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[Illustration: _Frontispiece_]
PRACTICAL BASKETRY
BY
ANNA A. GILL
TEACHER OF ORTHOGENIC CLASS,
KENDERTON SCHOOL, PHILADELPHIA
DRAWINGS BY THE AUTHOR
PHILADELPHIA
DAVID McKAY, PUBLISHER
604-608 SOUTH WASHINGTON SQUARE
COPYRIGHT, 1916, BY
DAVID MCKAY
TO
THE MEMORY OF
MY FATHER
CONTENTS
PREFACE xi
CHAPTER I
EQUIPMENT--MATERIALS, TOOLS 19
CHAPTER II
THE FIRST LESSON, WEAVES 25
CHAPTER III
WEAVING BEGUN--MATS, BORDERS, SMALL BASKETS
(MODELS 1-9) 37
CHAPTER IV
SEPARATE BOTTOM BASKETS (MODELS 9-16) 51
CHAPTER V
HANDLES AND LIDS (MODELS 17-22) 65
CHAPTER VI
HANGING BASKETS (MODELS 23-28) 77
CHAPTER VII
FLOWER RECEPTACLES (MODELS 29-34) 89
CHAPTER VIII
OVAL BASKETS (MODELS 35-41) 99
CHAPTER IX
TRAYS (MODELS 42-46) 111
CHAPTER X
FRUIT BASKET TRAYS (MODELS 47-54) 121
CHAPTER XI
SCRAP BASKETS (MODELS 55-60) 133
CHAPTER XII
UTILITY BASKETS (MODELS 61-71) 143
CHAPTER XIII
A FEW WORDS ON DYEING 161
ILLUSTRATIONS
_Frontispiece_
DIAGRAM PAGE
1. SIMPLE WEAVING 26
2. DOUBLE WEAVING 26
3. PAIRING 27
4. DOUBLE PAIRING 27
5. TWO AND ONE WEAVE 28
6. THREE AND TWO WEAVE 28
7. TRIPLE TWIST OR THREE-ROD COIL 29
8. FOUR-ROD COIL 30
9. FIVE-ROD COIL 30
10. SLEWING 31
11. SIXTEEN-SPOKE CENTER 32
12. A SPLIT SPOKE 32
13. JOINING WEAVERS 33
14. OPEN BORDER NO. 1 38
15. OPEN BORDER NO. 2 39
16. CLOSED BORDER NO. 1 (PART I) 40
17. CLOSED BORDER NO. 1 (PART II) 40
18. CLOSED BORDER NO. 2 44
19. CLOSED BORDER NO. 3 47
20. HEAVY BORDER 69
FIG. PAGE
1. INCISION IN SPOKES 37
2. BEGINNING A MAT 37
3. WEAVING A MAT 37
4. MAT WITH OPEN BORDER 37
5. MAT WITH CLOSED BORDER 39
6. BASKET FOR MOTHER'S BUTTONS 41
7. BASKET FOR PENCILS 42
8. BASKET FOR SPOOLS 43
9. TOOTH-BRUSH HOLDER 44
10. BARREL SHAPED FANCY BASKET 45
11. NO. 1 JARDINIERE 47
12. MATCH TRAY 48
13. DESK UTILITY BASKET 51
14. COVERING FOR SMALL FLOWER POT 52
15. STRIPED SEWING BASKET 53
16. SEWING BASKET (DOUBLE WEAVING) 55
17. SEWING BASKET (CHECK EFFECT) 56
18. GREEN AND WHITE BASKET 59
19. FANCY SEWING BASKET NO. 1 60
20. SMALL SEWING BASKET 62
21. SMALL CARRYING BASKET 65
22. LITTLE MARKETING BASKET 66
23. LUNCH BASKET WITH LID 68
24. OVAL BASKET WITH LID 70
25. CANDY BASKET 72
26. FANCY SEWING BASKET WITH LID 73
27. SMALL GREEN HANGING BASKET 77
28. SMALL FLOWER RECEPTACLE 78
29. HANGING BASKET 78
30. NO. 2 BOWL SHAPED HANGING BASKET 78
31. NO. 3 HANGING BASKET 80
32. BASKET WITH BRAIDED HANDLE 82
33. BOWL SHAPED BASKET WITH FLARED TOP 83
34. FUNNEL SHAPED HANGING BASKET 84
35. LARGE GREEN FUNNEL SHAPED HANGING BASKET 85
36. VASE WITH HANDLES 89
37. NO. 2 GREEN JARDINIERE 90
38. NO. 3 JARDINIERE IN OVAL REED 91
39. JARDINIERE FOR RUBBER PLANT 92
40. OVAL REED JARDINIERE 93
41. NO. 1 FERN DISH 94
42. NO. 2 FERN DISH 95
43. FLOWER BASKET 95
44. NO. 1 OVAL FLOWER BASKET WITH ROUND BASE 99
45. NO. 2 OVAL FLOWER BASKET (GREEN AND BROWN) 100
46. NO. 3 OVAL FLOWER BASKET 101
47-53. OVAL BASES 101-2
54. CARD TRAY 104
55. OVAL BASE BASKET 105
56. NO. 1 OVAL BASE FLOWER BASKET 106
57. SMALL OVAL BASE FLOWER BASKET 107
58. PIN TRAY 111
59. CANDY TRAY NO. 1 112
60. CANDY TRAY NO. 2 113
61. CAKE TRAY 113
62. NO. 1 SANDWICH TRAY 115
63. NO. 2 SANDWICH TRAY 117
64. NO. 1 FRUIT BASKET TRAY 121
65. NO. 2 FRUIT BASKET TRAY 122
66. NO. 3 FRUIT BASKET TRAY 124
67. SMALL SERVING TRAY 126
68. SMALL SCRAP BASKET (CHECKER DESIGN) 133
69. LARGE SCRAP BASKET (CHECKER DESIGN) 134
70. SCRAP BASKET IN OVAL REED 135
71. RUSH SCRAP BASKET 136
72. ARTISTIC BASKET WITH LID 143
73. KNITTING BASKET 144
74. MOTHER'S SEWING BASKET 145
75. LILY BASKET 145
76. SMALL BARREL SHAPED RUSH BASKET 146
77. LARGE RUSH SCRAP BASKET 148
78. SCRAP BASKET (OPEN WORK) 151
79. FANCY SCRAP BASKET 153
80. ARTISTIC SCRAP BASKET 154
81. FATHER'S WASTE PAPER BASKET 156
PREFACE
Basketry is one of the oldest and most valuable of the crafts. As far back
as the time of the Israelites we read of its usefulness in offering
sacrifices. Of necessity it was born, and in its infancy was made into
simple forms, but very soon its importance to man was so duly felt and
appreciated that new forms took shape, and its uses were so extended that
the early basket makers vied with one another in producing pleasing work
and in discovering new and various kinds of materials to put into it.
Though the Chinese and Japanese have sent us, for long years, marvelous
things of beauty, it is to our American Indian that we owe our debt for
beauty and artistry of this industry; for industry it is.
It seems quite impossible to me to write on basketry without mentioning
the Indian and his connection with it, for we can very safely call him the
master artist of basket work. In its history, and a romantic one it is,
the Indian figures first and last. The Indian woman was never satisfied
with the materials just at hand; she sought for and tried all kinds, in
season and out of season, and she chose, unerringly, the best. Her
patience was without limit in her experiments in materials, dyes and
weaves, with the result that her basketry is the peer of any in the world.
Her sample work was nature--and into every line of her basket she wove a
meaning symbolical of something in particular.
Serious study of Indian basketry would serve both as an inspiration and
stimulation to better work: its intricacy, its poetry and its artistry
would be a revelation, and give a fuller understanding of a people so
sadly misunderstood.
Basketry was used by the primitive Indians in carrying water. When there
was a scarcity, and careful conservation was necessary, the basket was the
article used as a conveyance. Some of the California Indians up to this
day use their baskets successfully as cooking utensils, while the
bassinet, made out of basketry, was, and is still, used by the Indian to
hold the papoose.
Basketry is an important factor in the promotion of education. Its wide
influence is felt not only in the class room but in homes, settlement
work, blind institutions, asylums, in fact in institutions of all kinds.
The importance and influence of basketry is being recognized now and the
work is being carried on in earnest. Within the past five years it has
made a great jump and in most institutions where manual training has been
introduced, basket making has attained a prominent place in the training
of the child.
Basket work is a valuable aid in the character building of the child, for,
through it can be given lessons in patience, perseverance and
concentration, while truth and honesty can be effectually impressed on the
worker, resulting in the gradual though steady developing of the will
power.
Our reorganized school systems show what a specific educational value
manual training has, not alone in the manual skill which the child
attains, but also in the mental, moral and economic values which it gains.
The desire to construct and create is strong in childhood, and here in
basketry will be found an astonishing aid in inspiring such desire and in
developing constructive ability. Children, especially boys, find it
fascinating and it is a work which appeals to them in all their moods;
frequently when they are unable to do any other kind of school work they
turn with delight to basketry.
The child who works steadily over a basket, and may have it to weave and
reweave many times before completing it satisfactorily, is not only
receiving a valuable lesson in patience and thoroughness, and gaining much
experience which will be of inestimable value later on in this particular
work, but he is being trained into an efficient workman of the future.
Basket making, which handwork the children love best to do, not only
develops their judgment, makes keen their observation, makes them
discriminating, but it has a stimulating effect upon their minds and
awakens in them the desire to put forth their best efforts. Hanging
baskets, scrap baskets, trays, etc., mean something more to them than a
piece of basket work done merely because of its utility. Instinctively
they recognize the true intrinsic value of the work and that they are real
workers, but also it is the beauty and the surprises in basketry
development that has its strong and attractive appeal for them.
Owing to the simplicity of basketry the work is being generally accepted.
The child of seven or eight years may make a simple mat and basket and
find it play work, while the older child may make beautiful useful baskets
and trays for the home.
Originality in the child has full play and should always be encouraged
since the field of work in this ground is abundant; and he should never be
discouraged, no matter how loose the weaving may be nor how crude it may
look: he will soon be able, through comparison, to discover his mistakes
and correct the poor work.
I would suggest that children be permitted to criticise their own and each
other's work.
The celebrating of the holiday seasons can be nicely carried out in the
manual training period when the making of birthday gifts, Christmas trays,
Easter baskets, sewing baskets, hanging baskets and scrap baskets can be
appropriately introduced. Try this suggestion, and watch the happiness of
the child who makes gifts for his loved ones.
Sequence in basketry should be followed carefully with beginners, and
although it will be impossible to give in detail all the steps included in
the subject, the most essential and important will be given, with many
suggestions in models for advanced workers.
In conclusion, just a word to the special class teacher of backward,
defective, and the backward or defective delinquents. The course presented
in this book may be used in the sequence given or adapted just as is
necessary to the class of children taught. Most of the models here
demonstrated have been successfully taught to children in the backward
delinquent class and have been a means of promoting, mentally and morally,
the welfare of the child; directing his miscontrolled energy into proper
channels, besides making his school life a brighter and happier one.
That this book may be of help to the basket maker and that it may bring
much success and happiness to the reader is the wish of the author who has
spent many happy hours in preparing it.
CHAPTER I
EQUIPMENT
MATERIALS
The materials used in making these baskets are rattan or reed, raffia,
rush, straw, hemp.
Rattan is a palm which grows wild in India, Japan, China and East India
Islands. The rattan seed is black and corresponds in size to a pea. It is
a notable fact that, while growing, the rattan always faces the sun. The
shoot of this seed grows four years; it is then cut close. The plant
produces almost three hundred shoots which are cut annually. These slender
shoots attain a length of from three to five hundred feet. They climb the
highest trees and hang from them in graceful festoons. It is interesting
to see how, like the selfish pumpkin vine, they crowd out any other plant
that should happen to be in the way. By small fibres which spring from the
joints, they fasten themselves to the trees, and they hold so tenaciously
and have such grip or strength that it requires several men, sometimes as
many as a half dozen, to separate and remove them.
The reed is manufactured from the rattan. It has been manufactured in
America for about sixty years. There are a number of such manufacturing
plants, among which the Wakefield Rattan Company and the New England
Company have made splendid reed. Germany and Belgium give us the best
reed, while the least desirable quality comes from China.
The outer surface of the rattan is glazed. It is cut in long narrow
strips, and is familiar to everyone under the name "cane." It is used in
caning chairs. From the pith or inside rattan, we get the reed known as
oval, flat and round, the latter being most extensively used.
The round reed varies in sizes from No. 00 to No. 17; No. 00 being the
finest, is used in making the centers of baskets, in finishing handles,
and in making very small baskets and trays. Sizes 1 to 5 are used in
making ordinary size baskets and trays, 5 and 6 for scrap baskets, 8 and
10 for handle foundations.
The reed comes only in the natural color, but may be dyed into many
beautiful colors either before or after the article is made.
Oval or split reed comes in sizes 5 and 7. This reed makes artistic
hanging baskets.
The flat 3/8 inch wide is often used in making foundations for sweet grass
baskets, and it also makes durable scrap baskets.
Raffia is the outside covering of the Madagascar palm. It is a light,
tough material imported in the natural or straw color, but may be dyed in
many beautiful colors. It is sold in bundles or braids of from one to four
pounds. Care should be exercised in using this material. It is advisable
to keep it in canvas bags or hang it in braids in the class room, as
careless handling may cause untidiness or tend to disorder in the class
room.
Rush, flat or braided, is imported and sold in the natural and dull green
colors. The flat rush is sold by the pound, the braided by bundles or
bunches. The braided rush makes a strong scrap basket; it must be soaked
before using to prevent cracking. The flat rush is used in making smaller
baskets.
Straw is used as a weaver, and can be woven either wet or dry, but it is
better to dip it in water a few minutes before using. Round and oval
scrap baskets may be made by combining different colors of the straw with
the natural color.
Hemp, which is imported from the Philippine Islands, may be used as a
foundation for raffia and sweet grass baskets.
TOOLS
Very few tools are necessary in basketry, although, to the basket maker,
who intends doing much work the following articles are essential: pruning
shears, awl, plier, galvanized tub and bucket, measuring stick or rule,
knife for splicing the reed. Rubber fingers may be used. For the dyer,
rubber gloves and large earthen pots are necessary.