Coil Baskets from New Zealand Flax

[Neanderthal]

We have a mature New Zealand Flax plant in the garden which needed some pruning recently. This left us with a large number of long leaves which I sometimes twist into extremely strong cordage.

I've been meaning to have a go at making a coil basket and so tried it out with the flax. I split the leaves several times lengthways and twisted them as I made the basket.
To hold the thing together I used thin strips pulled from the leaves as thread and a bone needle to stitch through the basket.

During the construction of the first basket I got plenty of 'experience' at the technique and so the second basket is a better effort.

Twisting the material probably was not needed and would have made construction faster, something to try next time.

A very relaxing project and a new skill learnt.

Stu

 

[bushwacker bob]

great baskets. NZ flax seems to be a favorite in public spaces at the moment. I have one in the garden and almost all the cordage I use at home is made from it.It is very stong!

 

[stuart f]

Hi Neanderthal, nice looking baskets,it is very rewarding to learn a new skill which has a functional use by just utilising what nature provides.

Cheers Stuart.

 

[Barney]

Looking good there Stu, the second one is looks far more in tune compared to the first. Well done on spotting a resource and learning to utilize it, literally on your doorstep..
Looks a good knock up for gathering leaves or mushrooms.
I want to learn how to do that.

 

[Neanderthal]

Thanks for the feedback folks, glad you like the look of them.

I think that I need to do everything at least twice. First time to make the mistakes and the second time to make the actual object.

A couple of quotes I like.
"The man/woman who never made a mistake, never made anything."
"Experience is what you get, when you don't get what you want."

Stu

 

[Colin.W]

I keep meaning to do something usefull with the leaves that fall off our draconis on a regular basis, this has inspired me to save them instead of just putting them on the compost