The Flamingo Basket — Hand-Embroidered Moroccan Straw Tote

Two flamingos, facing each other across the front of the basket, and they are by some distance the most complicated thing anyone in our workshop embroiders.

Count what's in one bird. A body worked in dense satin stitch in fluorescent pink, laid so tightly you can't see the palm underneath. A white head. A black beak with a darker tip. A single black stitch for an eye, which is the detail that gives the whole thing its expression. A white wing marking worked back over the pink. And then the legs — fine pink chain stitch, running down and splitting into three toes each, on a surface with a visible weave that wants to pull every line crooked. Embroidering a straight thin line onto basketry is genuinely difficult. Embroidering four of them, twice, and having the birds face each other symmetrically, takes a practised hand.

That's why this one costs more than the cactus.

The basket beneath is traditional: doum palm, the wild palm that grows across Morocco, cut and sun-dried until it pales to straw, split into ribbons and woven by hand in a tight herringbone. The natural straw is left bare around the birds, which is exactly what makes the pink land.

The handles are leather here, not wrapped cotton. Rolled cognac leather on stitched leather tabs at the rim — the same handles as our sequinned market basket rather than the cotton-wrapped ones on the smaller motif baskets. They're longer, they carry a loaded basket without digging in, and they'll darken with handling the way leather does. A fine pink whipstitch runs round the rim to pick up the flamingos.

On size: this one comes in medium — the beach-and-market size. Towels, book, sunscreen, a bottle of water, lunch. Enough for a proper day out.

Open at the top and unlined, the traditional construction, so it airs out after a damp swimsuit rather than staying wet.

Woven and embroidered entirely by hand in Marrakech. The birds' proportions, the tilt of their heads and the exact placement all vary from basket to basket — which on a pair of flamingos is rather the point.

Features & Specifications

• Material: Hand-woven doum palm straw (natural, undyed), cotton embroidery, genuine leather handles
• Detail: Two hand-embroidered flamingos in pink, white and black cotton
• Handles: Rolled cognac leather on stitched leather tabs; pink cotton whipstitch at the rim
• Size: Medium — beach and market size (exact dimensions: see note below)
• Closure: Open top, unlined — traditional construction
• Handmade: 100% handcrafted in Marrakech, Morocco. Ships direct from our workshop.
• One of a kind: Weave density, exact dimensions and embroidery proportions vary between baskets. No two flamingos are identical.
• Care: Keep dry where you can; palm straw is naturally water-resistant but not waterproof. If it gets wet, air dry naturally away from direct heat. Dust with a dry brush. Spot clean the embroidery gently with a barely damp cloth — do not soak, as bright cotton dyes may run. Condition the leather handles with a neutral balm once a year.
• A note on colour: Fluorescent pink is the first dye to fade in strong sun. Store the basket out of direct light between uses and the flamingos will stay vivid for years.

Ships from our warehouse in Marrakech with DHL or FedEx. Free over $100 (EUR 100 in Europe). Five to eight business days to Europe, the UK, the USA and Canada; seven to fourteen to Australia and New Zealand. Thirty days to change your mind.

Cut and stitched by hand in our Marrakech workshop. Because every hide is different, no two pieces are identical.