The Tagari: Weaving A Greek Saddlebag
Everyone who has been to Greece is familiar with the colorful woven bags sold to tourists. These bags, made of synthetics and cotton on commercial looms imitate the sturdy wool tagari (ταγάρι) or saddlebag used by Greek shepherds to carry almost everything—from a loaf of bread for lunch to kindling for the evening fire. These handwoven bags last through years of daily use, and depending on size, carry loads up to and over thirty pounds.
The secret to the its strength and durability lies in the method used to spin and to weave the locally produced fibers.
Unfamiliar with weaving terms? See the Weaving Glossary.
Fiber Preparation
Before spinning, the wool is washed in the warm Mediterranean sea and picked clean of burrs and thistles. Greek flocks usually include sheep with gray, dark brown, and spotted fleece. These colors are then sorted to make use of the natural color variations in designing the saddlebag.
Wool to be spun by the worsted method is combed with long-spiked hand combs. Wool to be spun by the woolen methods is carded either using a carding box, hand cards, or taken to town to be carded at the turn-of-the-nineteenth-century carding mill.
Spinning and Plying the Warp
Of all the yarns used in Greek weavings, the two-ply worsted warp for a tagari is the most time-consuming to spin. After the wool is combed, it is spun into a strong, smooth yarn. The yarn is wound into equal balls. These are then plied together with a slight over twist (sixteen twists to the inch).
The plied yarn is again wound into tight balls to set the twist. These are stored away until enough warp yarn has been prepared (about 12 pounds/4.5 k) to make about ten tagaria.
Sometimes, if a weaver does not have enough warp spun, she will pool her yarn with that of others. Then each will weave on the same loom the number of tagaria proportional to what they contributed.
Preparing the Weft
The weft is spun from wool that has been carded, rather than combed. The carded wool is spun looser and thicker than the warp. Two strands are then plied together to make a strong, but heavier yarn, that will be able to cover the warp entirely to produce a weft-faced fabric.
Weft yearns are dyed brilliant colors using synthetic dyes purchased at the local general store. Favorite hues for tagaria vary from place to place. In the Argolidos, white, green, orange, and natural brown accents are often used with a deep maroon background. But all color combinations can be found depending on the weaver’s creativity. New bags are almost garish in appearance. But the powerful Greek sun soon fades them to more mellow tones.
Tagari Variations
Tagaria vary in size and pattern from village to village and region to region. Most bags are 16-by-18 inches (40×46 cm). However, bags can be made smaller or larger to meet a variety of needs. A tiny 9-by-12-inch (23×30 cm) bag might carry a child’s lunch to school. A giant 24-by-30 inch (61x76cm) bag an ferry a month-old lamb to market.
Because most saddlebags are intended for everyday use and weaving time is limited, the majority feature simple stripes. For a fancier look without too much more work, a weaver can alternate two colors of weft and create broken-stripe designs that look like checks and dots and can be combined into motifs, some of which are copied on the imitation tourist tagaria.
Special ceremonial bags feature elaborate tapestry designs or repeated patterns created with the soumak technique, and are used to carry the communion bread to church.
Weaving a Tagari
Saddlebags are woven in an extremely dense, weft-faced plain weave. A weaver is judged on how tightly she can beat the weft into place. It should be impossible to poke your finger through the cloth. A well-woven bag has twenty to thirty wefts to the inch on a sett of 8 epi. To keep the selvedges even under heavy tension, and iron stretcher or temple is used.
Bags are woven in one piece, so that when folded in half, they will be one to two inches longer than they are wide. This means the pattern must be planned so that the stripes on one side will match perfectly to back when the bag is sewn up each side. To save time, some of the more elaborate bags may have plain backs.
Finishing the Tagari
A variety of methods are used to finish the warp ends and sew up the sides. These will be covered in an upcoming article. Sign up here to receive notice of this and other GreekWeaving.com articles.
This information in this article is based on the out-of-print 1981 publication “The Tagari: Weaving a Greek Saddle Bag” by Dr. Joan Bouza Koster, Weaver’s Journal, 8(3), 10-13.