The origin of the bag is a mystery to me — I looked on the internet and through my books to see if I could see a similar one, but had no luck. The bag is woven with a soft natural material which appears to be flattened tubes so it’s likely to be a soft rush or reed. I had initially thought the bag may have been an Australian Aboriginal dilly bag, because of its shape, but I discovered dilly bags are usually made of twined fibres rather than woven strips. Because the bag has the appearance of being a traditional bag rather than a modern piece, and because the weaver has used several complex techniques, it indicates that the bag comes from a country that has an established weaving history.

I found the weaving at the top of the bag particularly interesting.The main body of the bag is woven diagonally, but the weaving changes to a vertical and horizontal weave which makes a straight edge around the top of the bag. After the completion of the top, the ends of the weaving strips exit the weaving at the base of the top, and are twisted along together to two points on each side, where they are plaited to make handles.

A simple one-over, one-under diagonal weave is used for the main body of the bag. However, a spiral pattern in the weave shows up when the weaving is seen from an angle. This spiral pattern is made by one strip being woven over two strips in a row, with this happening at the next point across in each consecutive row, thus making the spiral pattern. This change in the weave may also help to shape the bag.

The difference in the colours between the outside and the inside of the bag probably indicates that the bag has been used a lot. The colour on the outside of the bag is a faded mid-brown, but on the inside two colours are visible — a deep mid-brown and a dark rich brown — and these have been used to make a patterned design in the weave. Both shades appear to be the natural colours of the material, so maybe the material was treated in different ways, either with natural dyes or by another method, to achieve the differences in shade.

It’s difficult to work out how the base of the bag has been constructed, but it appears that all of the strips have been pulled and twisted together and then a plait has been woven around the strips to hold them in place. A single fine twisted cord also holds it all together. I have seen a somewhat similar type of finish on a jute string bag made in Bangladesh, but in that case the construction — where the threads are all pulled together around a circlet and then tied together in a large knot — is easier to see.

One of the things that I find particularly appealing about the bag is the effort that has been put into the detail. For example, the knotted ends of the handles. The handles of the bag are made by plaits coming from the body of the bag. Each handle is initially made with two plaits, which are joined together at the ends into one plait, as shown in the top photo. Instead of finishing this plait off with one large knot, it’s finished by separately twisting and knotting each one of the strands that was used to make the plait, which ends up as three small knots bunched together. This detail, combined with the skilled construction of the bag, make this bag a very fine example of the craft of weaving.

I enjoy studying weaving techniques from different weaving traditions as they often provide a wealth of ideas and information that can be incorporated into my own weaving. Sometimes it’s easy to work out the way an item has been woven and sometimes it’s not so easy, and it does help to know the origin of an item. Have you seen a bag like this? Do you know what country this style of bag comes from? I’d love to hear from anyone who can shed some light onto the origin of this bag.

The photos I’ve used on this blog post were sent to me by Lesley Jenkins and Wayne Boniface of Norfolk Island. These beautifully-woven and decorated hats are made in a traditional Norfolk Island weaving style. Norfolk Island doesn’t have much in the way of weaving material so the islanders use what they can, including banana tree bark, corn husk, drain flax (this is not Phormium tenax, it looks like bullrush to me), Moo-oo, or Cyperus Iucidus and palm leaf.

Lesley and Wayne use pandanas and Moo-oo which they gather from the cliffs around Norfolk Island. As with many plants used for weaving, Moo-oo has razor edges which are stripped off. It’s then left to dry out for about ten days before use. The traditional method is to plait the material into one long flat strip, which is then wound around and sewn into a hat shape. Lesley and Wayne have used a variety of different styles of flowers to decorate their hats in attractive ways.

Another email I received recently was from Greta Nicholson, who enlisted the help of her son to make a video that shows her way of making roses. Greta’s rose is made with one thin strip of flax which is folded in half and and then folded up concertina-like as if making a paper streamer. Greta calls this a small rose and says it’s best to make it with thin, soft flax. I suggest the flax is softened first before making this flower. I made the ones illustrated here with strips about 1.5 cm wide which I folded 10-12 times each way before pulling the soft strip through. Pull the strip through slowly and be careful as it reaches the top so that you don’t start pulling other side of the strip through. I agree with Greta that they can be a bit haphazard in appearance but they are easy and fun to make.

It’s very gratifying to hear that the book has inspired or reinvigorated people’s interest in weaving. Mina Timutimu of Whakatane writes:

I received your contact details from a colleague and have read your book hence the request to purchase same. We live in a remote rural area with access to flax of good quality because the community take good care of the resource and make sure that it is cleaned regularly. Your directions are easy to follow in fact the book is beautifully presented. As a result we have commenced weekly raranga (weaving) which have become very popular, not only with floral but incorporting kete, whariki, (mat), kete whakairo (intricate patterened kete) by experienced tutors.

It’s especially nice to hear that the book works for children and beginners as well as experienced weavers. Ruth from Cambridge writes: “… some of our 4 year olds (I work in an early childhood centre) can even follow the pictures,” and Bev from Opotiki mentions that … ” your diagrams are so great that she was making the flowers using diagrams only.”

Writing a book can be such a long-winded, solitary business that it’s great to get feedback, and all the positive feedback has inspired me to extend and update it at some point soonish. One of the additions will be a flax pohutukawa flower which I recently created for Miss World New Zealand 2009, Magdalena Schoeman, to wear in her hair in the Miss World Pageant in South Africa. It took a while to figure out how to make the pohutukawa and I don’t currently have written instructions for it, but it will certainly feature in the updated version of the book. I was notoriously wrong in my predictions about how long it would take to publish the first version of the book, so I’m not making any predictions about when the updated version will be published!

Addition 27 Jan 2010
I was delighted when Wayne offered to make one of his hats for me. The hat was delivered to me recently and fits perfectly. It’s beautifully made and I especially like the pretty edge on the brim of the hat. Thank you very much, Wayne!

Start making the angel by shredding some flax with an animal comb or fork and tying a bundle of it with a strip of flax. Tie it with a double knot quite near the narrow ends of the shreds.

Pull some of the waste flax out of the comb you have used to shred the flax with, and roll it into a small ball.

Position the flax ball into the middle of the shredded flax just above where it has been tied. This is going to give some shape to the head. It’s quite tricky to keep this flax ball in place so you may find it’s a good idea to put some glue at several points around the circumference of the ball to hold the shredded flax in place as you continue to make the angel.

Tie another strip of flax at the top of the flax ball making sure that the flax shreds completely surround the flax ball.

At this point I dipped the long thin ends of the shreds, up to the top tie, into boiling yellow dye, as I wanted the angel to have golden curls, but this is not an essential step. I used Teri Golden Yellow dye, and, as I used a flax with quite a lot of white in the colouring, it only needed a brief dip in the dye.

Now plait the long thin ends that come out of the top of the head into long braids. Separate the fibres carefully and make sure you are using fibres that come from the same area of the head for each braid.

Shred a little bit more flax for the arms. Tie the shreds together in the middle to make a bundle and then slip this in between the shredded flax of the body. Push it up so that it’s right underneath the tie for the neck. Tie another piece of flax around the body below the arms to create a waist.

Now shred some more flax and divide it into two bundles. Drape one bundle over the right shoulder and bring it across the front of the body to the left. Drape the second bundle over the left shoulder and bring it across in front of the body to the right. Tie these in place around the waist with a wide strip of flax.

Bend the arms around to the front, tie a thin strip of flax around the flax at the right distance to make wrists for the arms and then cut off the ends of the flax, and shaping the ends into hands. Hold the hands together temporarily with a tie of flax so that as the flax dries, that arms stay in the bended shape.

Now make the wings. I’ve used a thin, soft variegated flax for the illustration here but the thinner flax tends to curl up too much as it dries so I suggest you use a thicker flax for this style of wings. Take a piece of a flax leaf and scrape a blunt knife along both sides to soften and dry it a little to prevent the wings from curling up. Fold the flax on an angle with the fold at the top and a piece of flax coming down at an angle on each side and cut these sides into wing shapes. Staple the pieces in place close to the fold. Split each wing into about five strips just a bit over halfway along the wing. Use fine scissors to round the end of each strip and then cut up the strip a bit to narrow it and to give a feathery effect.

Position the wings just at shoulder height on the angel and attach them with glue or double-sided tape or a staple. I used double-sided tape which I find holds the wings securely.

It’s now time to unplait the braids and let the angel’s hair down! Or you could leave the braids in place, for a more funky look for the angel. If you do this, I suggest you plait some more braids separately and the sew them onto the angel’s head as they could be a bit sparse otherwise.

To make the angel’s halo, take a thin strip of flax, about .5 cm wide and as long as you can get it without using the tough bit of the leaf. Soften it with a knife and then fold it at right angles in the middle of the strip. It’s easiest to do this on a flat surface to start with.

Take the end of the strip that is out to the left and fold it across to the right over the first fold.

Take the end of the strip that is pointing up to the top and fold it down over the strip pointing to the left, folding it neatly against the other strip.

Continue to fold the strips over each other like this, until you have used up all the length of the strip. Make sure you fold the each strip squarely and closely up against the last strip otherwise the halo will be a bit loose, which may not be appropriate for an angel!

Hold the ends closely so that the folded strips don’t come undone and then curl the strip into a circle. Attach the ends together so that the halo is the right size for the angel’s head.

Attach the halo to the back of the angel’s head with glue or double-sided tape. Trim the long hair and arrange it so that it sits prettily around the angel’s shoulders and your angel is completed.

I recently received a letter from Kathy of Takaka who writes “We had an excellent hui with the local primary school (40 kids) who loved making your angel. They all went home clutching their one, along with a poi and kowhaiwhai pattern they had coloured in. A happy and successful first visit to our marae for a lot of them.” It’s lovely to hear that people have enjoyed making the original angel and I hope you enjoy making this version. Do send me a photo if you have your own variations.

A number of weaving groups have placed orders for my book, and this has reminded me of how many weaving groups there are in New Zealand. Also, I often receive email queries about all kinds of flax-related questions — many more email queries than blog comments — from people who might be seeking information about weaving groups, or recommendations on tutors in different parts of the country, or enquiries about certain types of weaving that I might be able to supply. Sometimes I’m in a position to help and sometimes I’m not, so I thought it was time I put up a links page.

It was fun googling for links, and I came across a number of examples of flax weaving online that I hadn’t seen before, like the wall hanging by Jess Parone, pictured on the right, and the sculpture by Jan van de Klundert, pictured below. In the last few years, I’ve noticed that more and more examples of flax weaving have been going online. There is always something new.

It’s good to see the increasing interest and exposure of flax weaving, and I’ve also been surprised and pleased by the number of people from other countries who have bought my book. It seems that New Zealand flax is spreading all over the world. Also, I don’t know whether it is the same in other cities, but more and more new houses in Christchurch seem to have flax plants in their front garden.

Do add a comment below about your flax weaving group, or a query about weaving groups in a particular location, or any other comment about weaving groups that you might want to share.

My interest in pīngao was sparked when one of the participants in a recent workshop brought some pīngao blades along to weave with. Karen, who bought the little Kohai Grace kete a couple of years ago, had been growing the pīngao for three or four years and it had reached the stage where the blades were long enough to use. The blades are mostly midrib with a small amount of soft leaf each side, and with one side narrower in width than the other. The blades are quite hard but soften very easily when a knife is run along them. Karen discovered very quickly that it was wise to have gloves on when softening the blades as it lived up to its name of cutty grass. She also found that she didn’t need to soften the pīngao as much as she normally would with flax and that the narrowest side of the blades tended to split off. She ended up removing this narrow side on all the blades although she may not have needed to if the softening hadn’t been quite as vigorous.

Karen wanted to use the whole length of her pīngao blades and so wove a kete that was joined at the bottom, ending up with a kete about twelve cm high. She plaited around the top, continuing the plait with the remaining lengths until they were used up and then wound this thick plait around the top of the kete. As Karen wasn’t happy with her first attempts, the pīngao strips were worked quite a lot as she undid and rewove her work and the stress on the blades, where they’ve split and shredded, can be seen in the photo here. However, the final kete has its own character and uniqueness and is attractive as a whole.

Although pīngao, a sand-binding plant, whose long trailing rhizomes help to stop erosion on sand dunes, once grew plentifully on coastal sand dunes throughout New Zealand, its growth declined rapidly as a consequence of burning and grazing by wild and domestic animals and overgrowth by marram grass. Harvesting methods have also contributed to this decline. Studies show that cutting a whole leaf cluster from the plant or wrenching the blades from the plant damages the growth. Clipping individual blades is now recommended as the most desirable harvesting method as it means only the useable blades are cut and that the plant is not damaged during the process.

As I don’t have ready access to harvesting pīngao, and it seems to be relatively easy to grow, I decided to grow some pingao plants in my garden. I bought six plants, grown from seed sourced from Kaitorete Spit, from the Department of Conservation nursery in Motukarara. George Santos, the manager of the nursery, advised that although pīngao’s natural habitat is sand, it can grow in ordinary soil, the vital component being a well-drained situation. I’ll plant mine in a well-drained spot in my garden but they can also be grown in pots in a mixture of sand and potting mix, as Karen grows hers. Landcare has information on their website about growing pingao and there is good information in the book Pingao: The Golden Sand Sedge mentioned on the Reviews page of my website. So there’s no need to have a sand dune in your back garden to grow this valuable weaving resource!

Flowers woven from flax have become very popular over the last couple of years or so. Bunches of woven flax flowers are now offered for sale on TradeMe, and on the websites of Sema Morris and Tahi, and many school teachers are beginning to show their students how to weave flax flowers. I know from my own flax weaving workshops that people of all ages are keen to learn how to weave flowers — as wedding bouquets, gifts or decorations in their own home.

Woven flowers also make great projects for a beginner in flax weaving, and one of the advantages of flax flowers is that any variety of New Zealand flax can be used to weave them, including the coloured, variegated flaxes that are often grown as decorative garden plants throughout the world. Most of the instructions in the book are illustrated with the coloured flaxes, and show how nice they look as woven flowers. Of course, New Zealand flax is not essential for weaving flowers. As I mention on my History page, Māori traditionally used many different plants for weaving. Really, any plant with reasonably long, strong leaves can be used for weaving flowers.

Although most of the designs in the book are made from a single flax leaf, a few designs or variations are rather more elaborate, and one or two — like the sunflower shown on the right — require many leaves. Other photos from the book are shown in my Book page, which I’ve just added to advertise the book, including instructions on how to purchase it.

At the same time that I’m putting up this blog post, I’m also emailing all the people who have asked to be notified when the book came out, including some people who bought an earlier booklet that I put together rather quickly in 2007 when I was invited to tutor flower weaving to the conference delegates of the OSCAR after-school programme. (Up till now, I’ve called the current book a booklet, but as it is now over a hundred pages in length and has its own ISBN number, I think I can fairly describe it as a book!)

Incidentally, the price of the book is considerably higher than the earlier booklet. This reflects the increase in size, from a 16-page booklet of 5 flower designs with small photographs to a 115-page book of 12 flower designs and 3 foliage designs with much larger photographs and more detailed instructions, as well as flower arrangements and additional flax foliage ideas.

I imagine those who purchased the earlier booklet will find the book greatly improved. As well as the increase in size and detail, the quality of the photographs, instructions and layout is also much improved. However, I’ve no doubt that the book can be improved still further. If you buy the book, do post a comment below if you can see how it might be improved, or post a question if any of the instructions are not entirely clear. If you’re considering buying the book, and there’s anything you’d like to know about it, please don’t hesitate to ask. Also, if you have a digital photo of a flower or flowers you have made — or a photo of another version of a woven flower that you’d like to share — you can use a free photo-sharing website such as www.flickr.com, and put a link to the photo in my comment box.

Shred two or three flax leaves with a fork or dog comb. Tie the shredded flax into a bundle with another piece of flax.

Turn the bundle up the other way so that the tie is inside the bundle and the shredded flax hangs down and around the tie, then tie another strip of flax around the bundle. This will make the neck of the angel.

Shred a little bit more flax for the arms. Tie the shredded flax together in the middle and then slip it in between the shredded flax of the body. Push it up so that it’s right underneath the tie for the neck.

Tie another piece of flax around the body below the arms to create a waist. Now shred some more flax and divide it into two bundles.

Drape one bundle over the right shoulder and bring it across the front of the body to the left. Drape the second bundle over the left shoulder and bring it across in front of the body to the right. Tie these in place around the waist.

Bend the arms around to the front and tie them together in the front of the body. Cut off the ends of the flax, shaping the ends into hands.

To make very simple wings, take a piece of a flax leaf and scrape a blunt knife along both sides to soften and dry it a little to prevent the wings from curling up. Fold the flax on an angle with the fold at the top and a piece of flax coming down at an angle on each side and cut these sides into wing shapes. Staple the pieces in place close to the fold. (I used variegated flax to make the wings look feathery but no doubt more elaborate wings could be made by splitting and folding the flax in other ways). Attach the wings to the angel’s shoulders at the back. I stapled the wings on but you could use superglue.

You can draw a face on the angel or use a shell for her face. I’ve left the face as it is but have given her a halo by placing a rounded, smoothed-by-the-sea piece of shell on the top of her head.

Trim the ends of her dress off evenly at the bottom and cut off any stray threads. If you want to stand the angel upright on a flat surface, spread her robe out over something like a small stone or piece of wood. This will help her to keep her balance so she doesn’t fall from grace!!

For those who are waiting for my book, Weaving Flowers from New Zealand Flax, you may be interested to know that the writing and illustrations have now been completed. I’m currently sorting out its printing on my home printer. Printing is a slow business on a home printer but it shouldn’t be too long before the book is ready for sale.

To make this three-dimensional star, follow the steps for making the eight-pointed star on the Gift Wrapping with flax blog post, but don’t cut any ends off. The spikes on the star will be made with these four ends that are left on each side.
 

 
Take the top strip of the two end strips that are laying out to the right and bend it back on itself. The folded point underneath it is now showing.
 

 
Take the right-hand strip of the two end strips that are coming out from the bottom of the star, lift it up and fold it forward and across to the right. Keep the start of the fold as close to the base of the star as possible.
 

Bring the end of this strip back around and poke it underneath the first strip that was bent back on itself. Push the end right through so that it comes out between the middle of the folds of the top point on the left.
 

Pull the strip through until it folds around into a point. Don’t pull too far or it will undo the star. Squeeze the strip to make it more spikey. Alteratively, to make the point more open, push your finger into the centre of the point and push the flax out to shape it.
 

 
Repeat these steps for the other three strips on this side of the star. As this version has a flat side, it can be used to tie around gifts.
 
 

For the second version of the star, make spikes on the other side in the same way as the first side. To finish, cut off all the ends. This side view of the star shows the spikes poking out from both sides. If you want to hang the star up, split a thin strip off the inner side of one end and cut the rest of the strip off.

Incidentally, my student took bouquets of flax flowers with her on her trip to the USA and declared them as she went through USA customs. She reports that she had no trouble getting them through.

Flax can be plaited from its fibre or from strips, and the photo to the right shows a four-plait made from flax fibre, or muka, on the left side of the photo and one from strips on the right side. A plait made from fibre is a good deal stronger than one made from strips, but plaited strips are much quicker to make and look quite attractive, particularly the four-plait, which can be woven in a tubular shape. A disadvantage of the tubular shape is that it can become crushed if used as a handle for a basket carrying heavy weights, but it’s quite suitable for a small basket and it’s particularly suitable for a pendant.

A number of the participants in my workshops have asked me how to weave a tubular four-plait, and I know of only one flax weaving book — Fun with Flax — that includes instructions. Unfortunately, people have not always found written instructions easy to follow, so I’m not sure whether the instructions below will be easy to follow either. If you don’t find them easy, you won’t be alone. It sometimes takes a while to get the hang of four-plaiting even when it’s taught in person.

A four-plait cord made from strips becomes tubular because the shiny side of each strip is kept to the outside of the cord all the time as you plait. Start with four flax strips all the same width. As for any cord, it’s easier to get an even plait if you have one end of the work held by a friend or you tie the end around a solid object such as a chair leg or a nail in a piece of wood. This means you can pull the strands towards you as you plait, so you can keep an even tension on the plaiting. Here I’ve used a nail banged into a piece of wood. Arrange the strips so that the shiny side of each strip is showing uppermost.

I’ve used two strips of dyed green flax and two strips of dyed red flax for these illustrations to show the plaiting sequence more easily. If you are using two different colours, arrange the colours so that one colour is used for the two outside strips and the second colour is used for the two inside strips.

 
To start plaiting, grasp the middle two green strips, and cross the left-hand one over the right-hand one, keeping the shiny side uppermost.
 

 
 Then take the outside left-hand red strip, and bring it under the two green strips to the right of it, turning it so the shiny side of the flax will be showing on the underneath of the cord. This means that the dull side of the strip is showing at the front.

 

 
Bring this strip around and over one green strip next to it on the left. The shiny side of this strip should now be showing.
 

 
Go to the right hand side of the plait and take the outside red strip to the left under the next two strips, (one is red and one is green), keeping the shiny side of the flax on the outside of the cord so that the dull side shows on the front.
 

 
Bring this strip around and over the one red strip to the right of it so that the shiny side of this strip is now showing. Note that the two green strips are now on the outside and the two red strips are in the middle.

 
These four steps, from the fifth illustration from the top of this post to this eighth illustration, are now repeated. Note that the first movement of crossing the centre two strips, shown in the fourth illustration from the top of the post, is a starting movement only, and is not included in the continuing sequence.
 

 
To continue, go back to the left hand side and take the outside green strip under the two red strips and then turn it back over one red strip, making sure you keep the shiny side of the flax on the outside of the cord as you do this.
 

 

 
Now go the the right hand side and take the outside green strip under two strips, (one is green and one is red), and then turn it back over one green strip. Pull the strips out each side and up so that the plaiting tightens up and the tubular shape and pattern of the cord starts showing. Continue plaiting, pulling the plait up tightly and evenly as you go.
 

The nice thing about weaving a four-plait cord with two different colours is that the colours spiral around the cord, giving it a candy-stripe effect, which I find very attractive.

The plait made with flax fibre, or muka, shown on the left in the photo toward the top of this post, is plaited in the same way as the one made with strips but because each set of fibre strands that is being plaited is round rather than flat like a strip, it does have a different look to it.

Modification 25 Jan 2010
I have replaced the original illustrations for this post, where I used four flax strips of the same colour, with illustrations using flax strips of two different colours. This is a result of a participant in one of my recent workshops finding it much easier to remember the plaiting sequence when we used two different colours for the plaiting strips.

Thread stripped from the leaf by hand is a much finer thread than thread stripped by machine. In traditional hand-stripping, a mussel shell is scraped along the length of a strip of flax, forcing the green fleshy outer layer of the leaf down through and away from the fibres, and leaving the fibres clean and clearly separated into individual threads. With machine stripping, the whole leaf is put into a revolving metal drum where wooden paddles beat the green pulp off the fibre. The pulped leaves are then put through a scrutching machine which dresses the fibre by removing the short fibres and cleaning off any remaining particles. However this process doesn’t clean or separate the fibres completely, so machine-made flax thread is thicker and rougher.

The difference between fibres produced by hand and those produced by machine became very clear to me while I was preparing a talk on flax weaving for the 2008 conference of the New Zealand Lace Society. I thought lace-makers might find it interesting if the talk included a demonstration of lace-making with flax fibre, even though I hadn’t tried this before. However, I’d had plenty of experience with linen and cotton fibre because I used to be heavily involved in lace-making and the NZ Lace Society. So the talk was a good chance to catch up with old friends — and I also caught up with a participant of my flax-weaving workshops who had used flax fibre she had stripped by hand to make an award-winning entry in this years’ lace competition.

As well as giving a demonstration, I wanted to give the participants the opportunity to have a go at making bobbin lace with flax fibre themselves. I already had some machine-made flax fibre that I’d purchased from the Templeton Flaxmill Museum near Riverton, but this proved to be just too irregular and thick to wind easily on lace bobbins, so I prepared the flax fibre by hand. Although fibre can be stripped from many different varieties of Phormium tenax, I wanted to use the very best varieties, so I approached the National New Zealand Flax Collection at Landcare in Lincoln and received permission to gather leaves from two of the traditional weaving flaxes, Arawa and Makewero, that are both known for their long, clean fibres. I stripped the leaves in the traditional Māori way — with a mussel shell — for the first time, and have just updated my Preparing flax page with a some tips on the difference between stripping flax with a mussel shell and a blunt knife.

Before setting up the lace pillows for lace-making with the flax fibre, I examined the lace collar shown at the beginning of this post. This formed the subject of a talk at the conference by Jennifer Quérée, Senior Curator of Decorative Arts at the Canterbury Museum. The collar was made by a Mrs Williams, and it received a special mention at the 1906 New Zealand International Exhibition. I noticed that it was woven with four strands of flax fibre per thread, and that the fibres hadn’t been twisted to make the thread.

When making rope or a traditional Maori feather cloak, or in the the threads traditionally used for lace-making, the strands of fibre are invariably twisted together to make a thread. This makes the thread stronger and allows new fibres to be twisted in, so that the thread can be much longer than the original fibres. However, after examining Mrs Williams’ work, and experimenting with flax fibre myself, it became clear that Mrs Williams knew what she was doing. Twisted flax fibre is just too thick for lace-making in the traditional method, so her four-strand fibres were limited to the length of the leaves from a flax plant.

For the demonstration, I set up one lace pillow with the bobbins wound with four strands per thread, and another pillow with bobbins wound with a single strand per thread. Participants who tried weaving lace with the four-strand bobbins found it quite difficult. The single-strand bobbins were easier to work with, but — compared with the threads traditionally used for lace-making — flax fibre is quite stiff and isn’t as slippery, so this makes it harder to tension the weaving. Also, each single fibre is made up of even finer strands which tends to make the thread quite fluffy.

All in all, it it became clear to all of us that Mrs Williams’ collar must have been a very challenging piece of work, and — like a traditional Māori feather cloak — it would also have taken rather a long time to weave.

Errata 3 Jun 2008
Since I first wrote this post I’ve made two corrections in it in light of Jennifer Quérée’s comment below — the lace collar was made by a Mrs Williams, and I originally referred to her as Mrs Williamson. Also, the collar received a special mention at the Exhibition but didn’t win an award. Jennifer’s comment provides additional information on the collar.