Of potential and baskets

[Toddy]

I saw the berries on the ivy on the side fence. They'll be ready in a few weeks, and I want them for dye.

I'd pruned the Irises not so long ago, and the dried leaves were still lying beside the greenhouse.
They looked useful I thought I reckoned they had potential.

So I made a half a metre's worth of two ply rope from the Iris leaves to try it out

The rope was strong and it was sound and I made a lot more

With the odd half hour here and there over the next couple of days I ended up with about twenty metres.
I've averaged about 400 twists to the metre. It's tidier than it looks in this photo though.

I then spun some of my home grown and processed flax fibres into a kind of coarse thread, and I 4-plyed it into a really strong fine string.
I know I could have made and used a bone needle, but I really hate the smell when they're being ground smooth so I just used a heavy sharp.
I coiled some of the cordage into an oval, and then stitched it.

As it grew I started to bring the rounds in very slightly, just enough to start to create sides to my grass basket.

I used a straight through the ply, stab stitch, to join round upon round. I finished each thread by taking it down through multiple layers, and pulled neatly into tension. I trimmed the ends off after I had finished the next thread.

The bottom looks like this,

I'm aiming to have it big enough to hold at least 2kgs, so the walls are growing apace


cheers,
Toddy

 

[Toddy]

Grass basketry like this is, I think, easier than the coiled variety where the entire coil is wrapped with stitches, *if* your cordage is sound. I know the leaves I used were old, but the cordage worked up clean and secure.

The basket is very flexible though, and I had intended to make the handle from cordage too, but I need to prune a briar rose and I'm thinking it'd make a good rim and handle for this collecting basket
We'll see



I have more photos taken and will add and edit tomorrow. I take my hat off to folks who post diy threads with any frequency, because this lot has taken me ages, and I've had enough tonight.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[British Red]

If you have a lot of time on this stuff Mary - I could really use a nice 3' wide winnowing basket

 

[wildranger]

Wow that is really fantastic Toddy! Interesting to see the Iris leaves make some great cordage. I was playing around with the fibres from broom (think it was cytisus scoparius) and I found that the young shoots produce some nice strong green fibres.The basket looks really neat and perfect. I appreciate the work that baskets take having made 1 or 2 small woven baskets myself. Haven't tried a coiled one yet though I have a question for you! Do you know of a primitive method of shredding down those coarser fibres that you strip straight from the plant stems? It's just because I want to make a plant-fibre bowstring and I think it'd be stronger to twist together bundles of several very fine fibres instead of bundles of say 2 or 3 coarse fibres.

 

[paleotool]

Wonderful basket. Great use of the iris.

 

[JohnC]

That looks very good Mary... I'll have to look around the garden and at work a bit more for materials.. Would like to try that and often overlook plants right on the doorstep.

 

[RonW]

That is quite impressive, Mary!

 

[bilmo-p5]

Very nice, Mary. Your method of construction reminded me of the way we used to make the rope soles for flip-flops & espadrille slippers back in the days when natural fibre ropes were still carried on ships.

 

[Toddy]

Thank you :blush:

That's pretty much the same method right enough Ian Coiled work like this is as old as the hills, but it's useful, and it can be made from stuff that otherwise would have ended up in the compost bins.

I watched and helped Robby up at the crannog make grass ropes using the bent hook in a tube to twist it up. I reckon that if that were two ply and sewn like this, it would make a huge great basket quite quickly. Kishie/creel sized, but I don't know how rigid it'd be If made from rushes it'd certainly make a keep pot for fish.

I need to find the rest of the photos and see about adding them in. It's sunny here though I might just go and work in the garden and do this later

atb,
Mary

p.s. Wildranger, I think for what you want you'd need to either dry and then beat out, or to rett down the fibre carrying stems or stripped leaves. The retting method is very traditional, but it stinks, it gives very good fibres though. It's how flax is prepared and lime bast too. In smaller batches it can be speeded up a little by using washing soda. You're right though, it makes a much better cordage

 

[Dreadhead]

thats a braw wee basket, will be crackin wi a handle on it nice one Toddy

 

[Hugo]

Nice basket Mary, very impressive I also like the shade of colours.
When you finish the sides of the basket do you make the cordage tapered so as to blend in gradually.

 

[sandbender]

Impressive stuff.

 

[HillBill]

Looks quality that Mary.

 

[mace242]

Thats excellent. I keep meaning to do something similar. If I used dry sedge leaves that I have in abunbance I would get anywhere? If not is there any other use for them?

 

[grey-array]

Very nice ^^ I should learn how to make rope some time, cause i always keep screwing around with half good withies

 

[TurboGirl]

Mary, how did you spin it? It's such an even rope, am having spinning jealousy

 

[Toddy]

Coffee break

Sedge makes good ropes it's used with oat straw to make kishies, think straw back packs for carrying everything from peats or potatoes to fish. They're better dried first so that all the shrinking is done, and then lightly dampened before you make them into cordage.

The rope is simply twisted and laid; I've done a fair bit of it, you get neat with practice

I teach spinning sometimes; again, it's practice, and a kind of old fashioned frame of reference.

Machine made was done in emulation of the best of hand made; it doesn't mean that hand made should be crude to prove it's provenance.

I worsted spun the flax. It's my default setting on spinning. It's usually used for weaving, but for knitting I can spin soft and thicker and more open and airy to trap the heat in the finished garment.
The trick with spinning is to be able to spin the yarn you want, not just what you get from twisting the spindle.

Worsted spun means that I spun the flax with the fibres all lying parallel to each other, a strick, not from a fluffed up bundles of fibres. It helps to make a smooth strong thread or yarn.

I had intended a mini version of one of the two handled moulded plastic garden tubs, and meant to bring the rope around and up to create the handles, back round again and finish off by pulling the ends of the rope down through the plies and stitch it all securely.
Not quite sure how I'm going to work the briar into it yet.
I want the basket about a handspan deep, so I've got about 6cms to go yet. I think I'm going to need to make more rope though for this depth.

Thank you for the encouragment

cheers,
M

 

[Toddy]

I need to make more rope. just as well there's still a stash of the Iris leaves

Looks tidy enough, but it's not deep enough for what I want yet.

atb,
M

 

[topknot]

Wow!! that's is sweet i do like it.

Cheers Topknot

 

[pwb]

Lovely work Toddy.

Pete.