How to Create a Kit for a Basket Weaver

You could be a basket weaver if everything you pick up from paper to honeysuckle you wrap around your finger to see if it is pliable or if every corner in your home has a pile of baskets.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Basket Handles
• Basket Hoops
• Basket Weaving Patterns
• Bone Awls
• Seamstress Measuring Tapes
• Clothespins
• Ice Picks
• Reed
• Dish Pans
• Old Scissors
• 5-gallon Plastic Food Grade Buckets
• Wire Cutters
• Wire Cutters
• Wire cutters

1. Send for basket supply catalogs.

2. Purchase a beginner basket-weaving book.

3. Gather basic tools. Find an extra-large dishpan (in a store's canning section) and a 5-gallon bucket to soak large amounts of reed.

4. Get old scissors, a seamstress measuring tape and a good pair of wire cutters for cutting the reed.

5. Find an old ice pick and lots of clothespins for doing the weaving.

6. Choose a basket design. Egg, melon and market baskets are good basic patterns for a beginner.

7. Order reed and a handle (if needed). Most reed comes in "bundles" of 1 pound. One pound of 1/4-inch flat oval will make two medium-size egg baskets with some reed left over.

8. Purchase only enough to make one basket if you are unsure this is something you or the gift recipient will want to continue doing.

Tips & Warnings

• For the experienced basket weaver, you can create a kit by looking at the supply catalogs for unusual patterns, handles and embellishments. There is nothing a basket weaver loves more than getting a unique handle or embellishment to design a basket around.
• Most of the tools can be found at flea markets and discount stores.
• Supply companies will have someone who can answer your questions on buying the amount of reed needed for a project.
• Basket weaving can be habit-forming.