Raffia is an amazing material: natural, strong, elastic and durable. In our review - the main properties of raffia and ideas for its use in needlework.
What is raffia?
Raffia is a natural fiber made from palm leaves of Raphia farinifera. This tree has very large leaves that are collected, cut and divided into long parallel stripes. These strips are then dried to produce long strands of raffia.
Palm tree Raphia farinifera
Raffia leaves
Raffia fiber
If raffia is collected and dried correctly, then the fibers are soft, plastic and not brittle. At the same time, raffia is quite elastic and strong - it can be twisted, braided or knotted: the correct raffia will not tear or break. At the same time, it is quite resistant to moisture, it doesn’t get wet from the water, but spreads out (its corrugated structure disappears) and becomes more transparent.
The natural color of raffia is light beige. It is painted with natural and artificial dyes in any colors.
Raffia natural color
Color raffia
Ideas for storage - interior baskets: 5 workshops
Important properties of raffia:
- Strength and elasticity
- Ability to maintain volume and keep fit
- Raffia splits well along the fibers, but hardly breaks across
- It is well painted in different colors
- Painted industrially, raffia retains color for a long time, does not fade and does not fade, including under direct sunlight
- It is steady against moisture, does not decay even in a damp environment, for example, on the street
- When exposed to water, it can swell a little, smooth out, become translucent, but when dried, returns to its original form
Half an hour napkin bag: master class
Where is raffia used?
Most often, raffia is used in floristry to decorate compositions of flowers, in ikebana, when packing gifts, jewelry and cosmetic products (for example, laying raffia fibers in decorative boxes or making bows and other decorative elements from it).
The properties of this material allow it to be widely used also in needlework. Rafia weaving rugs, handbags, hats, slippers and baskets. It can be used instead of paper for decoration or instead of threads for knitting and weaving. Raffia can be embroidered, including the creation of large volumetric elements. Raffia is also used as a padding for pillows, toys and decorative textiles for the home. Under the influence of steam, raffia becomes soft and silky, therefore it is also used for the manufacture of massage sponges.
In this video you can see several ways to work with raffia:
And here you can find a workshop on weaving baskets from raffia.
Here's how raffia is used:
Raffia woven boots
Raffia bag
Raffia Bag
Bag with raffia embroidery
Raffia slippers
Raffia Espadrilles
Raffia tablecloth fringe
Raffia hat
Raffia Storage Boxes
Raffia Baskets
Leather bracelets with raffia embroidery
Raffia Earrings
Raffia Pads
Padded stool and raffia rug
Raffia dish
Raffia Tartlet
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