Instructions

Weaving the Base

1. Mark the stakes on their wrong (rough) sides, at their centers and in a way to help you differentiate among the different lengths.
2. Soak the stakes just long enough to make them pliable.
3. Lay out the bottom of the basket in a plain weave (see photo). The five 21" (53.3 cm) stakes go in one direction, the six 19" (48.3 cm) stakes plus the much longer handle stake go in the other. Rough sides face up.
    
   
4. Position the handle stake underneath the middle 21" (53.3 cm) stake and center it between the 19" (48.3 cm) stakes, three stakes on either side. Center everything and adjust the bottom to a dimension of 5-1/2" x 7-1/2" (14 cm x 19 cm). Mark the corners.
5. Using the #2 round reed, twine two rounds around the base.

Upsetting the Stakes

6. Use start-and-stop weave to upsett the stakes. Fold and crimp the stakes at the edge of the basket base, then use the 5/8" (1.6 cm) flat and the 1/4" (6 mm) flat-oval reed to weave up the sides of the basket, smooth sides facing outward. You may weave these pieces up the sides in any order you choose. Put the wide weavers at the bottom and the narrower ones above (see photo). The basket shape is fairly simple; try to keep the side walls straight as you work up.
    
   
7. Use the piece of 3/8" (9.5 mm) flat reed as the hidden weaver to weave the last row. Adjust the sides to make everything even.
8. Fold and tuck the outside stakes to the inside and clip off the inside stakes. Don’t clip off the handle stake.
9. To make the handle, push one end of the handle stake into the opposite wall of the basket, adjusting it to the desired height.
10. Cut a point on one end of the handle insert and slip it down against the handle stake. Cross the remaining end of the handle stake over the top of the insert and down along its side (see photo). Adjust all the pieces to the same height. If desired, clip the handle overlay of 1/4" (6 mm) flat-oval reed to the outside of all the handle pieces for more visual interest.
     
    
11. Slip the end of the handle wrap into the inside wall of the basket behind the handle. Make sure the flat (wrong) side is against the handle (see photo).
     
    
12. Wrap the 1/4" (6 mm) flat-oval reed around the handle, catching all the pieces together. Wrap in a spiral, weaving over and under the handle overlay as desired (see photo). When you reach the other side of the handle, slip the end of the wrapping down into the inside wall of the basket, and neatly clip off the end of the overlay.
     
    

Creating & Attaching the Rim

13. Use the two pieces of 1/2" (1.3 cm) flat-oval reed to form the rim plus the seagrass filler, all fitted to the top edge and held in place with cable ties. Put the overlaps on either side of the handle, not right on top of it. Place the seagrass to the outside of the handle, to be spliced anywhere along the same side as the overlaps.
14. Soak the piece of 1/4" (6 mm) flat-oval reed for a minute. Start the lashing at the handle on the side of the basket where there are no overlaps.
15. Thread the lashing into the hole just below the rim and to the left of the handle, pulling it through until the end inside the basket is 2’ (61 cm) longer than the end outside.
16. Run the inside lashing diagonally behind the handle and up to the right, making sure the rounded side of the flat-oval reed faces out. Take the end that’s now to the right of the handle, cross it over the front of the rim and into the same hole where you started, just below the rim and to the left of the handle (see photo).
     
    
17. Take the same end up to the left of the handle, down across the front, and into the hole below the rim to the right of the handle. You’ve now created an X over the rim at the handle (see photo).
     
    
18. Using the end of the lashing on the right side of the handle, lash around to the overlaps on the opposite side, pulling everything snug. Stop at the overlaps and hold the lashing in place with a clothespin.
19. Use the other end of the lashing to lash around the other side.
20. Scarf and shape the rim so it overlaps smoothly. Use the longer piece of lashing to work across the overlaps. Make an X over this side of the handle as you did in steps 16 and 17, and continue lashing until the two ends meet.
21. Finish off the ends of the lashing.