Maryhill Museum of Art
Gary Goodwin Collection
"Wash-us-etan-way" weaving a storage bag, c. 1907

 

 

 

TECHNIQUE

 

Twined bags are traditionally woven by hand without the use of looms or any other special equipment.  Instead, the weaver (who is invariably a woman) sits on the ground and holds the raw materials in her lap as she patiently intertwines the warps (vertical cords) and wefts (horizontal cords) that give the bag its structure and its shape.  Although this process may be done entirely freehand, weavers sometimes use a slat or stick at the bottom of the bag in order to prevent the warps from twisting and distorting the textile’s final shape.

Many Columbia River twined bags employ a decorative technique known as false embroidery.  In this technique, supplementary wefts beyond those needed to form the bag’s basic structure are woven into the fabric to create a decorative design.  The number and direction of these supplementary wefts directly affects the complexity and pattern of the final design.  Besides false embroidery, the other major decorative technique employed in Columbia River bags is beading.  Beaded bags are made by stringing together rows of beads onto very fine threads, which are in turn sewn onto the bag’s foundation structure.  Because beading is an extremely time-consuming process, and because the resulting bags are so delicate and fragile, this technique has historically been employed much less frequently than false embroidery.

 

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