Molas

One thing that the Kuna are known for is their molas.  They are made by the women and are worn on the fronts and backs of their blouses.

Molas are handmade using reverse appliqué.  Layers of cloth are sewn together - as many as 7 in some very complex ones - and then the seamstress creates a design by cutting away parts of each layer and then hand-finishing the seams.  The level of skill is astounding.  On ours, the stitches are practically invisible.  Sometimes, molas also include embroidery.

Originally, they were simply geometric shapes.  However now, they include a wide array of designs.  It's amazing that every single one we saw was different.

Here are some that we purchased:

Two love birds (for us)

We bought this for Elba

I bought this to show FCCB because
we are discussing whether to make
stoles for the choir, using 2 molas per stole.
This is actually not a mola per se because the
design is stitched onto the cloth (appliqué), rather than
being done in reverse appliqué.  Still, it is lovely.