Harakeke has been an important plant in Māori culture for its use in weaving and as concerns for the environment increase, sustainable materials must be created. Natural fibre composites are a promising application for plant fibres such as harakeke and All Cellulose Composites (ACCs) have seen research as a sustainable matrix material for natural fibre composites. This project set out to create composites using harakeke woven with Māori weaving patterns. Computational modelling of a Māori woven composite was trialled to compare calculated values with tested tensile strength data and methods for describing Māori weaving patterns using mathematics were investigated. An online survey was conducted to find how valuable Māori woven composites were perceived to be.

Traditional Māori methods and Tikanga for gathering harakeke were used and Māori weaving patterns were made. These weaves were used to create textile samples and composites using cellulose and epoxy matrices with samples woven by an experienced weaver being compared to those made by a novice weaver. The bonding between harakeke and matrix phase was investigated using SEM. Griswold’s method for describing weaving patterns was applied to Māori weaves and TexComp was used to model a harakeke composite. A short online survey was made to gauge participants perception of Māori woven composites.

Despite trialling different treatment processes on the harakeke such as boiling and NaOH/Urea treatment, neither cellulose nor epoxy bonded well with the harakeke leaf which was seen through SEM and caused low tensile strength in the composites. Tensile strength values of between 0.5–1 MPa were achieved by the harakeke-ACC composites and 13.2–17.7 MPa for the harakeke-epoxy composites. The skill level of a weaver was not found to affect the strength of a woven textile but rather the consistency in values, with a novice weaver having standard deviation of 1.12 MPa in their weaves and an experienced weaver having 0.26 MPa. Māori weaving patterns in upright orientations were able to be described using Griswold’s method based on drawdown diagrams of the weaves. People showed clear preference towards the harakeke-epoxy composite compared to the harakeke-ACC. This was due to the visibility of the Māori woven harakeke inside the epoxy.