Basket Weaving Pattern - FREE

Love Letters

This sweet desktop basket features dyed reed accents, little wooden ball feet, and a pretty painted wooden heart tied to the front of the basket. Just right for mail, notesheets or to use as a little catch all. Makes a great mail basket, too. Finished basket is 5½"x8½" at top, 3"x7" at base, 5½" high with feet.

Kit includes pattern, all reed and accents, wooden feet and pretty heart you can paint the color of your choice. (Heart may vary slightly from photo).

Materials:

½" flat reed for stakes, fillers and weaver

#2 round reed for twining base

#2 round reed dyed for accent (pink and green)

½" flat oval reed for rim

¼" flat or flat oval for weavers and lasher

Seagrass for rim beading (#2 or #3)

wooden heart, painted & drilled w/2 holes

1" wooden ball feet with hardware

ribbons, raffia or jute to tie on heart

All supplies are available from Baskets Of Joy, including complete kits!

To Make the Basket:

STEP ONE

Preparation

From the ½" flat reed, cut the following:
- 7 stakes @ 17"
- 3 stakes @ 22"
- 2 fillers @ 14"
Mark centers on rough side of all stakes & fillers.
Soak all stakes and some round reed in water until pliable (about 5 minutes) before weaving. (Remember, all weaving materials will be soaked briefly, until pliable, before weaving with them).

STEP TWO

Construction

Lay out your 3 long stakes (22") horizontally in front of you, rough sides up, with space between them.
Place the fillers (14") between them, centers even.
With a 17" stake rough side up, weave over the horizontal stake closest to you, under the fillers and center stake, and over the horizontal stake furthest from you.
Weave the remaining stakes in evenly on either side of this center vertical stake in the over-under manner. You will treat the center horizontal stake and the fillers on each side of it as one stake.
Adjust base to measure about 2¾" x 6¾". The horizontal fillers and stakes will all be snug against each other.
Twine one time around the base of the basket, twining only on the stakes (leaving the fillers un-woven). End twining on the inside of the basket.
Make sure the fillers are wet (re-wet with a spray bottle if needed). With the base flat on the table in front of you, bend one end of a filler over and to the inside of the basket. Trim and tuck the end under a vertical stake. Repeat with remaining filler ends.
Making sure the stakes are all wet, upsett all stakes by bending over your finger.

All rows are woven in the over-under, start-stop manner.

Weave one row with ½" flat reed in the over-under, start-stop manner, clipping the weaver to the stakes wherever needed. Make sure the rough side of the reed is to the outside of the basket. End the weaver by hiding behind a stake.
Using one piece of green round reed and one piece of pink, twine 4 rows.
Using the ¼" reed, weave a total of 10 rows in the over-under, start-stop manner. You won?t have to clip anymore after the second or third row. Keep your stakes going upward gently; the top of your basket will be a little larger than the base when you are finished. Throughout your weaving, be sure to pack the rows snugly.
Now twine 4 rows as before with the pink and green round reed.
Weave one last row with ¼" reed. This is your rim row.

STEP THREE

Finishing

Trim & tuck the stakes as follows: Rewet stakes; cut pieces which are to the inside of the last row of weaving even with the top of the rim row. Trim the remaining pieces (they are all on the outside of the last row of weaving) to about 2", at a slight slant to make a point. Fold over the rim row and tuck under a row of weaving on the inside of the basket.
Using the ½" flat oval, apply rim to the inside and outside of the basket, clipping in place with clothespins.
Bead rim with seagrass.
Lash with ¼" reed.

Adding the finishing touches:

Using ribbon or raffia, tie heart on the front of the basket.
Using screws and washers, attach the feet to the bottom of the basket. Make sure the base is good and wet. The reed may crack a bit, but it will work out just fine. (If you would like to minimize cracking, you can drill a small hole for the screw before-hand).
Sign basket on the bottom.
Stain basket if you like. Our favorite stain is a walnut stain made with crushed walnut hulls (available from Baskets Of Joy).

Call Baskets Of Joy to order your kits today! 1-800-377-6097

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