I’ve really enjoyed reading the many letters, emails and blog comments that other weavers have sent me since I published my book. It’s fascinating to read about people’s weaving experiences and to see photos of their work, especially when it’s something I haven’t tried myself, such as weaving flax head-gear.

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!

The flaxen-haired angel in the photo is a variation on the flax angel I posted instructions for at this time last year. This angel is a bit more fiddly and and long-winded to make but I think the extra effort is worth it. I dyed her hair with yellow dye to give her golden locks but it’s not essential to do the dying if you don’t have access to yellow dye. Her halo is another addition this year and her wings have been shaped to make them more feathery. I hope you enjoy making her.

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.

Do you meet in a flax weaving group that is open to new participants or visitors? If so, do add a comment on this blog post with the group’s location, contact details and perhaps any other information you think might be of interest. If there are enough groups, I’ll create a Flax weaving groups section on the new Links web page that I’ve just put up on this site. To show how I could create a link directly to a comment on a blog post, I’ve added a Flax weaving groups section to this draft Links page.

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.