Basket Weaving Tutorials & Techniques Archives ⋆ PrairieWood Basketry

Determining Lasher Length

April 11, 2018/11 Comments/in Basket Weaving Tutorials & Techniques /by Annetta K

When I first started weaving someone told me that the length of the lasher needed to be two and a half times the circumference of the basket. So I would wrap the lasher around the basket two and a half times; if it was at least that long, I would start lashing. Unfortunately, I often found the lasher was too short. So I assumed that I had heard wrong, maybe it should be three times around, but that didn’t work consistently either. It was so frustrating to have my lasher run out one or two stakes from being finished!!

So, being me, I started to analyze when I ran out and when I didn’t. Which was correct – two and a half times around the basket or three times around the basket or …?? I took notes, lots of notes. I know, I know, you are thinking this lady is crazy and you are probably right, but I did learn a lot! Read more

Creative Activities to Practice

January 24, 2018/2 Comments/in Basket Weaving Tutorials & Techniques, In the Studio /by Annetta K

I am glad so many of you enjoyed my thoughts on Creativity and Excellence. And now, as promised, here are some of the things you can do to encourage creativity. These are things I do – things I practise. It is not a list of rules, it is a decision to learn and to grow and to make things – this is my life. I hope you will find some of these practices helpful.

Surround yourself with books and patterns, your favorite baskets, art, color and just enough weaving material to make your hands itchy to weave. Books inspire me. A table with a project in process or reed in a variety of beautiful colors make me want to touch. Beautiful things make me smile.

Creativity and Excellence

January 10, 2018/10 Comments/in Basket Weaving Tutorials & Techniques, In the Studio /by Annetta K

I have been thinking about this topic for a long time, years in fact. I believe that focusing on excellence, on developing and fine tuning our skills, encourages creativity. In my experience, a lifetime of making things, including twenty five years of basket weaving, I find the pursuit of excellence to be the key to creativity. This principle is also evident when you look at other artists and the progression of their work.

Mastery

Malcom Gladwell has made popular the idea that it takes 10,000 hours to master or become ‘good’ at something. That’s 10,000 hours of work! And the wicker basketmaker’s school in Lichtenfels, Germany (Staatliche Berufsfachschule für Flechtwerkgestaltung) has a three year basket weaving program. That’s right, willow weavers in Germany go to school full time for three years, after which time they graduate and begin their basket weaving careers as Wickerwork Designers.

Twining a Round Base

August 15, 2017/9 Comments/in Basket Weaving Tutorials & Techniques /by Annetta K

There are a couple of ways to weave a round base on a basket. Today, I am posting my tutorial on how to twine a perfectly round base with round reed on flat or flat oval spokes. I took lots of pictures and I am just going to start at the very beginning. I will post some pictures of baskets with twined round bases at the end of the post.

Three Rod Arrow Tutorial

February 15, 2017/11 Comments/in Basket Weaving Tutorials & Techniques /by Annetta K

Finally – home and time to finish this basket weaving tutorial for the

Three Rod Arrow.

The three rod arrow looks nice in one color or in three colors. If you want your arrows to stack like in the sample below (a bargello pattern), you will need a number of spokes that is divisible by 3 (i.e. 18 spokes, 36 spokes, 48 spokes)

How to use Clips – Weaving the First Rows of a Basket

December 7, 2016/11 Comments/in Basket Weaving Tutorials & Techniques /by Annetta K

Today I am going to talk about one of our favorite tools and using them effectively. Clips.

When I tell students to get out their clips, some pull out their old faithful wooden clothes pins and others pull out a wide array of clips and ask which ones are best. 🙂 Like many of you, I have a variety of clips, wooden clothes pins work for almost anything, but sometimes you need something smaller.

And when you are a basket teacher you accumulate all kinds of clips – this is what was on my weaving table today! The bottom line is, almost any clip can be used, the important thing is to learn to use them effectively. Read more

The Four Strand Braid Weave

October 5, 2016/5 Comments/in Basket Weaving Tutorials & Techniques, New Baskets /by Annetta K

Today I am releasing my new basket pattern, Twines and Braids.

This little basket is a technique basket, it has a fun beaded rim and it’s great for practicing the step up, (you will find my tutorial for step ups here) but the main point of this little basket is learning how to weave a four strand braid. So, in addition to releasing the basket pattern, I am going to post a woven four strand braid weaving tutorial. I will go through it step by step, like I did with my three strand braid weave tutorial, and at the end you will find a link to my YouTube video tutorial. Read more

Twining around Corners

August 24, 2016/2 Comments/in Basket Weaving Tutorials & Techniques /by Annetta K

When you are twining the base of your basket, corners can be a little tricky. Sometimes the weaver lays perfectly and sometimes it sneaks under the stake, defeating the purpose of locking the base. Here’s how to have nice squared corners every time you twine a base.

We’ll start at the beginning… Read more

The Step Up

July 20, 2016/6 Comments/in Basket Weaving Tutorials & Techniques /by Annetta K

The step up is a round reed technique used when you come to the end of a twined row. It is most often used when triple twining (three-rod wale), but it can be utilized with any type of twining: regular (with two weavers), triple twining (with three weavers), four-rod wale (with four weavers) and even if you twine with more weavers. In most baskets a step up is optional. If a step up is not done, the twining section will spiral up the basket and will have a definite starting spot and a definite ending spot. If a step up is done, each row will be continuous, like a ring it will look like it has no start or stop. Read more

Dyeing Reed 101 – Part III

June 8, 2016/13 Comments/in Basket Weaving Tutorials & Techniques, Resources for Basket Weaving /by Annetta K

This post will wrap up my Dyeing Reed 101 series…

Today I am writing about the three types of dyes that work on reed and wood: direct, reactive and natural. Part I and II provided background for dyeing. If you haven’t read them you may find it helpful to start there. Dyeing Reed -Part I and Dyeing Reed Part II

Read more

Dyeing Reed 101 – Part II

June 1, 2016/2 Comments/in Basket Weaving Tutorials & Techniques, Resources for Basket Weaving /by Annetta K

Okay, here is Part II of Dyeing Reed 101. I was going to wrap Dyeing Reed 101 up with this post, however, Part II, grew to way over a thousand words – – – now there is also a Part III!

And things change – while I was writing about types of dyes I realized that I should talk more about colorfastness and using mordants, fixatives and surfactants before I talk about dye.

Dyeing Reed 101 – Part I

May 26, 2016/7 Comments/in Basket Weaving Tutorials & Techniques, Resources for Basket Weaving /by Annetta K

I don’t claim to be an expert on dyeing, however over the years I have dyed a lot of stuff (basket related and not), I have used a lot of different dyes – natural, all purpose, direct and reactive, I have dyed natural (protein and cellulose) materials and synthetics, trial and error (failure and success) have been good teachers and I have also done a lot of research. Dyeing is a science; so while there are different ways to dye reed, understanding the science of dyeing will help you have better results.

Whether you use an all purpose dye, direct dye, reactive dye or even a natural dye, I hope you find this article helpful.

Tea Staining Baskets

May 4, 2016/22 Comments/in Basket Weaving Tutorials & Techniques /by Annetta K

When I started weaving someone told me about using tea to stain baskets. It is still one of my favorite ways to finish basket, I love the rich color and I like the smell of the tea brewing. I especially like that this is a non-toxic way to finish a basket.

There are a couple of different methods, here’s how I do it.
Read more

Continuous Weave Filled Basket Base

April 27, 2016/1 Comment/in Basket Weaving Tutorials & Techniques /by Annetta K

A very long time ago, I said I was going to do a series of posts on weaving basket bases. Well, I get distracted – there are so many basket related topics to write about, my list just gets longer and longer! The good news is a few weeks ago, I wove this base and got some photos. So here it is – a tutorial on the continuous weave filled basket base.

Braid Weave with three strands

March 30, 2016/8 Comments/in Basket Weaving Tutorials & Techniques /by Annetta K

I use the braid weave in several of my patterns: Braid Obsession, Braided Miniatures, Wisconsin Wine Basket and Whispers. The three strand braid weave is one of my favorite basket weaving techniques to teach. In my recent Whispers classes, I have been asked to post a tutorial on the braid weave – so here it is.

When I teach the three strand braid weave, I like to begin by telling my students how it is similar to triple twining and then explain how it is different. What I am going to do is post a pictorial tutorial with the same spiel I give my students. At the end of the tutorial you will find a link to my YouTube video tutorial. Read more

Check Out my New Resource Page

March 16, 2016/0 Comments/in Basket Weaving Events, Basket Weaving Tutorials & Techniques /by Annetta K

Little by little I am fine tuning my website. This week I added a resource page to my website. It includes an index to my tutorials and a list of basket materials suppliers. Read more

Double X Basket Lashing with Waxed Linen

February 24, 2016/0 Comments/in Basket Weaving Tutorials & Techniques /by Annetta K

Today I am posting a tutorial on another way to double lash your basket. Last month, I posted ‘Lashing a Basket with Waxed Linen‘ and, in that post, I showed how to lash with waxed linen and how to do a V lash. This tutorial will show you how to lash a basket going around the basket once and creating a double lash with a double X on each lash. If you are new to lashing with waxed linen you may want to read ‘Lashing your Basket a Waxed Linen‘ to learn how to start the lasher, add on, and end the lasher.

The Double X Lashing

Starting just to the right of the overlaps (to the left, if you weave left handed), secure the waxed linen and thread it from outside to inside in the next space.
Read more

How to Square the Base of a Basket

February 17, 2016/4 Comments/in Basket Weaving Tutorials & Techniques /by Annetta K

Shaping starts with the base

so today, I thought I would share not only how to square the base of a basket, but also why it is important to square the base.

First, what does it mean to square the base of a basket?

Squaring a base really means making sure that the corners are ‘square’, or 90°. So you can ‘square’ a rectangular or square base.

Read more

Lashing a Basket with Waxed Linen

January 20, 2016/6 Comments/in Basket Weaving Tutorials & Techniques /by Annetta K

I lash a lot of baskets with waxed linen; I weave tight, I weave small, I weave with stakes close together – waxed linen works for me. And I like the way it looks. Lashing a basket with waxed linen is much like lashing with a length of reed, but there are some key differences.

What you need:

Waxed linen – I typically use 4-ply for regular sized baskets.

Tapestry Needle – use a size that is easy to thread and not to large or to small for the basket you are lashing.

Starting the lasher:

Cut a three – four foot length of waxed linen, thread your needle and, going from outside to inside, insert it into a space just to the left of your rim overlap (to the right if you are left handed and will be lashing from left to right). Pull the needle and waxed linen through until you have a tail of about four (4) inches on the outside of your basket.

Locking the Base – Part II

November 16, 2015/3 Comments/in Basket Weaving Tutorials & Techniques /by Annetta K

Another way to weaving a locking row

I have two favorite locking rows: the sanity row and the locked locking row. You can read about the sanity row and other ways to lock your base here.

Today we’ll focus on what I call the ‘locked locking row‘- which is a locked four rod or three rod wale row. This is a technique often used in willow or round reed baskets, but it also works nicely in a basket that uses a variety of material. It’s one of my favorites for a few reasons: Read more

Locking the Base – Part I

November 12, 2015/0 Comments/in Basket Weaving Tutorials & Techniques /by Annetta K

While weaving a locking row around the base of your basket is not always necessary, sometimes it is an important part of shaping or maintaining the shape of the base and sometimes this single row adds strength to the basket. You can weave a locking row with flat material or round material. Read more

Six Point Star

November 4, 2015/1 Comment/in Basket Weaving Tutorials & Techniques /by Annetta K

Paper Star Embellishment –

I teach this little embellishment, also called a six strand star, when I teach my paper business card basket, Papyrus. Its not part of the pattern, it’s just a fun part of the class and all of my students go home with a star which is also their pattern. Even so, many of my students have requested that I make a video and post it so they can refer to it when they make more stars . After much resistance I 100_6693 acquiesced. Read more

Scarfing the Rim

October 12, 2015/9 Comments/in Basket Weaving Tutorials & Techniques, Tools for Weaving Baskets /by Annetta K

Preparing Your Rims Scarfing or shaving down your rim pieces will give a polished look to your basket. The goal of scarfing is to make the section where the two ends overlap the thickness of a single piece. When done well, it is difficult to find the join.

Dyeing – my way

September 22, 2015/13 Comments/in Basket Weaving Tutorials & Techniques /by Annetta K

Every weaver who dyes their own reed has their own method; there really are many ways to dye reed. Some ways, of course, are more effective and produce better color and colorfastness. Last time I wrote about dyeing reed, I just talked about the product I use most often, Rit dye. Today I am going to cover

Lashing Basics

September 8, 2015/4 Comments/in Basket Weaving Tutorials & Techniques, Tools for Weaving Baskets /by Annetta K

Over the years I have met weavers who love lashing a basket and weavers who hate lashing a basket. I used to dislike lashing.

Mustard …

September 2, 2015/2 Comments/in Basket Weaving Tutorials & Techniques, Resources for Basket Weaving /by Annetta K

Actually Dijon Mustard and Dark Brown. Today I am dyeing reed, earthy colors for my basket “Montana“, which I am teaching in October at the Association of Michigan Basket Weavers 2015 convention “Autumn Weavings”.

Bases, bases, bases

August 20, 2015/0 Comments/in Basket Weaving Tutorials & Techniques /by Annetta K

Sometimes when I am trying to spark an idea, I just start weaving bases. Sometimes that sparks lots of ideas, sometimes just one idea, and sometimes just lots of bases on my weaving table! While I was weaving bases today I thought you all might like to talk about them.