Weaving baskets - the secrets of craftsmanship

Weaving with a vine, and especially baskets, is one of the oldest crafts. What a Russian village did without a master of wickerwork. His secrets and skills he passed by heredity, and whole dynasties of artisans carefully kept branded secrets. Basket weaving is increasingly reviving among contemporaries. And then the search for techniques, the secrets of material preparation, correction and correction to well-known schemes begin.

For beginners, there are a few tips that need to be learned before we begin to weave baskets. First you need to prepare a vine. The best periods for harvesting are the time of sap movement and winter. For Russia, the sap movement period covers March, April, and also August and September. It is at this time from the ripened wood you can prepare a vine of high quality. To bite the rod, cut during sap flow, it should be boiled.

To bark easily from the vine, branches should be poured with boiling water and boiled for twenty minutes. The vine should not be filled with cold water, it is necessary to immediately use boiling water, so it will be more effective and correct in technology. Weaving baskets from such a vine is a pleasure.

Also weave baskets from birch bark are very popular, because such baskets are widely used for picking berries, storing seeds or simply as a decorative ornament.

Weaving baskets from twigs is not such a difficult task. You can make baskets of two forms: round and cylindrical. The main tool will be a sharp knife, you will also need scissors, awl, carnations, threads, wire and glue.

For weaving a round basket, you need to choose two rods with the same thickness along the entire length, the peaks are usually cut. Depending on the size of the basket, their length will be selected. Then hoops are bent from the bars, for this it is possible, as a basis, to use a stump or a thick log. The ends of the rods need to be cut obliquely and fastened with nails or wire. The hoops must be folded at a right angle, and at the intersection of the braid several times with a thin rod. The upper part of the vertical hoop will be the handle.

Then it is necessary to cut a pair of rods twice as long as for hoops. The ends of the rods must be sharpened and fixed in places of crossing. Thus, the frame is ready and it is possible to continue weaving baskets.

Take a thin rod, and then passing down, then pulling out, braid the risers in turn. Thus, the rod will firmly hold and will ensure the stability of the basket to deformations. When the rod ends, a section of the other rod is glued to its cut and weave is continued. The whole frame of the basket is braided in this way.

Cylindrical basket is a little different. The basis for such a basket is made from an even number of rods (six or more). The rods must be folded in a fan, and in the place of their intersection they should be connected with a thin rod. The bottom of the basket is padded in a circle, between the bars one by one passes a rod fixed in a sling.

When the bottom is ready, the free ends are bent upward, thus, the risers are obtained. It is on them that the basket walls are weaving. Going up horizontally, you need to gradually expand the basket. Somewhere in the middle of the weaving it is necessary to insert bent in half the bars, they will be used as pens. The side of the basket and its handles at the end of the weaving should be framed with thin rods. To ensure that the rods fit tightly together during operation, they must be taped.

Weaving baskets can become not only an exciting hobby, but also a pleasant source of income. Hand work is now in vogue. So do not postpone training tomorrow for weaving.