How to Make Baskets : Basket Materials

Baskets have so long been the place for all the hundred and one small things of the household, including even the baby, that the old maxim for order might well read, "A basket for everything and everything in its basket". Of course, a basket that is made for the service that it must render will usually do it better than one bought in a department store and adjusted to the purpose. And in the making, from gathering the materials to the last touch of color, there is the pleasure that comes with all creative work.

Almost any tough vine or grass can be woven or sewed into a basket of some kind. The only requirement besides toughness is length. Wild honeysuckle and grape-vine, shoots from willows that grow near rivers and in marshy places, splints of ash and the inner bark peeled from a hickory sapling - all can be woven into the sturdy, stiff kind of basket. This is the kind that is so useful in the garden for keeping trowel, priming-shears, and gloves from straying apart, or on the hearth to hold a supply of wood and pine cones for the open fire.

The smaller baskets that have lighter tasks expected of them can be made with good results of the delicate willows and vine shoots or from rolls of corn-husk, using some red husks with the yellow for streaks of color. Square baskets woven of rushes present an interesting checkerboard surface.

But whatever the material, it should be suitable for the kind of usage the basket is to have. A work-basket intended to hold delicate stuffs is not useful if woven of rough hickory bark. Though that is not such a common mistake as the wood-basket woven of too fine reed or willow. It can, of course, be braced to make it physically strong enough, but it will look too delicate for its service. The completely successful basket is not only satisfactory in service, but looks as if it could be used for what it is intended. And to get this convincing "look" in a piece of basketry the weaver must select materials that are similar in character to the kind of work the basket is to do.

For those who have not the opportunity to gather their own materials, but who have to buy them, there is quite an assortment from which to choose, so basket and purpose need never be at variance because of meagerness of choice. The large family of rattan that includes reed, flats, ovals, reed windings, and cane, offer a range from which can be made a basket for nearly any purpose. These plus raffia free a weaver in the city from any limitations except the pleasure of the outdoor gathering and drying of her own supply.

Rattan is the generic name for all the trade products of the one source. It is also a specific commercial name for the long, slender, vine-like stem before it has been peeled or finished. The siliceous outer coat and surface irregularities make this material very stiff, less pervious to water, and rather difficult to control when weaving. But baskets woven of it are admirably strong, with a pleasing irregularity of surface and a rustic, sturdy look that can never be got with reed or the other products of rattan origin that have been machine-peeled and finished. It does not "take" stain and dye readily or well, but it really need never be artificially colored, because it has naturally a pleasing mottled and streaked warm-gray tone.

Unlike the finished products, rattan is not sold by the pound in assorted sizes, but by the bundle containing a variety of thicknesses. The number of pounds to the bundle depends on the particular tradesman who puts it up. Reed is a round, machine-cut product that is manufactured in about twelve different diameters, from oo, the finest and most expensive, to a size that measures one-half inch across. The numerical indicators differ somewhat with the factory, but sample cards and prices are sent out on request. However, a factory will not, as a rule, sell in small quantities of two or three pounds, If the local department stores do not have the material in stock (usually in the toy department), and will not order it, an order can be placed through a chair-caner or florist. The latter uses raffia for tying his plants, and not infrequently the wholesale dealer from whom he gets his supply carries rattan and its products also.

Now briefly to go over the other rattan products mentioned above. Flats is a rather rough-surfaced form, flat on both sides, and made in two widths, one-quarter and one-half inch. The lengths vary from ten to fifteen feet. It is hardly stiff enough to use for a basket that is to have knock-about usage. A waste-paper basket is the limitation of its strength. "Ovals" are similar to flats, but have one slightly rounded surface. "Reed winding" is also a flat product with one rounded surface, but of a better quality than ovals, and made in three widths, the finest about one-eighth of an inch broad and the widest not more than one-quarter inch in width. It is much too pliable for anything but weavers, and requires a foundation or "spokes" of flats or reed. The use of cane in chair seats for so many years has made every one familiar with its texture. Like reed winding, it needs support when used for basketry. However, attractive candle-shades can be made of it without much more support than the wire foundation frame to which the lining is fastened, Directions for making one of these cane shades follows in the next section, on Basket Construction.

After selecting suitable material for the basket the next thing to plan is the form. To be sure, its purpose dictates its form in a measure, but the material limits it even more. A basket woven of stiff -material that does not lend itself to bending easily can never have sharp curves without appearing contorted when finished, and as if in constant anguish. But it does not follow that the more pliable the material the more curved and fanciful can be the basket woven of it. Far better to limit the silhouette of the basket to one curve or angle, two at the most, with the second always subordinate to the first. But place this dominant curve in exactly the right position in relation to the height of the basket and have it just the right size in relation to the width of the basket. For example, a basket in which the curve comes half-way between base and top is never so pleasing in silhouette as one in which the curve does not make such an obvious division of its height. Even or compass-like curves are never so interesting as those that are a bit straighter above or below their deepest point. And for the same reason barrel forms are never good. So it is not the number of ins and outs of the outline that takes a basket out of the commonplace, but elimination and studied spacing.

Restraint is also a safe guide in planning the variety of weaves to be introduced. Here, as when limiting the curves in the shape, two weaves are all one basket can contain without beginning to look like a sampler. But the two must be very different in their surface effect or the change from one to the other gives a disturbed appearance, and may even look like a poorly concealed mistake. Yet with such a sharp contrast between the weaves something must be done to make one dominant. Using more of one than the other will do this to some extent, but in order to emphasize the one further, and also to unify the whole design of the basket, the dominant weave, the center, and the border of the basket should all be similar in character. Of course, that is possible only when there is a definite center and border, as in a round basket woven of stiff material. Most square baskets, however, do not have a center or base pattern, but in these the border can still be related to the dominant weave and so hold together the design.

That brings up another point in basket design. Any structural line or feature should appear strong enough to do the thing it is supposed to do as well as to be actually strong enough to do it. If this visual test is applied to handles, borders, and covers and their fastenings, many of the twisted and fanciful contortions that one sometimes sees on baskets will be avoided.

But if there is one thing above others that will keep basketry within its successful possibilities of design, it is the use of materials before they have been through a machine that smooths them all down and takes away their basket look. Out of home-cut and dried willow switches or grasses it is almost mechanically impossible to make a basket that looks as if it were masquerading as a vase, or one with handles after a teacup pattern, or to follow any other unbasket-like fancy. The wild materials with all their original spring and vitality simply will not take delicate or intricate curves and twistings.

Only the most general directions can be given for gathering and preparing the wild materials, because there is such a variety throughout the country. With most grasses the time to cut is when they have grown their full length, but before they have become the least dried or brittle from sun-scorch. A barn loft or other covered place where they can be spread out, with a good circulation of air about them, but protected from the direct rays of the sun, is the best way to dry them. They must be turned frequently. Willows and vines can be cut at any time. The cutting depends only on the size needed. Willows in their rustic-looking outside coat are more effective for window-boxes and fern-bowls or any outdoor basket than after they are peeled and stained. And, of course, no one would think of trying to improve the color of the yellow and red corn-husk that is ready for use for a coiled basket just as soon as it is jerked from the dried ear.

Continue: Rattan Storage Baskets.