Weave a harvest basket - PEP BB textiles.straw.weaving.harvest

This is my Adirondack style pack-basket attempt. I've never woven a basket before, so I'm somewhat surprised this came out mostly the way I wanted it. I'm following this free tutorial from Kathy Couture I found.

I'm using reed sourced from a local seller named Woven Blessings Basketry
The pack straps are cotton webbing I found at Joann Fabrics and the belt is a leather belt that no longer fits.

Weaving the base. I added two more stakes on each side to increase the size, but I realize in hindsight I should've just followed the tutorial.


The first few rows coming along. It was around here I noticed the sides creeping higher than the front and back, so I had to go back and try to straighten them out.


Towards the end...
I started to tuck in the ends when I started running out of reed, but realized I wanted it taller. I neglected to account for the height when I decided to add two stakes on each side, and that ultimately came back to bite me here. To account for this, I cut short stakes and wove them into the vertical ones so that I could get a few more inches of height. I also ended up untucking the reed that'd been tucked.

After tucking in some more reed for height, and before adding the rim.


First attempt at rim application and lashing. I ended up undoing the lashing and reapplying the rim after this.


Added stitching to the corners for aesthetics and strength?


I finally added the belt, and sewed loops onto the cotton webbing so it could be put on the belt.
I originally added a bushel handle, but decided I didn't want one and later removed it. Instead I added a top made of a pine wood circle I found at Joann fabrics. I hold it on with some leather strips.
A look at the inside, and the top, with a little wood button I got at Hobby Lobby

Front look


Back look with the redone rim. My inexperience is really showing on the back... The little metal sliders are from a reclaimed pair of overalls.



The final size is: opening circumference of 43" inches, a belly circumference of 55". 18" tall, 19" long and 7 "wide at the base.
This thing is way bigger than I intended, so I'm giving it to my husband as it fits him a bit better than me. The next one I make will be a bit smaller. All in all it was a fun, if tiring project.

It's basket weaving season! The invasive Himalayan blackberries have new, long shoots, and those shoots have to go!

long blackberry vines, ripe for weaving. Bonus picture of my son picking strawberries!

Now, blackberries are pokey, so I trimmed off the side branches, and ran my gloved hand along it to pop off most of the thorns.

much better now!

The best part of a blackberry to weave with isn't the inside, it's apparently the outter bark stuff. To get that off, you have to crush it. It works best to "break" at an angle rather than crush it. Crushing it seems to damage the bark too much.

Smashing the vines with a rock and an angled rock. Then you peel off the bark. You can see the peeled bark laid out behind my hand.

I want this basket for carrying apples, and blackberry didn't seem strong enough by itself. So I went and got some hazelnut shoots, and also branches (because I ran out of shoots, because I harvest that coppiced hazelnut a lot!)

weaving the blackberry vines around hazel branches and shoots

I did the base first, then bent the hazelnut upwords, and kept weaving...and weaving...and weaving. I ended up running out of prepared blackberry vines at around 10 1/2 inches. So I went and harvested more blackberry vines, as well as some of the tiny native Trailing Blackberries. I then wove until I used all of those up.

Since some of my hazel was a little too thick to weave the top of the basket with, I shoved a trailing blackberry vine alongsize each hazelnut branch and then used those to weave the top. Then I chose the longest hazelnut branches to make the strap/handle, cut the other branches that were too thick, and wove in the thinner branches.

Then I wrapped the reaming hazelnut branches on both sides around each other to make a strap, and then wrapped that with blackberry vines. I might end up wrapping it again just to make it softer on my shoulder, but for now, it works!

It is tall! The basket part is 13 inches.

side view

Here it is on me!

basket selfie!

the view from above as I wear it

My basket is constructed from willow I harvest near my home. I peeled the bark off a couple of the sticks for fun. Second willow basket I've made.