Bramble Basketry Part ThreeBramble Basketry Part Three

Time needed: 45 minutes

Once your basket is the desired height you’ll need to start thinking about the border.

1.   Firstly go around each stake and kink it to the right.

   The kink wants to be above the border, giving you enough room to weave three other stakes underneath it.

2.  Make sure you get these all the same height, as this will form the top rim of your basket.

   I made a spacer that was the right height to help me do this part. 

3. Let the stakes return to upright again. 

4. Once you’ve gone all the way around its time to start the weave.

5. Bring your first stake down to the right, bring it front of two uprights, behind the next one and then out of the basket, it should end against the weave outside the basket. 

6. Repeat this with each stake in turn.

7. Final three stakes.

   These will need to be woven in, and slotted into place. Keep following the same pattern of two in-front, one behind and outside. If in doubt look at a completed section on the other side of the basket.

8. Your basket now has a spiked border.

   I’ve done some shallow decorative baskets where some of this has been left decoratively. But for a functional one, I cut them off angled close into the basket.
   

9. Your basket is likely to be really quite heavy as it is full of moisture still. 

10. Allow it to dry naturally, don’t force dry it.

    It will deepen its shade as well, losing the garishness of the initial green. 

11. Enjoy having a wonderfully tactile, good looking and useful basket, with the added pleasure of knowing you made it from start to finish with a “nuisance” species.