This birch bark basket is a relatively simple square or horizontal weave basket. The weaving is done in the traditional Scandinavian and Russian style. The material used to make the basket is split inner bark of the birch tree. The birch bark is harvested from timber sale areas in Itasca County.  First, students will "double weave" a rectangular basket. The rim of the basket will be reinforced with small diameter willow, alder, or thin ash splints. Second, students will weave a flat mat for the lid of the basket. The final step will be attaching the lid to the basket using birch bark strips and a willow stick. Several options include reinforcing the rim of the lid with small willow sticks and doing some embellishments, for example, pinwheels and woven stars.  It is a neat, simple way of creating an attached lid for the basket. The basket will be around 8" X 6" X 6" when finished.

Basket Week 2018: Registration in this session of this course includes participation in a day of demonstrations, talks and other activities on Friday, August 31 as part of Basket Week for no additional tuition cost. More information will be provided in mid-summer. Please plan to participate!

You will need the following tools for this class:

All materials and tools will be provided to the students by the instructors; however, if you have a favorite scissor that cuts wood splint, a favorite whittling or carving knife or special sturdy clamps…feel free to bring them with you.