Basket Weaving Patterns: Reed Baskets & Willow Baskets

The basket with the star center, shown in the illustration, is for gathering flowers or vegetables from the kitchen garden. Before the handle is added it is only a slightly bowled round tray basket, not so difficult to make as one with an oval center, and by means of the handle it is compressed into the oval form that is more practical for holding long-stemmed flowers.

The original of the illustration was made of reed, but it can be copied in willow or any stiff, round material. Twenty spokes each forty-eight inches long of No. 5 reed are needed for the center. These are divided into five groups, and in the beginning the four reeds in each group are treated as a single spoke, making only five spokes for the center. Two of them are crossed, marked No. 1 in the diagram, and a third one, marked No. 2, is crossed over and under an end of the first two. Then a fourth spoke is added as shown in No. 3 of the diagram. And the fifth spoke, marked No. 4, must interlace so as to make a pentagon opening each side of which measures one and a quarter inches. The center thus far will be star-shaped, and to prevent its slipping each crossing of the spokes should be tied with strong twine or raffia.

The circumference of the center will now have reached such a size that the spoke groups will be too far apart to weave over and must, therefore, be divided each into two spokes. Then one of the newly divided spokes must cross its first neighbor on the right, marked A on the diagram. Similar crossings are made with one new spoke from each division. Be sure to tie all of these crossings as they are made, and then the center is ready for weaving.

Whenever there is an even number of spokes to weave over, either two weavers at a time must be used, or, using a single weaver, a skip under two spokes at each round must be made. For this basket two weavers were used, and the first two ends were got by doubling one reed. This makes a loop beginninga much less noticeable start in an open center than an end would be. It is marked X in the diagram.

Beginning weaving with a loop of No. 3 reed, two and a half inches of twisted weave are put in. Upon the completion of this much weaving the spokes must again be divided, because the circumference has grown so large. The division will bring a single reed for each spoke, and that would not be strong enough to support a basket of this size, so another No. 5 reed is added alongside of each original one. By slipping it down a half-inch into the weaving it will be steadied in place while the weaving continues. But in order to make a decorative feature of the spoke separation, a new weave is introduced instead of continuing with the twisted weave. "Ribbon weave" consisting of bands, each four reeds wide, was used because it is similar in appearance to the banded center. The ribbon weave is made by weaving the two weavers parallel around the basket twice, then reversing by slipping under two spokes and repeating the parallel weave for two more rounds. When this point is reached the basket must be taped to a board, so that from the ribbon weave on it may be bowled slightly while five more inches of twisted weave are put in. The basket is then ready for the border.

A useful basket of reed.

The three rolls of which the border consists are made with the spokes, and in the making each reed is treated as a separate unit, and no longer does team-work with the partner it had when acting as a spoke. Starting anywhere on the rim, a reed is bent down behind its first two neighbors on the right and to the outside of the basket. Then the next reed on the right goes through the same process behind the first two reeds on its right, and so on until the circumference of the basket has been finished with a roll made in this way. A second roll is then made with the reeds that now stick out from the edge of the basket almost at right angles. The second roll should be close against the outside of the first one. After it is completed the spokes are poked under the two rolls to the inside of the basket and the third roll made with them. When finished the three rolls should lie close together, the first in the middle, the second outside it, and the third inside. The three together make a firm, broad-edged border.

The handle is made of two half-inch-thick reeds as a foundation, each fifty inches long. Six inches of this length on each end is forced into the weaving of the basket, starting just below the outside roll of the basket. It is necessary to shave down the reed over this six-inch portion that enters the weave in order to allow it to slip down more easily. The two foundation reeds are five inches apart at the border, but combine to form a single handle across the top. Here they are held together and completely covered by a wrapping of No. 3 reed. The winding of this reed is started as a loop around the border at the base of one of the foundation reeds, and is wound three times around a single reed before it binds the two together across the top. It does this binding together with three windings, and then continues to the opposite border over a single reed in three more windings. On reaching the border, the winding reed makes a loop around it, and returns over the handle close against the wrapping just made. Winding the handle in this way is continued back and forth until the unwrapped space over the middle, where the foundation reeds are bound together, equals the wrapped space. When this point is reached it is time to start a new winding, beginning at the base of the second foundation reed. The second winding will fill in the uncovered portion over the center of the handle, and when this is accomplished the handle is finished- The end of the winding reed is thrust under the wrappings of the handle close to the border and cut off.

Continue: How to Make Lamp Shades.