Dye the strip before you plait it
Color is set in the tikog grass first — every diagonal band is committed days before the first weave.
Tension carries the pattern
Pull each over-under pass tight and the diamond holds — loosen once and the whole field skews.
The zigzag is the signature
Basey weavers read a mat's home village in the slope of its chevrons, not in any printed label.
Leave the buff base showing
The undyed straw between bands is not empty — it's the rhythm that lets the bright strips sing.