Shire of Sylvan Glen 2.0 - Arts & Sciences - Mellon & Egg Basket Weaving

By The Honorable Lady Sueva the Short

In September 2002 Elizabeth, one of our newest members, treated us to a basket making class at her house. What follows are photos from this class and Elizabeth's instructions.

The basket we made is a half way blend between what most people call an egg or fanny basket, and a round melon basket. It will be a rib basket 12 inches across the rim, 12 inches tall, and about 12 inches across the widest part of the bottom. It makes a fine sturdy sewing or marketing type basket. My maternal Aunt taught it to me about 15 years ago and the first basket I did is still in use.

The egg basket, also called the fanny basket gets its name from the rounded sides of the bottom that resemble a fanny, and was used to keep eggs from rolling around and jostling.

The melon basket gets its name from its shape, that of a round smooth melon. It has also been called a potato basket or a round bottom basket.

The main differences in these two is in the length of the ribs. In the egg basket the two 'corner ribs' are much longer and even at their set 45 degree angle fall below the bottom of the handle hoop. The in between ribs gradually increase and decrease to make a smooth swell to the basket. In the melon basket the set corner ribs are the same length as the bottom half of the handle hoop, and the in between ribs follow a smooth globe shape all the way around. Our basket averages the two, its set corner ribs are even with both the rim edge and the bottom of the handle hoop edge. It is very scalable and looks good from 4 inches across to at least 20 inches across. The same techniques are used for all the sizes with only the materials changing.

We will be using ¼ inch wide weavers, the flat reed that does the weaving in a basket. Generally speaking, the narrower the weaver the smoother the basket, and the longer it takes to finish. Wider weavers on a rib basket finish faster but look coarser, also wide weaver makes the lashing (where the handle meets the rim) awkward. 3/8 of an inch is probably as wide as I would want to do myself, but please try what you like for yourself.

Materials (for a 12 inch basket):
2 sturdy 12 inch hoops, ours are oak
@½ pound of ¼ inch rattan weaver (flat reed)
@1/3 pound of rattan rib #7 (round reed)
A pencil
An exacto or flat knife
An awl
A pair of wire cutters
A ruler (if desired)
Bucket or basin of water
Few spring clothespins

Before:

First take your hoops, and find the spot on each where the oak strip was attached to itself to form the hoop. There are one of these on each hoop, the nicer of the 2 hoops becomes the handle, and the other the rim. The joint on the handle hoop goes on the bottom of the basket, and the joint on the rim hoop goes against one of the other sides of the handle.
The handle hoop goes inside the rim hoop and at right angles to it. Try to get them as even as you can. If you want to measure the middle of the hoop, take a ruler, hold one end against the hoop and slide the other end across the far edge of the hoop, the farthest point from the one you are holding is the midpoint.

At this point you can temporarily tie the hoops together to hold them. I had a bad experience with this on my first basket and haven't done it since. Take the 2 longest matched pieces of flat reed you have and soak them for a couple of minutes. These will be used.. one to a side for your lashing.

Reed has a good side and a bad side... the smoother side is the good side and it goes to the outside of the basket.

The Cross:
Take the end of the read, plus a 4 inch tail and put it, bad side facing you, diagonally top left to bottom right, behind where the hoop and rim meet. Working with the longer end, wrap it around the front of the cross, Top left to bottom right. Take the reed around the back of the handle hoop just below the rim hoop, making sure to trap your tail between the working reed and the hoop, bottom right to bottom left. Take the working read over the front bottom left to top right. This forms your x.

The Lashing:
Wrap over the top right to bottom right, behind. Bring the reed to the front, folding it so the good side is out, bottom right to bottom left and twist it behind again, bottom left to top left. Bring the reed over the top of the rim, top left to bottom left, and twist it behind the handle rim, bottom left to bottom right, twist to the front, bottom right to top right, then over the top of the rim. That is one course of lashing and its much easier to do than read. Do 5 more courses for a total of 6 and clothespin the trailing edge of your weaver. Clip your tail short. And repeat with your other side and weaver.

--The Corner Ribs:
The first ribs we cut are the longest. These are the corner ribs that will be set in the lashing, spaced equally between the rim and the bottom half of the handle.
These ribs are cut from round reed to 23 inches and sharpened on each end like whittling a pencil sharp. Cut 2.

The number 2 and 3 ribs are cut to 18 and 21 inches respectively. Cut 2 of each The number 2 ribs get sharpened and forced into the gap in the weaving right under the rim, the number 3 ribs are sharpened and forced into the gap in the lashing close to the bottom of the handle. Using an awl or nail, make a hole where the lashing crosses itself between the number 2 and 3 ribs.

Force the points of the number 1 (corner) ribs into these holes. You may need to resharpen these ribs.

The Weaving:
Fair warning the first 3 or 4 courses of weaving on each side of the basket are the hardest. Unclip and take hold of the trailing end of your lashing on one side, this now becomes your weaver, and should be long enough to do the first few rows of weaving on each side. You may need to briefly resoak your weaver in order to work it properly. Work your weaver in between the bottom of the rim and the number 2 rib, then under the corner rib, over the number 3 rib, under the handle, and so forth, when you reach the rim on the far side, bring the weaver over the top of the rim, then back between the bottom of the rim and the number 2 weaver, continue to with in 4 inches of the end of you weaver and clip it with a clothespin. Repeat on the other side. If your ribs pop out while you are weaving simply force them back in, by the end of the 3rd row they should hold them selves, and after the 4th should not pop out at all.

It is important to balance your weaving, doing a certain number of rows on one side, then clipping the weaver and doing the same on the other. When you get near the end of one weaver, put a new one in to soak, be careful not to over soak the weavers. Nest the end of the new weaver under and over 2 of the ribs you have already woven, these 2 ribs will now have 2 layers of weaving on them, and continue your weaving.

As you work down the side of the basket you can shape the damp basket with your hands, or re-wet it with a sponge. It's a bad idea to soak rims and handles on unfinished baskets as the joint may fail. After the basket is finished the weavers and ribs add support to this joint and its no longer a worry.

Pay attention as you weave to the spaces between the ribs, when the space between the ribs you are weaving on gets to be about an inch and a half its time to add new ribs. After the first three ribs.. all ribs are added in pairs, one to each side of an existing rib. The bottom of the handle of the basket does not count as a rib in this case. Ribs are added in pairs for balance in the weaving, the over-under pattern from one row to the next will be interrupted if ribs are added singly. Eye measure the new ribs, laying the round reed against the basket, holding the length with your fingers and then clipping it. It shout be about 4 inches longer than the empty space it spans. Sharpen both ends as with the fist ribs and slide them into the last few rows of weaving and continue. Space the ribs gently keeping them as even as possible.

Generally speaking the more ribs a basket has the better, this is the spacing that I have found works best for me. As you weave around the basketry to keep the empty space even. This will help immensely in the last dozen rows of weaving along the bottom of the basket. The rows can be forced closer together or even compressed with pressure, as you near the last rows watch your pattern, you will want over-under-over-under, across the middle of the bottom. The weaving will end on the last row by bringing the weaver over the rim, and then threading it back over and under the ribs that were just done.

Finishing Off:
Once all your weaving is done, go back over the basket with a pair of scissors, trimming frays, and clipping the tail ends of the weavers. If you want to line it with a piece of cloth 3ft by 3ft works well and will keep small things from sifting through.

Care and Feeding:
You should expect to own your basket a long time, dunk the whole thing in water for a minute or so once a year, and reshape it. This will keep it looking nice and also keeps it from becoming brittle. If it gets dirty or muddy, just hose it off, avoid soap. As it ages it will darken, this is normal. One last note, put your name on your basket, the easiest and least intrusive way to do this is on the last row of weaving in the middle of the bottom of the basket, then cut an extra piece of flat reed to cover it, sliding it under the ribs on either side of the bottom of the handle.

Terms:
Rib - round reed that runs from handle side to handle side, gives shape to a basket, there is no set number of ribs to a basket
Weaver - Long flat reed the weaves over and under the ribs and fills in the space between, also called a splint.
Awl - sharp pointed tool used for making holes
hoop - a wooden or other material closed shape that gives a basket its shape, round square and oval are most common.
Lashing - The beginning of the weaving in a basket, often a special pattern that attaches the handle to the rim, the trailing end of the lashing is also the first part of the plain weaving.
Rim - The horizontal hoop of our basket, or the top edge of the bowl on any basket
Handle - The vertical hoop of Our basket, that also curves across the bottom of it
Corner Rib - the longest or middle rib on each side of a basket, usually spaced evenly at a 45 degree angle from the rim and the bottom half of the handle
Set - To place or arrange ribs where they are needed.

Thank you Beth! This was a great class and I think we can safely say now we're all ready for Easter.

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