How long does it take to weave a basket?

The most straightforward basket can take 30 minutes.

Here’s an example of a 30-minute basket:

Pine needle baskets- Southwestern USA

Zulu coiled baskets

There are many more basket-weaving traditions. Most art, historical, and cultural museums will display beautiful baskets.

Is basket weaving hard?

Basket weaving is reasonably easy to learn. Begin with a basket design, learn the basic over/under weaving stitch, and build from there.

As with any craft, once you gain knowledge of the basic techniques, it’s a matter of building motor skills and a sense of reed tension through repeated practice.

Weaving baskets is a satisfying fiber art skill to master.

Basket weaving terminology

Basket weaving, like any craft, has its terminology and expressions.

Learning these terms and words will help you follow the weaving process and understand how to decipher weaving information as you grow your skills.

Once you have your hands on the materials, using these terms as you work and take in information becomes more natural.

Check out the Basket Weaving Glossary for a complete list of terms.

Basket weaving terms

Terms for different basket weaving traditions vary. Here are a few basic terms that may be unfamiliar to the beginner basket weaver.

Stakes:
The pieces of material that create the spokes of the basket. Baskets are built around a foundation of stakes.

Weaver:

A weaver is a piece of material used to weave around the stakes to build the walls of a basket.

Twining:

Twining is when two weavers are woven at the same time and crossed between each stake to create a twisted weaver pattern.

Upsetting:

Upsetting is a process of folding stakes over to create a crease where the basket’s base and wall meet. The crease helps the basket weaver create straight basket walls.

Rim:

The rim is a piece of weaving material wrapped around the basket’s upper edge and lashed to the basket to finish off the upper raw edge once the walls are completed.

How to Weave a Basket

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There are lots of ways in which to make baskets, from willow to rope. The simplest basket to make, however, is the woven basket. Starting with an easy-to-work-with material, such as paper, will help you understand the process. Once you get the hang of it, you can move on to more complex baskets made from willow or reed.

StepsPart 1Part 1 of 3:

Creating the Bottom

• If you are making a larger basket, cut 2 extra strips for every 1 inch (2.5 cm) that you would like to add.
• Construction paper will work the best, but you can also use thin plastic sheets, cardstock, felt, or thin cardboard.
• These methods won't work well for reed or willow because you need to prepare those materials differently.

• You want just a sliver of space between the vertical strips because this will make weaving the horizontal strips through them easier.
• If you are making a larger basket, then add more vertical strips. For example, if you want a 5 in (13 cm) basket, then use 5 vertical strips total.

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• Make sure that the horizontal strip is centered, too; you want an equal amount of paper sticking out to the first and last vertical strip.