Weaving Large Baskets

Weaving large baskets can be rewarding. You get a giant result for your giant efforts …but you also need the right place to do the job right.

Weaving large baskets means having a big sink to soak in, or failing that, the bathtub. You also need a large table.

Years ago, our Bushel Basket Kit was our “jumbo” basket. I used to weave those out on the picnic table where cats and dogs were safe from the weavers flipping through the air. Oh, and small children. (Not small children flipping through the air, of course, but small children safe from the weavers…)

Last year we added the Wicker Picnic Basket Kit. Now that’s a big basket, too, but there’s not so much of an issue with size since the base is woven first. The basket grows in chunks.

I’m currently working on baskets for cats and dogs. (Stay tuned, Pet Lovers!)

These pet baskets are really fun to weave and share with your little buddies.

But my best tip for weaving large baskets was completely accidental. I was weaving in the kitchen and decided to put one of the baskets on our large lazy susan. I think it’s about 18″ diameter. (We bought it for playing Scrabble®.)

Maybe you’ve been weaving your large baskets on a lazy susan for ever, but, for me, it was a big surprise to see how much this simple “tool” added to the process of basket weaving. I had to stand up to weave but it was worth it. Maybe the weight bearing exercise even helped my health stats for the day.

In thinking about, I realize now that any size of flat-bottom basket can usually be woven on a lazy susan, and with the smaller ones, you can be seated at the same time. Try it!