In addition to her artistic skills, guest Judy Mulford is an expert at building attractive baskets from pine needles. She follows her basketry demonstration with a suggested method for recycling holiday cards, by converting them into postcards adorned with pine needles. This conservation-minded effort is easy and the results are so attractive that the cards really are as good as new.
Materials:
dry pine needles 5" to 6" long
#18 tapestry needle
scissors
raffia
Note: For the following projects, be sure that the pine needles you use have been thoroughly dried. Avoid "green" needles because they will eventually dry and shrink, thus producing a wobbly basket. You can, however, dry green needles in a warm, shady place.
Steps:
- Gather dry pine needles in late summer or early fall. Store them with sheath ends together in bundles bound on both ends with rubber bands or loosely stacked in a cardboard box.
- Before using pine needles, wash them in a mild detergent and rinse thoroughly. Since flexible needles are needed to begin the basket, soften pine needles by soaking them one hour in cold water or 1/2 hour in hot water. Store soaked needles overnight wrapped in a towel inside a plastic bag. Use within two days or they will produce mildew. Refrigerator storage will extend the time before mildew sets in.
- Tie a pencil-sized bundle of pre-soaked pine needles in an overhand knot near the sheath ends.
- Wet a piece of raffia and thread the blunt or thick end through the tapestry needle. Put the tapestry needle through the middle of the knot and tie the ends into a knot. Cut the sheaths off at an angle on the underside.
- Take overhand, evenly spaced stitches from FRONT to BACK through the middle of the knot. Go from the right to the left, and catch in the ends as you go around. You should now have a "donut" shape.
- For the first row, insert the tapestry needle in the top third of the donut and through the middle of the stitch below. Continue in this manner for the subsequent rows. If the stitches get further than 1" apart, add new stitches in between.
- To add pine needles to the core, remove the sheath end from one cluster and slide the butt end of the pine needles into the center of the core. Keep the bundle at a pencil size.
- Continue going around and around until you have the desired size for the bottom. To start the side, slightly angle the bundle up and away from you.
- To end the basket, let the pine needles run out or cut the needles at an angle on the underside. Weave the end piece down into the basket and under existing stitches.
- To add more raffia, tie a new end onto the old end with the knot on top of the bundle. The knot will be hidden by the next row.
Resources Pine Needle Basketry
by Judy Mofield Mallow (ISBN: 1887374140 )
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