Craft a beautiful, homemade basket for your family members’ Easter goodies —all you need is a ball of hemp cord, a darning needle, and a few other materials easily found in your Atlanta apartment home.
Materials:
• Masking tape
• 3.5-by-3.5-inch square mold
• Darning needle
• 1 ball of hemp cord
• Craft scissors
Instructions:
1. Cut ten bundles of four cords – nine that measure 25 inches each, and one bundle measuring 30 inches long. Tape five of the 25-inch bundles vertically side by side about ½-inch apart. Weave the other five bundles horizontally in an over-under pattern at the mid-point of the vertical cords.
2. Tape these horizontal bundles to the surface to keep your woven work secured. Weave the 30-inch bundle in the middle of this set of five horizontal bundles, which will become your handle.
3. Move woven area close together, re-taping as necessary. With the remaining hemp cord ball, line the end up at the bottom of the horizontal cords, so the tail of the working cord matches the ends on the left. This cord will be your odd single cord, which enables a continuous over-under pattern around the basket. Weave the working cord over and under the bundles around the base.
4. When you return to the odd cord, go over or under it in the same pattern. As you go around, tighten your woven base even more.
5. After six times around the base, transfer your weaving to the bottom of your mold for help in shaping your woven basket. Continue to weave on the mold going over and under the bundles and the single cord as before. Tighten the working cord around the mold as you go.
6. At the desired height or when you get to the end of your working cord, bury it down into the weaving at the side of the odd cord by using a darning needle to follow an over-under pattern.
7. To finish the top, take each bundle of cords, and bring them behind the next bundle of cords.
8. When you get back to the beginning, tuck the last bundle through the arc by the first bundle.
9. At the end of each bundle, use your darning needle to bury the end into the weaving.
10. With the extra-long bundle, you will twist the lengths to become the handle. Tuck it aside for now while you finish the sides.
11. Trim the ends about an inch away from where they exit the basket. Then, organize the arcs. When the top of the basket looks how you want, trim each cord as much as possible, and remove mold.
12. Bring the two ends of your twisted handle through the arc and under one row of the working cord to the inside of the basket. Tie a knot with the ends of your handle on the inside of the basket.
Although we provide the utmost luxury at Wildwood Ridge Apartments in. Atlanta, Georgia, we love going the extra mile with resources! Spice up your life with something different, and try out this new recommendation.