For that reason, a green basket generally isn’t very sturdy … it will be great to use for shelf storage purposes, but may fall apart if it’s handled too much. but beware! The branches will eventually dry and shrink, resulting in a looser weave. If you do choose to “go green”, you can whip up a container in almost no time at all. You can either work with the fresh cuttings right away, or dry the material for a few months and make the baskets later. You’ll need to cut a bundle of 30 to 50 young shoots, and strip off all the leaves and side twigs. but they must be at least two feet in length if you want to end up with a basket of practical size. The branches and vines you choose should be as long as possible. or even use split bamboo, if you’re lucky enough to find a stand of the valuable plant. You might also look along streams and rivers for the long branches of willow trees. Other good weaving materials include palm leaves and the “sucker” shoots that spring from the stems of fruit trees. In addition, small deciduous shrubs usually sport long shoots near the bottom of the plant, and those sprouts will be especially long (and useful) if the bush is growing in a shady area. A lot of vines are also ideal, since their long and pliable stems can easily be woven into a strong basket. most young branches or twigs will do just fine. Just about anything goes when it comes to your choice of materials. each hue adding a distinctive touch to the finished product. You won’t need fancy dyes to color the twigs you collect, since their bark will already be painted in natural shades of green, grey, brown, and red. Thanks to Mother Nature and the variety of supplies she has to offer, your basketry will have a character all its own. you won’t find duplicates in the local dime store! Stalking the Wild Vine Best of all, your handiwork will be uniquely yours. Twig baskets are not only simple to put together (you can assemble a medium-sized container–such as the one shown in the photos–in an hour), but they’re surprisingly sturdy as well … and will provide you with handsome stowage for years.
not to mention expensive! You can, however, make your own beautiful hampers from free-for-the-gathering raw materials … most of which you’ll find growing in your own back yard. Unfortunately, the commercially available catchalls are often flimsy, monochromatic, and just a bit commonplace. There are no photographs, there are many linocuts with excellent detail,Īs well as instructions for making many styles of twig baskets.Woven twig baskets are ideal containers to use for stashing your gear neatly and conveniently. – well worth the price as it’s a gold mine of information. One of my favorite books is Willow Basketry,īy the Swiss couple Bernard and Regula Verdet-Fierz, ISBN 0-93 Prepare, and store the twigs for use in twig basket making.
Twig basket how to#
Making baskets out of all kinds of materials, and even how to grow, Good books are out there that give detailed instructions about Methods of basket making can help with the learning curve, which can be Will make a wide and diverse variety of baskets and containers.Īrt of making twig baskets is something that can never be copied orĮmulated by a machine – it’s one of those crafts that can only be made Utilizing all the different kinds of materials such as bark, rootsĪnd twigs either combined together to create a pattern or used singly Every type of twig, whether Salix twigs, fruit wood twigs, or other twigs for crafts as well as vines can be made into some kind of useful twig basket, some rugged and tough, others delicate and fragile.Įven the wild Clematis vine can be made into some of the most ephemeral yet resilient baskets, and everyone has seen grapevines used for basketry.
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