Even though there are only a few days to go before Christmas, there’s still time to make the odd flax decoration. Shredded flax lends itself to making an angel in much the same way that straw and grasses have traditionally been used to make angels in other cultures. I’ve used variegated flax for the angel design illustrated in these instructions, which is a very quick and easy design to construct.

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.

© Alison Marion Brown 2008.

The flax weaving techniques used in basket making are often the same techniques that other countries around the world use in their traditional weaving, although the raw materials are different. I always find it fascinating to see a sample of this universal nature of weaving, so I was most interested when one of my students showed me a three-dimensional star, made with birch bark, that she had purchased on her recent visit to the USA. The star is the same as the one shown on the blog post, Gift wrapping with flax, but it has an extra step to make spikes on the star. These spikes give the star the three-dimensional shape like the one in this photo.

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 two sets of four ends that are left.
 

 
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, and fold it up to the top, exposing the folded point at the bottom right.
 

 
Now fold it across to the right on a 45-degree angle. Keep the start of the fold as close to the centre of the star as possible. Press it down to crease it.
 

 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 spike. Don’t pull too far or it will undo the spike. Squeeze the strip to make it more spikey. Alternatively, to make the spike more open, push your finger into the centre of the spike 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 shows the spikes poking out from both sides. 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.

© Alison Marion Brown 2008.

According to archaeologists, cords have been made by plaiting or twisting plant materials since about 17,000 BC, typically nettles, hemp, cotton, sisal and jute. In traditional Māori culture, cord has been made from New Zealand flax, which is probably at least as strong and durable as any other plant material. Before rope began to be made from plastics in the late twentieth century, its manufacture from flax fibre was one of New Zealand’s major export industries.

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 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.

© Alison Marion Brown 2008.