My Creative Workbook

Christine de Beer - effortless floral craftsman

Typha

Grows 1.22 meters high and flowers in mid to late summer. Slender, narrow, greyish green, half round leaves are grooved on one side and rounded on the other. Reed-like green stems, light brown catkins appear in summer.

Wedding favour box that I wove from Typha.

Common name

Cattail, graceful, ribbon grass

Origin

New Zealand and Norfolk Island.

Varieties

Colors

Grey green foliage. Flowers spikes have lighter brown male flowers above with a slight gap from the dark brown female flowers below.

Vase life

Fourteen days.

Scent

Uses

The leaves are used in basketry, weaving or adding movement to a design. The fibrous leaves can be ripped (spliced) into thin strips that I then curl, bead or dry. The technique is similar to that of flax

Conditioning

Give the stems a fresh cut and set it in deep warm water. Do not condition if you are weaving or ripping typha

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For this tutorial I focus on a simple weave pattern that does not require you to soften or prepare the leaves to be more durable or flexible. This is the starting point in weaving techniques. You can build on this technique to make floral handbags, gift boxes, and baskets, sew it into a curve or wrap it around a vase or cover a test tube.
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Weaving with Flax

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Ripping Flax
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Ripping Flax

Flax can be ripped into fibres creating long and versatile strips