THE MAKING OF A HAMMOCK

The hammocks are made by hand in in the North of Thailand. Hammock Art offers people of remote villages the chance of a decent and stable income. The ongoing deforestation, the lack of education, the remote location as well as the discrimination by the rest of the population makes it almost impossible for many of the hill tribes in this region to find a way out of poverty. In 1996, the textile engineer and dropout from Switzerland, Peter Schmidt, discovered the handicraft of the hill tribes and started to weave hammocks together with them. His experience with textile and the traditional manual skills of the locals gave birth to the first net hammocks in Thailand. 21 years later, Hammock Art has created a collection of hammocks that are unique in their design, comfort and quality. Originally meant to be a source of alternative income, today, the project is a stable employer for more than 20 men and woman of the Lanna, Lahu, Khmu and Hmong tribes. The production is happening in the home village. It is fairly paid and every employee can decide on his own how fast he wants to work. HOW IS THE PROCESS OF CREATING A HAMMOCK? We want to guide you, step by step, through the extensive production of these special hammocks. The Design One hammock consists of 600 stripes and is, with 4 x 2 meters quite a big object. The special weaving technique allows manifold design compositions. With a range of 102 different colors, there are endless combinations of colours to choose from. Special effects like ornamental stripes, squares, multi-color threads or flowing transitions are part of the limited editions. Their designs are very unique.

The Hammock Artist and his Weaving Frame

As basis serves a weaving frame produced by a local metal trader and made of recyclable water pumps.
Compared to the production in South America, hammocks in Thailand are woven while seated not standing, which makes the work much more enjoyable and comfortable.
The weaver's training usually takes more than one year until the desired product quality is reached.
Through advanced trainings, after two years, most of the weavers are familiar with the even more complex weaving technique of the V-hammocks.
 

The Material

Beside the handicraft, the selection of the right materials is highly important.
As thread Hammock Art is using acrylic. The acrylic thread combines the advantages of an organic and a synthetical material. The raw material is woven like cotton and feels very soft and comfortable. Compared to cotton acrylic is very resistant to water and sun, sustaining its colours over many years.
The acrylic thread is produced in Bangkok and has a reputation as being the most precious one of all synthetic fibers on the market. The raw material is in average twice as expensive as cotton or nylon, in favor of longevity and high comfort.
 

The Weaving Process

The manufacturing process refers to the further development of the traditional weaving technique from Mexico and is the most complex part of the production.
Up to 4 km of wire and 90.000 slip knots are necessary to complete one hammock. While weaving a calm, skilled and patient hand of the weaving artist is demanded.
The hammock artist works with an asymmetrical V-technique in which the way of the ending thread is repeated just after 4 tucks. Through the long float the colours seem very vivid especially when the hammock is swinging.

Quality Check

After completing the production, in order to guarantee the unique quality, each hammock is tested once again by Nee herself concerning its quality, comfort and loading capacity.
 
We are creating individual designs for the maybe most comfortable hammock of the world. Handwoven with love in the North of Thailand by Hammock Art.
This offer is worldwide quite unique and very attractive for garden lovers, interior decorators or friends of good design.
The design is adapted to your individual taste, so that the hammock in your garden or living room is integrated very smoothly in its surroundings.