I was introduced to a lesser-known plant-based fabric by my Filipina mother and her family. Called piña cloth, it is a lightweight woven textile made by hand from the fibers of pineapple leaves. This cellulosic fiber has unique properties that made it highly prized first in the Philippines and later abroad. Traditionally, it was used for women’s blouses and shawls, and the barong tagalog, a man’s formal shirt.

Biology and culture

The term “piña” has been used flexibly ever since pineapple leaf-based textiles were exported from the Philippines to Europe and the United States, especially in the 19th century. “Piña” technically refers to the pineapple plant from which the fibers are extracted; in fact, piña was sometimes called pineapple silk. “Piña” has historically described a range of fabrics made with pineapple fibers, as well as—incorrectly—cotton, silk, or other fiber types that shared similar characteristics of sheerness and body.

Today, it’s difficult to be sure a fabric is woven entirely from pineapple fiber without examining it closely, including under magnification, and possibly doing a burn test. Contemporary scholarship on these textiles looks at everything from basic fiber content to means of production and use, and finally their cultural significance. Piña’s elevated status as a Filipino textile art is based on the fiber itself, the skills required to handle it, and the traditional garments made from it.

Pineapples in the Philippines

Piña cloth was developed in the Philippines after Spanish colonizers introduced pineapple plants in the late 16th century. To this day, the Philippines are the only manufacturers of piña cloth for export. Before Spanish colonization, Filipino weavers had been harvesting and weaving abaca fibers and textiles from banana leaves for at least a couple of hundred years. Once the small red pineapple species was introduced to the islands, weavers expanded their harvesting and weaving to include piña fibers.

How piña is made

The process of creating piña fabric is unique and, due to the fineness of the fibers, it resists mechanization. Much of the work is done by hand as it has been for centuries. In fact, piña hand weaving is recognized on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List.

To start, the pineapple leaves are harvested from the plant, and the outer layers of each leaf are scraped away by hand using shards of pottery or coconut shells. The leaves yield two types of fibers: a tougher fiber used for twine, mats, bags, and rugs, and a softer, finer fiber used for clothing.

The fibers are generally between 2 feet and 3 feet long—the length of the pineapple leaves. Unlike most fibers, they are not spun together to make a longer, thicker yarn. Rather, they are hand knotted end to end to form the length needed for the warp. These fibers are delicate and prone to breakage during the weaving process. Hand-weavers are required to reknot the fibers regularly.

Pure piña fabric is only about 30 inches wide. It is usually a loosely woven fabric that resembles silk organza in drape. It is slightly more opaque than silk organza, and the individual yarns are more visible.

These traditional methods are laborious and the resulting textile is expensive, at $40 to $100 per yard. To anyone who appreciates natural fibers and, more importantly, the centuries of artisanal excellence that produces these fabrics, piña is priceless.

 

Blended Varieties To make piña production more efficient and, therefore, less expensive, the warp yarns are often a different fiber such as silk, cotton, linen, ramie, or polyester. The weft fibers are often blended as well. These blended fabrics are much less expensive than pure piña fabric, though they don’t have the same airiness. The blended fabrics are often wider than pure piña, as they are machine woven on modern looms. • Piña silk usually consists of silk warp yarns with piña in the weft. It can look incredibly similar to the pure piña cloth when loosely woven. When it is tightly woven, it is similar in drape to silk organza, and similar in sheerness to silk satin organza. It is less yellow than pure piña, closer to a natural silk color. • “Cocoon piña” is silk or a silk/poly blend that is painted to look like piña silk. • Jusi fabric is more opaque, and usually a blend of silk and polyester, or all polyester. It is similar in sheerness and drape to satin organza and much denser and smoother than piña or piña silk. • Jusilyn fabric is yet more opaque, and usually a blend of cotton and polyester. Like jusi, it is much denser and smoother than pure piña or piña silk. • Indeterminate fiber content. Beware of the blends: Piña and piña silk are usually marked accurately, and in a way we are used to seeing content labels (e.g., 50 percent piña, 50 percent silk). However, an internet search also will bring up items “traditionally” made from piña cloth, but are often made from polyester organza, or blends. The content is often vague, such as “100 percent organza” or “100 percent fabric.”

 

Piña Characteristics

As part of traditional Filipino dress, piña textiles are sought-after for functional and aesthetic reasons.

Climate considerations

Piña cloth is light, sheer, and airy. The Philippines are hot and humid all year, making piña a coveted fabric for clothing. It is an ecru color, a somewhat deeper tone than natural silk or cotton. Although it is often dyed, the natural off-white color is still common.

Classic embellishment

Piña’s airy texture lends itself to beautiful embroideries, which stand out against the translucent fabric. Piña cloth (and its derivatives and imitators) are often sold in “sets,” where the fabric is embroidered in areas specific to the type of item to be made, including dresses, men’s shirts, scarves (called alampay or, especially when exported, pañuelo), tablecloths, and soft furnishings. These embroidered panels can be cut to size and assembled into a garment, with the embroidered edges serving as hems (see the white dress shown above). The embroidery is sometimes still done by hand, though now most embroidery on piña silk or other imitations is done by machine. The embroidery is often the same off-white color as the piña cloth, but occasionally you can find the embroidery in a contrasting color.

 

 

Sewing and Design Advice

Handle piña fabrics as you would a firm, sheer fabric such as organza.

Tools

Hand needles: sharps, betweens, or milliners in sizes 7 to 9

Machine needles: sharp, or microtex, size 8/60 or 10/70

Stitch length: 1.75 mm to 2.25 mm

Thread: lightweight, such as serger thread, or silk thread in 50- or 100-weight

Stitching tips

Gentle handling: If your machine has sharp or aggressive feed dogs, use tissue paper under the fabric to protect against feed dog imprints.

Seam finishes: The seam allowances will show through the fabric. Try French seams, hand overcasting, or machine stitching near the edge of the seam allowance and trim.

Hemming: Try a narrow hem, faced hem, or use the embroidered hem if your fabric includes that.

Fabric care

Pressing: Select a medium iron temperature; can use steam.

Laundering: Hand-wash cold or machine-wash in a delicate cycle, and put the yardage or garment in a mesh bag to protect it. Hang or lay flat to dry; press while still damp.

Dyeing: Piña is a plant fiber similar to linen and can be dyed. For blended fabrics, such as piña silk, keep in mind that the plant fibers may take the dye differently than the silk (animal) fibers.

Colorfastness: Test by wetting a small swatch of fabric. Place it on a clean napkin or paper towel. Check to see if the color bleeds onto the napkin.

Burn test: If you’re not sure, do a burn test. Polyester in the fiber will melt and form a hard, black bead. Piña leaves a soft, fine gray ash. It is softer and smoother than a silk ash, which feels a bit gritty when rubbed between your fingers. The fabric is so fine that the burning odor is hard to detect.

Sources See the links below for more information about piña cloth and for fine examples of clothing made from it. • A frock coat made from pina fabric, from the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art • A baro-camisa, or blouse, from the 1800s, courtesy of the Rhode Island School of Design Museum and from Mapping Philippine Material Culture research • Further description of the same blouse and a pañuelo, or shawl, from the Rhode Island School of Design Museum • “History and Origin of Piña,” from Philippine Folklife Museum Foundation • “Piña (Pineapple) Cloth, Philippines,” by Emily Lush, from the Textile Atlas • “Piña: The Philippine Cloth of Pride, Endurance & Passion,” a Lacis Museum of Lace and Textiles exhibit catalog • “Interrogating Translucence: Clarifying Philippine Piña Materiality,” by Abigail Lua, a master’s thesis, University of Delaware, 2023, and an exhibit of Lua’s research.

Photos, except where noted: Mike Yamin.

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Barbie McCormick is a custom clothier, award-winning designer, and teacher, at BarbieMcCormick.com.