Basket Making with British Willow

One of the oldest and most widespread crafts on earth is the craft of basket making. Over the 9,000 years that the technique of basket making has been developed it has been used by many different races to make walls, doors and roofs of houses. Basketwork has been used for rafts, sails, fish trays, nets and has even had religious significance when primitive people made their ceremonial bowls out of basketwork.

Although over the years there have been many attempts to perfect basket making machines non has yet been invented and so true basketry is still a skilled handcraft that has been passed onto modern craftsmen buy our ancient forebears that were using this skill thousands of years before the birth of Christ.

Throughout the world many different grasses, rushes, canes and other materials have been used to make baskets but I am going to focus on the most common material used in great Britain, Withy or Osier willow.

There are willow plantations in the North of England, the Midlands and in Essex but most of the British willow is grown in Somerset.

New Osier beds are started with cuttings, planted approximately 15,000 to the acre. To stimulate growth these are cut back after 3 years and during the following years the shoots are cut and stacked in bundles known as 'bolts'.

There are 3 grades of Osier available, green rods, brown rods and white rods. Green rods are cut when they are not in perfect condition and usually this is what cheap baskets are made from. Brown rods are cut during the winter and are stored for later use and white rods are the best grade and are cut when the sap is still rising in the plant. Once cut white rods are generally stacked in water to keep them supple.

Before the rods are used for basket making they must be soaked in water to make them pliable. Once soaked they should be stood on their butt ends away from wind and sun so that they drain (approx ½ hour). Once drained lay them down and cover with a damp, but not wet, sacking. Depending on their length the rods need to be left like this for 1-6 hours.

The rods are ready to use once they are barely damp and smooth. If they are greasy or show mildew they will probably have been left for too long and will need washing and draining again.

Once you begin to work on your basket keep all unused rods under the sacking away from draughts and direct sunlight.

The weaver's own hands are his main tools but there 4 other tools required:

1. Basket making sheers (or secateurs)

2. A sharp knife ( which must be kept sharp constantly)

3. A bodkin (to open up a path through the work for a new rod)

4. Round nosed pliers ( to pull rods through work).

There are many shapes, sizes and designs for baskets but the beginner should first experiment with simple basket designs such a round or oval bread basket.

The foundation of the basket will be its base which is called the slath. The slath is made using a weaving technique known as pairing.

Once the slath is complete upright pieces of willow, called stakes, are inserted. The willow that makes up the sides or walls of the basket is built up around the stakes.

Source:
The Handbook of Country Crafts, by Barbara Hargreaves, published by The Automobile Association