Today I went to a flax weaving class. Here's some of the dyed flax flowers the tutor had as samples. To the right are bundles of green flax that we used. This dries to the light brown colour you see in the samples.
These are small bowls and containers, while below are some smallish baskets.
Some of the class in action, making waikawa, which are large baskets for carrying and storing potatoes.
Here's an almost finished one. You can see some samples in the background, along with a piece of fishing net.
And here are two of my flax roses.
5 comments:
Sounds very interesting! You certainly enjoyed yourself. Are you going to make more weaving?
These roses are fantastic.
ciao ciao
This looks so interesting. And I presume that you can dye this flax? Something we don't find here.
Wow - these woven baskets and flowers are beautiful. Last year I went to a weaving workshop in Darwin and some Aboriginal women taught us to weave baskets from rafia. Others were using pandanus leaves.
We also learnt to spin on a spindle made of two sticks - spinning the spindle on the leg. The ladies who taught us that are from Ernabella, and have become famous for their spinning technique. It was such an amazing day.
I'm glad that you enjoyed the flax weaving workshop Shirley. I'll certainly try your dyes on flax and let you know the result. Just to let Valeri know that NZ flax is available in the UK and also grows in many countries around the world. I googled UK stockists and found many suppliers so there should be quite a few flaxes growing in people's gardens. If anyone would like to know more about weaving with NZ flax, and would like instructions on how to weave a flower with the flax, they can find this on www.alibrown.co.nz
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