Getting Started

Making this basic square basket is an excellent way to learn the fundamentals of basketry such as using plain weaving, start-and-stop weaving, packing, shaping, adding a rim, and lashing.

Basket weaving requires very few tools. In fact, most are familiar household items, and none are expensive. The only tool you might not recognize is the fid. It’s a leather-working tool the size of a small awl and can be found in craft stores.

Stakes are the pieces that form the bottom of a basket, then fold up to become the frame of the sides. Weavers are the pieces you weave through the stakes. Weavers usually follow an S curve around the stakes, which remain straight.

The project instructions are written for the right-handed. For many procedures, there’s no significant difference, but lefties may find some things easier if they work in the reverse direction. For example, most right-handed people weave in a counter-clockwise direction while many lefties are more comfortable going clockwise. Feel free to alter any instructions so they work for you.