July 2025
I’m very pleased to announce that my latest book “Creative Flax Weaving” is now available. The book has a collection of ten weaving projects, with variations, and a glossary of weaving words in te reo Māori.
Many talented weavers are weaving in original and contemporary ways with New Zealand flax / harakeke — which, with its strength, durability, flexibility while green and hardness when dry, is a perfect weaving material to bring out the inner creative. 
In this book, I give some ideas for those wanting to branch out in this way with their weaving. Some projects have full instructions, and some have guidelines for the more experienced weaver who will know the basics. To continue into contemporary weaving, a grounding in traditional flax weaving techniques is, I would say, essential, as it is the way to gather knowledge of weaving techniques plus knowledge of harakeke’s properties and the way it behaves when manipulated, which is useful to know when weaving original and modern pieces. You’ll find out about many of these techniques in my earlier books on flax weaving. The full range of my books can be seen in my online Shop — see link at the end of this post.
Projects in this book include a circular wall hanging, baskets shaped in interesting ways as they’ve been woven with three corners instead of the usual two or four, round bowls and pots, a large woven sunvisor style hat, a large woven ball for using in Kī-o-rahi, a small heart-shaped basket, ideas for using your weaving as wall art and a large oblong box with a lid – waka huia – used for containing an urn for ashes.
If you are interested in weaving contemporary and original flaxworks, I encourage you to play around with flax, not with any final item in mind, but by trying various ways of weaving or of shaping the weaving differently and using techniques in different ways to create new pieces. This is great fun to do — the results may amaze and delight you.
The book can be purchased directly from me, along with my other books, “Weaving Flowers from New Zealand Flax”, “Weaving Baskets, Backpacks, Boxes and Other Projects”, “Fun and Functional Flax Weaving”, “Weaving a Large Container from New Zealand Flax” and “Flax Weaving for Children of all Ages – Te Raranga Harakeke mā ngā Tamariki Katoa”, either singly or in various different sets of books — you can make savings by buying in sets — from my Online Shop. More information about the book is on this page. I do hope that people find this book useful and even inspiring. Kia harikoa tō raranga!
© Ali Brown 2025.
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