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ELIZABETH L. JOHNSON
a chopstick through the warp threads where they have been held in her left hand, and tucks the chopstick into a piece of cord or cloth which she has tied around her waist, so that the warp is held taut but her hands left free.
A shed is then formed by taking a tubular piece of bamboo about 10 CM long as shed stick, and winding the warp threads around it alternatively above and below. They are wound in the order in which they will appear in the band, first forming the edge stripes, then the centre with the red above and the white below, and then the stripes at the other edge. The centre warp threads are wound in pairs, while the edge threads are wound singly. It is only in the centre warp threads that the pattern will be woven.
A bar heddle is then made. For this a beater is used, a flat, dagger-shaped piece of wood with bevelled edges, polished smooth, about 30 CM long. Tsuen Wan women made these themselves from pieces of broken carrying poles. The purpose of the bar heddle is to raise the lower (white) warp threads when weaving patterns. To form the bar heddle, the beater is used to raise the lower threads and to hold them, while a loop of strong thread about 10 CM long is made between each pair of threads and the weaver's hand. When all the loops have been made they are knotted together with a piece of strong grass. This then forms a handle by means of which the bar heddle can be manipulated to raise or release the lower warp threads.
The weaver begins by weaving four short lengths of strong grass (lease rods) through the end of the warp nearest her body, to prevent the warp from being tangled. She then forms one or more tassels from a number of equal lengths of thread, knotted together at the centre. These are passed through the warp so that they hang out at either side, with several rows of weaving between each. After the tassels have been incorporated, the body of the band is woven, the weft thread being passed through the warp either with the fingers or wrapped around the beater. The edges are done in plain weaving, and the patterns are woven in the centre of the band. Sheds are alternated through use of the bar heddle, and the patterns picked and the weft packed with the beater. The band is finished with the insertion of another set of tassels. About one-quarter of the total length is left unwoven and cut in the middle, forming additional bulk for the tassels, the threads being cut to the same length as the inserted tassels.