Basket Weaving for Beginners

Basket weaving is a fun hobby the whole family will enjoy doing together.  Baskets take on the style of the person making the basket and each person has their own style.  Cane is  used in chair caning and reed is used to make baskets. Reeds need to be soaked in water to make them flexible.  Hamburg cane only needs to be damp not wet and you will get a nice looking basket.  There are many different kinds of baskets that you can make, such as flat reed, oval reed, bamboo, chair cane, wicker and even more kinds.  The shape of your basket is whatever your imagination can envision.  Beginners of basket making can begin learning the craft making miniature baskets using paper wrapped wire and linen embroidery thread.

You can make baskets out of strips of paper and small plastic slotted baskets, weaving the strips of paper in and out of the slots of the plastic basket to create colorful baskets that even the very young can do.  Baskets of this type are easy and inexpensive for day care center, classrooms and community centers.  

There are also many basketry kits that you can purchase.  These kits include all of the materials that you will need to make a basket.  Basket weaving is an ancient craft that can be used for making all sorts of objects even including furniture.  Basket weaving is simply the weaving (over and under) of whatever material you are using.  Many patterns are available online, some of them are free