Round Bottom Basket

Yesterday I shared the steps to making a Cross Hatch Basket, and today I'd like to share how I make a round bottom basket.

The beginning of the bottom using small round reed for a tight weave.

A little further with the weaving.

Switching to flat-round reed and upsetting the sides.

The finished basket!

Cross Hatch Bottom Basket

This is not necessarily a How-To post, as I forgot to take enough photos to really explain what I'm doing here along the way. But I thought you might enjoy seeing the process of how I weave a cross hatch bottom basket. If there is interest, I'm thinking of teaching a local class at our farm and maybe even a web class so those of you who live out-of-state can participate too.

The beginning of the cross-weave.

Using clothespins to help upset the sides.

The vertical weave and the color chain.

Pinning on the rim and the decorative seagrass edge ready to weave it all in place.

The finished basket ready for stain.

Let me know if you're interested and I'll get some dates together.

Dyeing Fiber with Black Walnuts (Video!)

So we started the de-shelling process of the Black Walnuts. Most of the green husks were soft enough to just smush off with our fingers, but a few stubborn ones needed a blade to help.

They remind me of a small pine scented coconut.

The unveiling...

Once the green was removed it was time to wash them.

We swished them around in a clean bucket. The rough nut shells help clean each other. We dumped the water when it got cloudy and rinsed several times.

They will cure in this airy basket for two weeks then we'll crack them. (I'll keep you posted.)

The husks we saved in another bucket for dying.

Then we filled the bucket with water and let it soak over night to extract all the dye.

Then we strained the walnut water through an old towel so the bits of walnut wouldn't tangle in the fiber.

Walnut sludge.

Once we had a nice clean dye bath I soaked our mohair overnight.Black walnut dye is so absolute, that you shouldn't need a mordant.

Here is the final product! A very natural brown almost as if it has come from a brown fleece rather than a dye.

More Basket Fun!

So, watching and helping everyone make their baskets on Sunday put me in a weaving mood and I wanted to share some creations that I came up with after the meeting.

Both these baskets hang on the wall.

Still trying to decide if I want to stain them or not.

I'm going to put the dried roses in the pink and green one after it dries completely.

Farm Girl Meeting, Cross Hatch Basket

photo by Angela

We had a another great Farm Girl Meeting last Sunday. Personally, I had a blast. It was so fun watching all the different baskets take shape.

left to right: Stacey, Eileen, Marla, Kathy

photo by Angela

Jennifer (Me) and Shannon

Even with this basic design there was so much creativity and variety. We made a simple square bottom cross hatch basket with your choice of colors and handles.

photo by Angela

The ladies learned the beginning techniques of basket weaving, like how to soak reed, the maneuvering of clothespins, upsetting the sides, manipulating the shape and incorporating colors, handles and rims.

This meeting was such a success that some people shared an interest in making other types and shapes of baskets. I'm thinking of putting together another meeting where we would make a round bottom basket.

photo by Angela

If any of you are in the local area and are interested in joining our group, I'm putting together a list of people. As we found on Sunday, eight is really the limit that our room can hold. If there's more than that who want to sign up, I'd be glad to hold two meetings. Let me know.

photo by Angela

I'd like to give a shout out to The Basket Sampler, located at 1449 S Milford Road, Suite C Highland, MI 48357, where most of the basket supplies were purchased. They have a great selection of reed, handles, colored reed, sea grass, classes and anything else you would need for basket weaving. Call for hours 248-889-8600 or e-mail Kathy the owner at kathy@thebasketsampler.com

this is Angela

I'd also like to thank my friend Angela Madden who takes most of the Farm Girl photos as I am usually too busy running around. Angela is a talented photographer who specializes in weddings, senior portraits, sporting events, family settings and even band album covers. Visit her site by clicking here http://www.facebook.com/pages/AM-Photography/116037307770   

As a side note, I am two Farm Girl Meeting posts behind. We had great meetings in January and February too that I'd like to share with everyone. I promise to get those posted soon.

New Products!!

I just listed some new products from Iron Oaks Farm on our Etsy site http://www.jenniferannmurphy.etsy.com/ They include a darling, hyper feminine apron. The skirt has different herb descriptions and their uses in a pretty brown script. It also has handy pockets that work well in the garden or kitchen.

And new baskets. Just in time for Independence Day. The reed is accented with the old "Americana" red white, and blue, (or burgundy, grey-blue, and tan) Check them out!!