Weaving with a vine, and especially baskets, is one of the oldest crafts. What a Russian village did without a wickerwork master. He handed down his secrets and skills, and entire dynasties of artisans carefully kept company secrets. Basket weaving is increasingly reviving among contemporaries. And here begins the search for techniques, secrets of preparing the material, making amendments and adjustments to well-known schemes.
For beginners, there are a few tips that you need to learn before you start weaving baskets. First you need to prepare the vine. The best harvesting periods are sap flow and winter. For Russia, the period of sap flow covers March, April, as well as August and September. It was at this time that high-quality vine can be prepared from ripened wood. For the debarking of a rod cut during sap flow, it should be boiled.
To bark easily removed from the vine, the branches must be filled 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, it will be more efficient and correct according to technology. Weaving baskets from such a vine is a pleasure.
Weaving baskets from birch bark is also popular, because such baskets are widely used for picking berries, storing seeds or just as a decorative decoration.
Weaving baskets from rods is not such a difficult task. It is possible to make baskets of two forms: round and cylindrical. The main tool will be a sharp knife, you will also need scissors, an awl, cloves, threads, wire and glue.
To weave a round basket, you need to choose two rods with the same thickness along the entire length, the tops are usually cut. Depending on the size of the basket, their length will be selected. Then, hoops are bent from the rods, for this you can use a stump or a thick log as a basis. 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, braid several times with a thin rod. The top of the vertical hoop will be a handle.
Then you need to cut a pair of twigs half as long as for hoops. The ends of the rods must be sharpened and fixed in the places of crossing. Thus, the frame is ready and weaving can continue.
They take a thin rod and, then threading it down, then bringing it out, they braid the struts of the frame alternately. Thus, the rod will be firmly held and ensure the stability of the basket to deformation. When the rod ends, a slice of another rod is glued to its slice and continue to weave. The entire basket frame is braided in this way.
A cylindrical basket is woven a little differently. The basis for such a basket is made of an even number of rods (from six or more). The rods must be folded in a fan, and at the point of their intersection, tie with a thin rod. The bottom of the basket is woven in a circle, between the rods, a rod fixed in the band is alternately skipped.
When the bottom is ready, the free ends are bent up, so that risers are obtained. It is on them that the walls of the basket are woven. Rising horizontally up, you need to gradually expand the basket. Somewhere in the middle of the weave, it is necessary to insert bent twigs in half, they will be used as handles. The side of the basket and its handles at the end of weaving should be framed with thin rods. So that the rods fit tightly to each other during operation, they must be tapped.
Weaving baskets can become not only a fascinating hobby, but also a pleasant source of income. Handwork is now in fashion. So do not postpone weaving training until tomorrow.