Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

The Flaxmere woman who can weave a wahakura in 45 minutes

Shannon Johnstone
By Shannon Johnstone
Multimedia Journalist, Newstalk ZB·Hastings Leader·
30 Apr, 2021 05:30 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Katarina May weaves harakeke wahakura from her Flaxmere garage turned studio. Photo / Paul Taylor

Katarina May weaves harakeke wahakura from her Flaxmere garage turned studio. Photo / Paul Taylor

A Flaxmere woman has turned a passion for wahakura (flax sleeping bassinets) into a career, as district health boards around New Zealand line up for her craft.

About six years ago Katarina May took up a weaving class and found she loved it.

Her family's doctor and friend David Tipene-Leach, now a Māori and indigenous research professor at EIT, encouraged her to learn how to weave wahakura and as soon as she learnt how to make them, she fell in love the tradition of it.

Wahakura are bassinet-like capsules woven from harakeke (flax) with mattresses which are safe spaces for babies up to 6 months old to sleep in, in a shared bed. A pepi-pod is a plastic version of wahakura.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Weaving them moved from being a craft, to something she did full-time.

About two years ago it became a business after she began weaving them for DHBs.

May is currently working on an order of 30 for Waikato DHB. She also sells them at markets and online, including internationally.

But if she gets a feel for someone who wants one but can't afford one, she makes it possible for them to receive one.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

She encourages people to pass on their wahakura, and buys them back when she sees any for sale.

"It's more a labour of love.

Discover more

New Zealand

New 'Daffy to Daffy' Dick Frizzell print to aid cancer society

02 May 12:22 AM
New Zealand

Hawke's Bay whistleblower chalks up 200th game

30 Apr 01:06 AM

In pictures: The iconic autumn colours of Hawke's Bay

30 Apr 01:04 AM
New Zealand

Online shopping in Hawke's Bay up 30 per cent in a year, NZ Post hires more staff

30 Apr 12:27 AM

"I enjoy the satisfaction of knowing I'm helping. In my business plan it's to reduce the level of SUDI (sudden unexplained death in infancy) and knowing that in a small way that's possible."

Katarina says the business wouldn't be possible without the encouragement of husband Gary May. Photo / Paul Taylor
Katarina says the business wouldn't be possible without the encouragement of husband Gary May. Photo / Paul Taylor

May said it wouldn't be possible if her husband Gary hadn't encouraged her and worked so she could stop fulltime work for the weaving.

Her day starts at 8am with harvesting harakeke from a spot at Longlands where flax has been planted for weavers.

One wahakura now takes her 45 minutes, but when she first began weaving one took two days.

For about four years she has also been teaching workshops for people who want to learn to weave their own wahakura to pass on the knowledge.

Hapū mothers and nurses often come to her for workshops.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Just meeting people and having that common interest to share, it's really fun."

Scraps from the wahakura are made into little boxes, kete, flowers, the ends of harakeke are boiled to make harakeke balm and any other leftover bits are dried up to use in the fireplace.

Gary says markets are also a great place for education. Kids coming to buy small kete can lead to a conversation with parents about safe sleeping.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Napier man arrested after military-style guns found in children's bedrooms

08 Jul 07:17 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

Plan to drill wastewater pipe under Clive River withdrawn amid opposition

08 Jul 02:32 AM
Hawkes Bay Today

Hawke’s Bay Magpies land another Super Rugby star for upcoming NPC campaign

07 Jul 11:17 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Napier man arrested after military-style guns found in children's bedrooms

Napier man arrested after military-style guns found in children's bedrooms

08 Jul 07:17 AM

The man is facing 14 charges, including unlawful possession of prohibited firearms.

Plan to drill wastewater pipe under Clive River withdrawn amid opposition

Plan to drill wastewater pipe under Clive River withdrawn amid opposition

08 Jul 02:32 AM
Hawke’s Bay Magpies land another Super Rugby star for upcoming NPC campaign

Hawke’s Bay Magpies land another Super Rugby star for upcoming NPC campaign

07 Jul 11:17 PM
Premium
'100% a crisis': More than 900 women wait for specialist gynaecology care in Hawke’s Bay

'100% a crisis': More than 900 women wait for specialist gynaecology care in Hawke’s Bay

07 Jul 06:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP