Of potential and baskets
- Thread starter Toddy
- Start date
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Come along to the amazing Summer Moot (21st July - 2nd August), a festival of bushcrafting and camping in a beautiful woodland PLEASE CLICK HERE for more information.
Thank you 
you do realise I want to see what folks make from the idea too
Geoff Forest lives down Loch Doon way, Tom........could we not organise a weekend's workshop course with him on basketry ? He's very good makes willow chairs and yurts, teaches greenwoodworking, etc..
http://www.willowcraftdesigns.co.uk/green-woodworking-courses-c29.html
Prices on line are for individuals, but he does say to contact him for a group course/prices/camping.
He and his wife are good people.
atb,
Mary
you do realise I want to see what folks make from the idea too Geoff Forest lives down Loch Doon way, Tom........could we not organise a weekend's workshop course with him on basketry ? He's very good
makes willow chairs and yurts, teaches greenwoodworking, etc..http://www.willowcraftdesigns.co.uk/green-woodworking-courses-c29.html
Prices on line are for individuals, but he does say to contact him for a group course/prices/camping.
He and his wife are good people.
atb,
Mary
Aye, sometimes money has ten roads that need it 
Thank you
The basket's just stuff that would have gone to the compost heap; in time it probably will anyway, but for now it's more useful like this
There's a myriad of useful plants native to the British Isles, and Europe most of them will in someway make a basket of somekind
I've still got the typhus mimima (smaller version of the bullrush / reedmace) to use up. Might see if it works like soft rush, and the garden and woods and hedges are alive with fresh greenstuff again
Good time to take wiillow for peeling.
I need to do a, 'this is how' post on adding in fibres depending on what I'm using, too.
atb,
Mary
Thank you
The basket's just stuff that would have gone to the compost heap; in time it probably will anyway, but for now it's more useful like this
There's a myriad of useful plants native to the British Isles, and Europe most of them will in someway make a basket of somekind
I've still got the typhus mimima (smaller version of the bullrush / reedmace) to use up. Might see if it works like soft rush, and the garden and woods and hedges are alive with fresh greenstuff again
Good time to take wiillow for peeling.
I need to do a, 'this is how' post on adding in fibres depending on what I'm using, too.
atb,
Mary
mary
will you ever realose how frigging ausome you really are cos jesus
mary you put the rest of us to shame with some of your skills and knowledge and well this thread proves it
and if you come to the moot would you mind showing me how you do it cheers
drew
will you ever realose how frigging ausome you really are cos jesus
mary you put the rest of us to shame with some of your skills and knowledge and well this thread proves it
and if you come to the moot would you mind showing me how you do it cheers
drew
Drew it's just making a bit of rope and sewing it together
It's pretty straightforward really, but I'll happily show you how.
You could try it with sisal rope from the Scouts if you want a shot at it. It's a flexible kind of basketry this type; useful though and if you get fed up with it as a basket you could always unravel it and make it into a net.
atb,
M
It's pretty straightforward really, but I'll happily show you how.
You could try it with sisal rope from the Scouts if you want a shot at it. It's a flexible kind of basketry this type; useful though
and if you get fed up with it as a basket you could always unravel it and make it into a net.atb,
M
I have seen soles for shoes made in a similar manner - but I think you need pretty tough feet to cope with them!
The ones I saw had woven fibre uppers and looked like tennis shoes or Woolies plimsoles...
The ones I saw had woven fibre uppers and looked like tennis shoes or Woolies plimsoles...
That's them The original deck shoes, but more commonly known now as espadrilles. Great in warm climates
Grass is very good for the feet, it's like wool in that it doesn't stink when sweaty and it doesn't keep the feet damp. If you stuff the shoes with soft dry (mind and pick it clean of wee sticks first) moss, or sweetgrass, it can be very comfortable indeed; insulating too. Oetzi's shoes were a grass net filled with grass, and leather outers over the lot.
..............so who's doing the grass shoe tutorial then ?
cheers,
M
The original deck shoes, but more commonly known now as espadrilles. Great in warm climates Grass is very good for the feet, it's like wool in that it doesn't stink when sweaty and it doesn't keep the feet damp. If you stuff the shoes with soft dry (mind and pick it clean of wee sticks first) moss, or sweetgrass, it can be very comfortable indeed; insulating too. Oetzi's shoes were a grass net filled with grass, and leather outers over the lot.
..............so who's doing the grass shoe tutorial then ?
cheers,
M
TurboGirl
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
TurboGirl
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Just to clarify, a lot of fibres inc iris leaves, possibly flag leaves which I've saved from the pond, don't need retting? Presumably they're softer but not as hardwearing if they are retted 1st?
No, those ones just get dried and then lightly dampened before use.
Retting is really only used to break out fibres for spinning, like flax/nettle/rammie or to seperate the layers to make sheets of bast fibres from bark such as small leaved lime.
The grasses I used have no long phloem cell strands, the long fine fibres from flax/nettle that we spin.
Most folks who use nettle just peel off the skin which holds the fibres together and turn that into string, but retting breaks out the fine fibres that we spin into thread which we can weave into fine cloth.
Does that help any?
atb,
M
Retting is really only used to break out fibres for spinning, like flax/nettle/rammie or to seperate the layers to make sheets of bast fibres from bark such as small leaved lime.
The grasses I used have no long phloem cell strands, the long fine fibres from flax/nettle that we spin.
Most folks who use nettle just peel off the skin which holds the fibres together and turn that into string, but retting breaks out the fine fibres that we spin into thread which we can weave into fine cloth.
Does that help any?
atb,
M
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