We are very excited to launch a new product at Woza Moya during June 2023. Our brand new beaded adjustable hatbands will be showcased for the first time at Decorex 2023 in Cape Town.

THE LOOM
For the past 21 years Woza Moya has been doing traditional beading with a needle and thread when an opportunity arose for us to learn how to use a loom to make our jewelry. The loom has been used in other parts of the world but is relatively new to us in South Africa. We commissioned training from Nathi Zondi owner of Nela Nala beads to train up 20 ladies over 5 days using funds from a donor.

Crafters loved the challenge of learning a new technique and this new technique was mastered very quickly. We wanted to design a product that was new to the market and that the loom would lend itself to. We had been beading hats but it had become difficult to send beaded hats worldwide, so we came up with an adjustable beaded hat band, that could be popped into an envelope and that would fit on any hat.

The crafters were given free range to design their own hatbands and from there we selected 3 designs per colour-way and width, and the crafters enthusiastically took up the challenge to make up stock, for the photo shoot initially and then the wider market, hopefully including international markets.

Loom beading does not take anything away from our traditional hand beading but adds an extra dimension to what we can do and what jobs we can take on.