Weaving Cattail Mats

Sep 16 2013 today i show you how to make a woven cattail mat that i am going to use for sun drying wild cherries.

Weaving cattail mats.

After gathering and preparing the cattails in late summer remove and discard the brittle tip and the thick very end. It would take half a dozen or more mats to cover a wigwam. Video featuring and produced by liz schultz. Sewn cattail mats were often used as exterior coverings of wigwams.

Two types of cattail grow in the u s. Today weavers use cattails to make a variety of additional items such as hats place mats and chair seats. A broad leaf cattail and a narrow leaf cattail. Liz s original research a detailed study of sewn cattail mat construction and issues concerning the use of such.

Most full size sewn cattail mats measured five to six feet wide and 10 feet long. The catkins were also substituted for goose down in jackets and coats. Native americans wove cattails into items such as mats baskets bags shoes military apparatus and toys using both finger weaving and braiding. The native americans and early settlers used the cattail fluff as stuffing for pillows and sleeping mats.