 |
| Flax weaving with our friend Ailsa. |
For homemaking this past Tuesday, our friend Ailsa came over to teach us
about flax and how to work with it. Our project for the day: flax flowers. Ailsa first gave us an introduction to flax, describing the sacredness of the plant and its traditional uses and value. To learn more about flax and its significance to the Maori, check out last semester's
blog post. Next, we went out to the yard to each
cut our own leaf to work with. After we all chose and harvested the
leaves, we sat out in the yard beneath the shade of our fruit trees and began our project.
 | |
| How to weave a flax flower. |
It's important to choose a good leaf without any holes or obvious weak points. When weaving, constant and even tension is key to creating a beautiful finished product. Keep in mind that the flax will dry and shrink, so make everything nice and tight! The image to the left shows the steps we followed to create the flax "flower". We divided the leaf into 6 long strips, still connected at the base, as our weavers. Once you learn the basic technique, just repeat it over and over again, turning your work as you go. The flax will change from green to straw-colored over time. Keeping with tradition, make sure to give your first flax-woven item to a friend!
 |
| The flax weaving group! |
