loading image
To maintain the fineness of piña fiber after it is extracted from the leaf and processed, individual three- to four-foot fibers are painstakingly knotted together by hand rather than spun on a wheel. A quick weaver’s knot joins the thread; a tail that is cut off creates a single, nearly seamless thread. Hand knotting fibers together requires the utmost care so that the fibers do not break. Fibers are graded; historically, the finest ones were used to weave fabrics with thread counts of 320 threads per square inch. Weavers use bamboo looms to weave piña fibers into cloth. A spinner winds the continuous thread onto small reels with the aid of a spinning wheel. The thread is then wrapped back and forth between pegs on a wooden cylinder or flat board in preparation for setting up the warp on a hand loom. Warping enough filament for weaving fabric twenty-four to thirty-two inches wide may require fifteen to twenty days. A skilled weaver can produce striped, checked, and patterned fabrics in addition to plain weaves, a yard of which can require eight hours to produce. Piña may be blended with silk, abaca (closely related to banana fiber), or cotton to strengthen the fabric without sacrificing sheerness. Blending also yields a more affordable finished product. See "From Pineapple to Piña: A Philippine Textile Treasure" on display, post-security, in Harvey Milk Terminal 1 and online at: https://bit.ly/PineappletoPina
This image was posted on July 25, 2022.