our goals
To design and weave a tartan fabric that tells the stories of the Waitaki;
the land, river, and people – with authenticity and respect.
To produce a commercially viable artisan fabric with a limited carbon footprint, as locally, sustainably and ethically as possible.
To create a sustainable, marketable, registered tartan design, as a legacy
for future Waitaki culture and heritage fundraising opportunities.
we believe in what we are doing
Sustainability and ethical practice is important to us.
We love creating textiles with meaning.
We create textiles that are kind to our planet.
Textiles that tell a story of time and place.
Textiles that tell of passion and commitment.
We love that they connect people with the handmade.
We love that our fabrics are beautiful and useful.
We love that they are treasured for their integrity.
Crafted with love.
the process behind our tartan design
There are always constraints around designing something.
Telling someone else's story is complex on a number of levels. We are still working on these narratives, trying to ensure we tell the stories of others with respect and integrity. We believe the stories we are telling on behalf of those who came before us will both refine and expand as we learn more. Sharing the stories of the Waitaki is an honour. Weaving a tartan fabric that tells some of these stories is something dreams are made of.
We are so very grateful for this opportunity.
Our c1895 Hattersley Domestic Weaving System also provided us with a few design challenges. One of the limitations is the rotating shuttle box, which can only click once to the left or right for each colour change. We have five colours and six shuttles, so trying to tell complex cultural, historical and geographical stories is tricky; they need to be reduced to their essence.
Another limitation is our warping frame; we can only warp up one three inch section at a time, therefore there are a lot of bobbin changes. These limitations are all part of our Waitaki tartan story.
We acknowledge and appreciate the work done by Waitaha, Ngai Tahu, Vanished World, Waitaki Whitestone Geopark and Waitaki Culture and Heritage in guiding our understanding of the cultural, historical and geographical history of the Waitaki region.
DISCLAIMER: Any errors are unintentional and will be remedied as we learn and understand more.
The first people of Te Waipounamu (South Island) were Waitaha. They journeyed from Hawaiki on the Uruao waka and settled on what became the Canterbury Plains. Ngāti Māmoe and then Ngāi Tahu followed. Over time and with warfare, intermarriage and political alliances, a common allegiance to Ngai Tahu was forged.
The traditions of Waitaha, Ngāti Māmoe and Ngāi Tahu are embedded in the landscape and our history of our region. As the stories, place names and traditions are interwoven throughout the landscape, we have attempted to weave them into our design.
the colours we have chosen, and what they mean to us
BUSH GREEN
Speaking to the native and exotic flora of the Waitaki, personal journeys and reflection.
AQUA
Interpreting the myriad colours of the Waitaki River and the Pacific Ocean, and the migration routes of peoples to, from and within the Waitaki.
ROCK GREY
Signifying the bedrock of the mountains, the volcanic basalt, the greywacke of the river stones, and the winding roads of the Waitaki.
FAWN
Reflecting the beauty and colour variants of fossil rich limestone and tussock of the Waitaki.
RED
Representing the peoples of the Waitaki: takata whenua and those who have migrated and settled here since.
step by step, the design unfolds
The Waitaki region stretches from the Southern Alps to the Pacific Ocean, with much of the boundary running along the Waitaki River. It is beautiful, with a wealth of natural geological features, history, heritage and culture.
Photo credit: Gong from Lostation. We looked at the colours we saw in the Waitaki district, from the mountains, to the Waitaki and other rivers, the Pacific Ocean, limestone, tussocks, forests and vegetation. We also thought a lot about the generations of people who have lived and loved in the Waitaki.
Photo credit: Alice Hore Choosing the colour to represent the Waitaki River and Pacific Ocean was the most difficult. There are myriad colours in both, different colours at any time of the day, so in the end, we chose the one we loved!
This was the four colour design we settled on. We used a free online tartan generator to create the design. The stories we wanted our tartan to reference included the interconnection of people, land and water, and the connections people past, present and future have, and will have with the Waitaki district.
Creating a fabric with a very small ecological footprint played an important part in our decision to keep the purchase and processing of the fleece as local as possible. It may have cost more financially, but we are proud of achieving this.
Just when we thought we had everything aligned, we visited our friend, Dominican Sister and artist Mary Horn. She remined us of her 2009 Pilgrimage exhibition at the Forrester Gallery in Oamaru. When we saw her catalogue we look at each other, realising simultaneously that we needed to include the dark green we had been trying not to include due to design and financial constraints.
So, now with five colours, and a rotating shuttle box that fits six shuttles and has limited rotation options, we set about creating a new design. We still didn't have any finely spun yarn to trial our ideas, so we were effectively working from the seat of our creative pants.
This is the design we came up with.: Waitaki #1. In it you can see references to the beautiful braided Waitaki River, other waterways and the Pacific Ocean, the geological and visual landscape and past, present and future generations of people with a connection to the Waitaki district.
The closest we have got to testing our design is this winding onto a stick. Our first length of tartan fabric will be our prototype warp. We may decide to make changes, but we will only know this once we start weaving. We are even thinking of creating another design using the same colours - it will be Waitaki #2. And there is a Waitaki tweed collection coming too!