DIY: Lavender Wall Basket
(Page 2 of 3)
February/March 1994
By Linda G. Lugenbill
2. Positioning the Lavender Stems
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Lay the lavender stalks out in four equal groups, keeping them separate and parallel to avoid damaging the buds. Holding three of the bunches in your left hand, place the fourth bundle 21/2 to 3 inches lower and in front of the others. This results in an undulating, graceful shape in the finished basket because the flower tips are not all at the same height. If some stems are shorter than the others, place them in this front bundle.
3. Securing the Stalks
Begin wrapping the lower end of the stalks by placing the center point of a long piece of soaked raffia behind the shorter front bundle of lavender; let the ends extend out to either side. Holding the right-hand length of raffia out of the way, use the left-hand strand to wrap the entire group of stems. Wrap from the bottom up, letting the rounds of raffia slightly overlap one another and cover about 1 inch of the stalks. Wrap very tightly because the raffia will loosen significantly as it and the lavender dry.
4. Twining the Basket
Twining, or pairing, is a simple and ancient basketry technique in which two flexible weaving elements, or weft strands (in this case, raffia), twist around a series of more rigid, usually parallel elements, or warps (in this case, the lavender stems). In the basic sequence, or stroke, one weaver moves in front of the warp to its right, in back of the next warp to the right, and then out the front of the work, where it temporarily comes to rest. The second weaver starts one warp to the right of the first one and follows the same sequence: in front of one warp, behind the next, and then out the front. This stroke is repeated, always using the weaver on the left and progressing to the right counterclockwise around the basket.
With the lavender stems in your left hand and your fingers keeping the four bundles as separated as possible, pull the two loose ends of raffia to eliminate any slack and begin to twine. Take the left-hand piece of raffia in front of the bundle to the right, behind the next bundle, and let it come to rest dangling on the front of the basket. Next, take the strand that is now on the left in front of a bundle, behind a bundle, and out to the front. Continue for a total of four strokes, which completes one round, or row. As you twine, the raffia that is moving in front of a bundle should also pass on top of the right-hand strand of raffia that is resting. Keep the weaving taut.