How to Weave a Reed Basket

Make a handmade reed basket using basic materials.

When you enjoy decorating your home with festive reed baskets, you can end up spending a lot of money on pre-made reed baskets at a home decorating store. Instead of buying yur baskets pre-made, weave your own reed baskets using a few basic materials that you can purchase inexpensively at any arts and crafts supply store. This enables you to customize the basket, making it a certain size to suit a particular space in you home.

Things You'll Need

• Basketry reeds
• Scissors
• 10 gallon bucket

Instructions

1. Cut 16 basketry reeds with scissors to measure 36-inches long each. Discard the cut off pieces.

2. Place the reeds into a 10 gallon bucket and fill the bucket with hot water. Allow the reeds to soak for one hour.

3. Place four reeds vertically on a tabletop. Weave another reed back and forth horizontally through the vertical reeds and position the horizontal reed so that the woven section is in the center. Repeat to weave a total of four reeds horizontally through the vertical reeds. The woven section will be the bottom of the basket.

4. Bend the remaining length of each reed upright. These will become the sides of the basket.

5. Weave another reed back and forth around the upright reeds. Add on more reeds as needed until you have woven the basket within 2-inches of the top.

6. Fold the top 2-inches of each reed over into the inside of the basket and tuck each reed top into the weaving. Allow the reed basket to dry for 12 hours before using it.

Tips & Warnings

• Paint the outside of the basket with latex paint to add a decorative touch to the basket.

• Keep sharp scissors out of the reach of children.

References

• Bush Craft: Wicker Basket Tutorial
• Basket Making: How To Make Baskets