Bali Handmade Crochet: The Story Behind Our Collection
Last week we drove two hours from Canggu, off the tourist trail and into the hills of West Bali, to visit the women who make our crochet pieces.
The area is stunning in a way that feels almost unfair. Rolling rice terraces as far as you can see, coffee and cacao plantations, cool mountain air, and almost no tourists. This is the real Bali, the one that existed long before the surf schools and smoothie bowls. Villages here still run on farming, community and tradition. Life moves slowly and intentionally.
And somewhere in between the rice fields and clove trees, a group of women sit together under open-sided Balinese pavilions, or at home, in their own time, and crochet by hand.
A craft passed down through generations
One of the women we spoke to started learning when she was 10 years old. She learned from the women around her, the same way they had learned from the women before them. It is just how it is done there. The craft moves through families and through generations, quietly and without fanfare.
No machines, no shortcuts. Every stitch of every piece in our crochet collection is made by hand.
When we visited, we sat with them, watched them work, and tried (badly) to keep up. There is something deeply calming about watching someone do something they have done thousands of times. The focus, the rhythm, the pride in the finished piece.
Where our crochet pieces come from
This is where your Dewi Crochet Top, your Cowrie Shell Hat, your Matcha Crochet Hat come from. These hands.
We started working with this community because we wanted our crochet pieces to mean something beyond the product itself. Buying something handmade in Bali by women who have inherited their craft through generations feels different to buying something made by a machine. It should feel different.
Every piece is made in small batches, by hand, by the same women you see in these photos. There is no factory floor, no mass production. Just these women, their hands, and a skill that has been kept alive long enough to end up on your body at the beach.
What is coming next
Right now we have three pieces in our Bali handmade crochet collection, with more arriving this summer. We are just getting started with this side of SunDaze, and we cannot wait to show you what is coming.
We think that's worth knowing 🧡
Read more about the makers here
SunDaze Surf makes sustainable surf bikinis, surf suits and beachwear for women. Born in Bali. Worn in the ocean.