Baby’s blanket a right royal secret
Wellington weaver Christine Brimer has been sitting on a secret for the past couple of months. She wove the blanket Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern gifted to the youngest son of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, whose birth was announced on Tuesday morning (NZ time).
‘‘I had to keep mum about it. My daughter is a textile designer as well and she lives with us.
‘‘[That] morning, I said to her ‘do you know who weaved the blanket?’ and she said ‘who?’ She had no idea.’’
As the owner of Wellington’s Niche Textile Studio, the first time Brimer wove something was when she started her arts degree at Massey University seven years ago. She found the artform perfectly combined her love for design and strong New Zealand wool. ‘‘When I got on a loom, I realised I could pull [those passions] together. I’m 54 now but I think I’ve found my vocation.’’
But she nearly missed her chance to weave the royal blanket as she was away in Fiordland when an email from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet arrived in her inbox.
‘‘I was quite remote,’’ Brimer said. She had no cellphone reception and had not checked her email in a few days. When she did, she found the email asking her for a design brief on a blanket that would depict New Zealand flora and fauna.
As a former botanist, she was right at home.
She wanted to avoid the more traditional depictions of kiwi and po¯hutukawa, and instead took inspiration from ma¯nuka.
Ma¯nuka is a nursery plant and helps the growth of other indigenous plants.
‘‘That’s what the next generation of royals is starting to show,’’ Brimer said.
She uses undyed New Zealand wool from what she calls strong breeds. In the case of the royal blanket, it was wool from Corriedale sheep, sourced from Anna Gratton’s company in Feilding.
The cream cloak was made of two layers woven together.
It took about 20 hours to make, on top of an ‘‘intense’’ few weeks of research and critiques from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to bring the design together.
The Corriedale wool she used gave the blanket a ‘‘smooth’’ texture.
Among the selection of other official New Zealand gifts going to the new royal baby is a romper with the Buzzy Bee design, which was hand-sewn by Pene Gayford – the sister of Ardern’s partner, Clarke Gayford.