Basket Making Details...

I decided to throw in a few extra details of the gourd basket. I finished it this morning and I thought that you might like to follow along.

First of all, this is how I started the coiled weaving inside the basket. See the gray fuzzy stuff in the top center of the photo? That's the start of the covered wire. I bent it into an "L" shape and glued it to the inside of the basket between two of the holes. I hit it with a dab of the stain that I used on the shell. For some reason, the cotton fiber turns gray instead of brown. That's OK. Just as long as you don't have a glaring white spot.

As you can see, I had already completed a few rounds of the coiling.

I wanted the top edge to curve in just slightly. In fact, it hardly shows in the photos. I hold the wire where I want it to stay when the basket is finished. Wherever you hold it, that is naturally the way that it is going to want to stay when your basket is completed.

I am using a five wrap....In other words, I am wrapping the floss around the wire five times and then on the fifth wrap, I plunge the needle into the row below.

If the needle looks funny to you, it's because it is a big eyed beading needle. Only the two ends are closed for about a quarter of an inch. The center length is open. I find it handy for all kinds of needlework where you need to get into a tight space. You don't have to have this for regular basket coiling, but for getting through the holes in the gourd, it helps.

I did five rounds and then finished directly over the place that I started. I whip stitched the last 1/8" of the wire down to the layer below.


Here's a sneaky trick. After you are finished, decorate the spot directly over the beginning/ending. That way, the eye is fooled and it looks like all of the layers are the same height and not slanted in that one spot.

By the way, I am not sure what kind of feather that is. I cut it from the tip of a much longer feather. The turquoise is real. I picked up some chips at the gem show a few years ago.

I see a couple of white spots poking through the thread. That will be taken care of by manipulating the threads to cover. Sometimes these are easier to see in a photo than they are with the naked eye.

And I will give you three guesses as to whom the basket now belongs.....You don't really need three, do you?

She grabbed it. She posed for the pretty photo. She zapped herself away. Basket and all! I heard her say, as she disappeared, "It's mine! I deserve it because I gave up my new sofa!"

See you tomorrow.

P. S. I have added a way to get to Tessie's first appearence on the right column. I still haven't had any answers to where my "newer posts" and "older posts" buttons have gone. I hope this helps those of you that want to know more about Tessie.