MidCoast Water have been honoured with a wonderful gift for their support of the Water Aid program to the worlds’s newest country – East Timor.

East Timor is smaller than Tasmania and has a rich diversity of people established by thousands of years of different people travelling through. East Timor comprises aspects of both the Malay and the Melanesian-Oceanic world. This gift is a significant one for an Australian corporation but needs some context for appreciation.

Generally textiles are not understood in Australia in the same way as our northern neighbours.As all our textiles are produced in factories we have little meaning attached or understanding of them apart from liking a colour or drape of the seasons fashion.

This woven tais , pronounced ‘tie-sh’, is a warp faced, striped cloth featuring a hand pick up on a horizontal (blue/white) background. The designs are six pointed stars with the lettering Timor Leste and two human face like symbols. You’ll also notice that the cloth is directional with the 2 human symbols facing towards one end of the cloth.

As in Indonesia and many other Asian countries, textiles and their production have an intimate connection with the rites of passage through life. They are infused with meaning. The closest approximation to this in Australia could be a wedding dress or a christening gown – but the focus would generally be style rather than the textiles themselves. Tais in Timor are like sacred family heirlooms, woven in particular ways, taken as dowry and offered in ritual exchange. In my view, countries that value textiles in this way view time differently. Handloomed and hand dyed textiles need time that is factored into life and its meaning – whereas the west view time as money, and we are always faced with decisions about how we use our time and if something is ‘worth’ doing based on its monetary value.

I’ve tried to research some background to the cloth myself and I think it is a Salendang. These textiles can be worn like scarves and shawls at traditional and modern meetings in Timor. These types of cloths can be woven to order by the local women and since 1970’s colours, designs and motifs were adjusted to suit the requests of customers. The use of text and writing began to appear in memento tais and under Indonesian occupation many soldiers bought them as souvenirs. Ref

Tais can be presented to foreigners on occasion such as this one and needs to be understood as an extension of the Timorese way of giving. In the western tradition we wrap the present up, but here the tais is used to ‘wrap up’ the receiver..as a functional textile for the person. That is the Timorese way of giving, and it should be seen as an honour by the receiver. Ref. For safety and display of the tais, Midcoast Water have framed it in glass, and although this detracts from the meaning of the textile, I think it is an Australian way of honouring the gift as we would frame a painting or certificate and it is suited to the corporate enviroment so all customers and staff can feel something of another world close to them – the newest nation on Earth.

Recently my sister-in-law cited a ‘pearl of wisdom’ that she heard somewhere about the three things that humans need.

1. Something to do
2. Something to love (not necessarily someone)
3. Something to look forward to.

Although I would also add that these should come from a variety of sources to be a well rounded person, weaving and textiles certainly do all three for me.

There is ALWAYS something to do and think about. I absolutely love textile techniques and a wonderful textile always makes my heart flutter. And there is ALWAYS another challenge, puzzle and design to look forward to.

The tablet weaving photographed here is my version of a Viking inspired Birka Stapwork motif by Carolyn Priest-Dorman. You can just make out the distinctive pattern (hidden by my choice of yarns) in the black lines. The pattern requires complex individual turnings of the cards in an 8 turn turning sequence. More general info on Viking tablet weaving is here.

One of the problems with weaving is the unavoidable waste that seems to be inherent in any warp. You have to add about 75cm waste to any warp length calculations on the loom. This is just yarn that won’t be woven and can only be used for fringe….or just wasted. The thought of this waste pushes me to weave longer lengths even when it doesn’t suit me.

Of course this depends on the size and type of loom you use. As my loom has 24 shafts and is quite long at the back the loom waste is potentially more like 1.5metres, which alot of waste!. But I use a method of adding extra cord lengths to the back beam apron. This allows me to really get the most out of a warp as you can see in these photos. The end of the warp on this project is nearly up to the back of the heddles and total waste for the back is only 55cms!

It’s exciting reaching the end of a project because I’m anticipating it being cut down off the loom. I’ve been weaving this Ikat band for a few months now. The first couple of metres were woven off as bookmarks, the last few metres as continuous band which I will use to finish off and trim another woven fabric length.

So I scoured the Internet and stumbled on a great shells and cluster pattern. I’m using a 3 ply machine washable wool from Bendigo woollen mills and a 3.0mm hook … the drape is just wonderful. And it has a great texture. So good that it would make a good summer top as crochet can often be quite stiff in comparison to a knitted fabric. I cast on 258 chain to start and intend making the rug a square.

The pattern is basically a two row repeat and has a lovely relaxing rhythm.