyeing

Linen weaving is not only a traditional craft that needs to be preserved but also a sustainable practice that produces environmentally friendly products. Moreover, it is an inseparable part of the cultural and spiritual life of the Mong people in this region.