One of the most important skills that you can learn is to make baskets from what you have at hand. It's fun and inexpensive. This cattail basket is my first try at using this material.
cost $0
time - about 3 hours (because I was figuring it out as I went)
I cut 5 or 6 cattails fairly long from a local stand to make this basket (and a dried flower arrangement later) I sprayed the leaves down with water and kept them misted. It took about an hr to soften.
HOW I DID IT
Cut 14 leaves to 12 - 16 inches. Lay out 7 of them as shown. I have them clasped between two boards and a damp towel under them.
Weave the other 7 leaves over and under through the first 7 as shown in the photographs above. Then remove the weaving from the boards and center the weaving.
Work the weaving tight in the center of the leaves. This creates the bottom of a square basket. Use a sturdy straight edge and lay it across the edge of the weaving. Bend the loose ends up against the straight edge to create a crease. This will make it easier to create the shape of the basket later.
Use two narrow leaves that are long enough to go all around the woven square and twine weave all around the square. As you can see, I left the beginning ends about the same length as the loose ends of the square. If you don't know how to twine, check out the article on twining.
Now bend the sides of the basket into shape and continue twining tight rows up the sides. At the corners, be sure to pull the corner leaves tight together to create the square shaped basket.
When you run out of leaf, slip the next one in behind the short leaf and continue twining. Leave enough of the old leaf to twine a few stitches. PRO TIP: Do not splice both twiners at the same time. It is best to offset the splices by a quarter of a basket or more.
Keep your rows tight for a tidy basket. Continue twining rows to get the depth of basket that you want.
There are a number of ways to finish the basket. Here is the one that I chose.
I switched to a yarn sample to more clearly show the pattern.
Bend the loose end over the next leaf, under the second, and over the third. The second leaf is folded over the third, under the fourth and over the fifth . Work the leaves as shown all around the basket.
You will have two leaves left and a loose weave all around the basket.
Fold the second to the last leaf over the last, behind the first leaf in the pattern, and back out through the loop formed by the first leaf. In the yarn sample, it is the white one that I am pointing at. The two photos show how to weave the leaf through.
Work the last leaf from the front through the loop from the first leaf, and back out through the loop from the second leaf. In the yarn sample, the pen is pointing at the loop to bring the leaf back through. Once all of the leaves are worked in, gently pull your finishing weave tight.
Trim back the leaves a little bit and wet them down. Arrange them neatly around the basket and tie them in place with a bit of yarn or rubber band.
Let the basket dry. Then trim the ends to create the beautiful basket in the beginning photo.
HINTS: I made this basket about a week after I harvested the cattails. This worked beautifully because the leaves had already had most of their shrinkage. If you do this, it is important that you wet them back down so they are flexible and you keep them damp. I sprayed the basket occasionally while I was working with it to keep the leaves soft.