The World of Wicker

Thyme and Season


The steps to making your own basket Part 1:

For thousands of years people have woven baskets using the natural materials available to them, like willow shoots and reedy grasses. Basket-weaving today is both a practical skill and a serious art form. If you follow the steps outlined here for making a wicker basket, the result will be a basket functional enough to use around your home and beautiful enough to put on display. See Step 1 to get started.

Part 1
 

Preparing the Shoots

1. 
   1
   Get a bundle of willow shoots. Baskets can be made with any type of pliable reed, grass, vine or branch, but willow is a popular choice because it creates such a sturdy basket when it dries. You can cut your own willow or buy dried willow shoots from a craft store.^[1]
   

   • You'll need a great big bundle of thick, medium and thin shoots for the different parts of the basket. Make sure you have plenty of long, thin shoots - the longer the better, so you don't have to add new ones as often.
   • If you cut your own willow shoots, you'll need to dry them before you use them. Willow shoots shrink when they dry the first time. Lay them out to dry for several weeks before using.
2. 
   2
   Rehydrate the willow shoots. In order to use willow shoots to weave, you'll need to rehydrate them to make them pliable. Soak the shoots in water for a few days, until they will easily bend without breaking.
3. 
   3
   Cut the base shoots. Choose several thick shoots that will serve as the basket's base. Use a hand pruner to cut 8 pieces of willow of equal lengths. The size of your base willow pieces will determine the circumference of your basket's bottom.
   

   • For a small basket, cut each length to 30 centimeter (11.8 in).
   • For a medium basket, cut each length to 60 centimeter (23.6 in).
   • For a large basket, cut each length to 90 centimeter (35.4 in).
4. 
   4
   Slit the centers of 4 of the pieces. Start by laying one piece in front of you on your work surface. Use a very sharp knife to make a 5 centimeter (2.0 in) vertical slit in the center of the willow piece. Do the same with three more of the base pieces, so that you have 4 pieces with slits in the middle.
5. 
   5
   Construct the slath. This is the foundation of the basket base. Line up the 4 slitted pieces so that the slits are adjacent. Thread the 4 remaining pieces through the slits so that they lie flat and are perpendicular to the slitted pieces. You now have a cross shape composed of the 4 slitted pieces threaded through with the other 4 base pieces. This is called a slath. Each limb of the slath is called a spoke.