Coiling is the most forgiving way into basketry: no soaking, no willow, no special tools, and you can stop and start whenever you like. Hemp cord suits it because it holds a tight coil and does not go furry when it gets damp.
The question that stops most people beginning. Coiling uses far more cord than it looks like it should.
| Making | Diameter | Cord (2 mm) | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coaster | 10 cm | ~15 m | 1 |
| Small bowl | 15 cm | ~40 m | 2–3 |
| Bread basket | 24 cm | ~90 m | 4–5 |
| Market basket | 34 cm | ~200 m | 8–10 |
| Floor basket | 45 cm | ~400 m | 16–20 |
Wrap the cord end tightly with thread for a few centimetres, then curl it into a tight spiral and stitch through the middle. The centre is always the fiddliest part; it gets easier immediately after.
Lay the cord against the previous round and take a stitch over both every centimetre or so. Even spacing matters more than tight spacing.
Keep it on the table and keep it flat. A base that starts to cup early gives a basket that leans, and it cannot be corrected later.
Start placing each round slightly on top of the last rather than beside it. How sharply you turn decides whether you get a bowl or a bucket.
Leave a loop of cord unstitched for a few centimetres and carry on. Handles added afterwards pull out; handles built into the wall never do.
Cut the cord end at a long angle over the last 10 cm, so it thins away, and stitch it down tightly. A blunt end leaves a step you will always see.
Stiff enough to keep its shape as you stitch and flexible enough to turn a tight centre. Jute is softer and slumps; cotton is too soft to hold a wall up.
2–3 mm is the usual weightA basket that carries vegetables gets damp. Hemp handles that without fuzzing or smelling, which is why it ends up in kitchens and bathrooms.
Dry it standing upUndyed cord dyed in short lengths gives banded colour as the coil rises. See dyeing — scour it first, like any hemp.
Dye before you coilA coaster. It is an hour, it teaches the centre and the stitch, and it is small enough that a bad one costs nothing. Everybody's first centre is a mess and it does not matter.
The base was not flat when the wall started, or the stitches are tighter on one side than the other. Both are practice rather than technique, and the second basket is always markedly better than the first.
Wipe it, do not soak it. Hemp is fine wet but a whole basket takes days to dry through and can distort while it does. Standing it somewhere airy is enough for most things.
A bent tapestry needle makes it far easier and costs very little. A straight one works and makes your hand ache sooner.