Hats, hats and more hats

Tuesday, Rich and I walked across town towards the bus terminal and then across the street to the factory of Hermano Ortega and Hijos, a maker of fine 'Sombreros de Paja Toquilla'. These hats are also known as Panama Hats, even though they originated and are made mainly in Cuenca, Ecuador. Hijos is Spanish for children and now the two daughters and one son of Hermano Ortega are running the company.

The factory has a small exhibit describing how the hats are made. There is a plant that is grown in the area not too far from where Windarra is moored, that is used for weaving the hats. It is harvested, soaked in water then dried and split. The majority of weavers are women who start learning how to weave at the age of 8 years. The weaving is done either at night or in the early hours of the morning when it is cool and their hands are no sweaty. To weave Thr basic hat takes anywhere from four days to four months. The tighter and higher quality weaving takes longer. If you hold up a high quality hat up to the light, you would not see any light come through the weave.

The woven hat is sent to the factory. First it is sorted by quality and color. Hats are then washed and may be bleached or dyed, then dried. This process make take as few as two days or as much as two weeks depending on the weather. Once the hat is dried, it is steam pressed into shape and size. Each hat is pressed three times. Bands and decorations such as flowers are added.

Hats from Homero Ortega are sold all over the world. They are sold mostly in Europe, especially in Italy. Other places include South Africa, Australia, Peru, and Asia.

Take a look at the more classic style hats that we bought.