This month my basket is made from materials obtained during my trip to Scotland last October.

There are two different types of grass in the basket. The darker one is one that was cut from Dundee Botanic Gardens where I had been demonstrating at an open day. My friend Clare, the gardener had saved it when working in the gardens. I twisted this one into a length of cord.

The other lighter coloured grass is marram grass (I think) collected on the Isle of Arran when I was back there visiting friends. I split this into finer strands and used it to tie coils of the other grass together to form a basket.

I need more practise to get it less wibbly wobbly shaped but it is useful as a pen holder!

This basket was made using used Christmas wrapping paper.

After Christamas everyone has a pile of used wrapping paper. For this basket rather than just throw it away, I thought I would try and use some of it. After ripping the paper into strips I twisted them into a length of rope.

Then, using some bits of raffia that had been used to tie one of the presents I coiled the paper rope into a small basket.

You can see the coils clearly spiralling up when looking down on the basket.

Basket from New Zealand Flax (freshly made)

This is a small basket I learnt to make years ago. It is made from New Zealand Flax (phormium tenax) and is a traditional basket made by Maori’s in New Zealand.

Underside of Basket made from New Zealand Flax

I got the materials from Dundee Botanic Gardens when I was working there demonstrationg basketry with natural fibres at an open day they had.

New Zealand Flax (Phormium tenax)

The long leaves are split into strips to make the basket. I was told by the person that taught me how to make this basket that it was used as a sort of disposable bowl. It is made fairly quickly with fresh leaves from the plant and can be used for eating out of. As it dries however the strips of the leaves shrink and the basket gets very gappy so is no longer as useful.

Basket from New Zealand Flax (a week after making it)

My latest basket from found materials uses cord made from bindweed and fibres from cordyline leaves. To get from my house to my workshop in Hastings I have to walk down 300 steps to the bottom of the hill I live on. These steps are overgrown with a variety of materials that I might be able to use in the future.

But in particular there seems to be an abundance of bindweed growing over and down the walls and fences on each side.

After harvesting I left the bindweed to dry a little and then stripped the leaves before making it into a cord.

I then coiled the cord sewing the coils with fibres from cordyline leaves that I found in the street near my house.

This is a small sample but I hope to make bigger baskets with this material in the future