Coiled baskets - a gift to myself!

 I have been interested in making baskets for  along time, and last year I purchased an online class on making baskets from the garden.  I found it really messy and required a lot of space to collect all the bits and pieces so really did not pursue it after the initial spurt of creativity.  The same school offered a course on coiled baskets which I had been greatly admiring, so I bought that course as a Christmas present to myself!  It is run by the same lady as the baskets from the garden - Ruth, who I found very easy to follow.  It is super easy to go back and check the instructions.

craft school of oz

Oh my!   am I hooked!  This was the first basket I created.  I made a little lid in what I considered an African design - like a rondavel, which is a "round house" This was t shirt material wrapped around string and sewn with crochet cotton.

From then on, there was no stopping me.  as you know I am very keen to recycle materials instead of sending them to landfill and this is a perfect way of doing that.  At one stage I made necklaces out of t shirt material, and I still use that for tying up plants etc.   I have quite a collection of cut up t shirts and I keep them in a little footstool right next to the couch.  Perfect for picking my project up and working on it, and then packing away easily when I want to take a break.  I organized the fabric into colour themes, since my daughter is always telling me to use a colour wheel.

The first one used rope as the center core, and I decided I wanted to use recyclable materials so used four strands of t shirt material as the core for this one.  I used some pretty wool for the stitching.  All kinds of materials being used up!  

The class showcased a round mat made with denim, and here I used the jean seams as the core, which turned out a bit lumpy.  The colour variations come from using the right and wrong side of the denim.  I used crochet cotton for the stitching. 

Next I wanted to try some silk, as I had some scarves that I had painted that of course I never wore.  I think they work better as baskets.!  the silk was a little slippery to work with.  The little yellow one has the silk folded over the core (T shirt material again).  The blue one Was a scarf that portrayed the beach extending out to the ocean and it really seems to work well here.  I was thinking of maybe sewing a shell onto the top for a handle.  This time I twisted the silk around the core, which does leave exposed cut edges