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Make a Twined Burden Basket
Project: Use reeds and other materials to create a conical basket.
Sample:
Inspiration: At Reynolda House, we made baskets to connect to George Catlin’s
American Buffalo, an exhibit on view from February 13 – May 3, 2015. While many of the
Plains Indians tribes George Catlin painted would have made only gambling baskets and
used hide for other containers, the Hidatsa and Mandan—along with the Arikara—made
twined burden baskets.1 This basket is a loose interpretation and uses the twining
technique.2
Materials
#2 round basket reed, cut to 22” lengths – use 8 per basket (you can also use grape
or other vines)
Twining materials: jute, yarn, hemp and other pliable materials
OPTIONAL: hemp or heavy thread, feather, bead and glue to create an ornament.
Process
1. Soak reeds in water for 5-10 minutes, until
softened.
1
Wyckoff, Lydia L., Woven Worlds: Basketry from the Clark Field Collection at the Philbrook Museum of Art (Tulsa,
OK: University of New Mexico Press, 2001), 142 and 144.
2
Project developed by Molly Gardner, as described in La Ferla, Jane, Making the New Baskets: Alternative Materials,
Simple Techniques (New York: Sterling, 2000).
May 2015
2. Gather the reeds into two groups of four reeds each. Find the middle point of each
reed and cross them in the middle; the reeds should be perpendicular to each other.
Face the curved spokes away from you (if it’s a big spider, then the legs point away).
3. Cut a piece of twining material to a 1-2 yard length. Fold it roughly in the middle.
Loop the twining over four of the reeds and pull it down until it sits next to the
crossed pieces.
4. Cross the strings over the spokes to the right (moving clockwise). The string that
had been in back comes to the front. The string in front should go behind. Repeat
this crossing (or twining) over the remaining sets of spokes.
May 2015
5. Repeat for three rows.
1
2
6. Next, you will separate each separate spoke, twining between every reed. To do so,
take the string that was in the front at the end of step 5 (the piece indicted by the
green arrow) and pull it behind the first reed and to the front. Pull securely.
2
1
3
4
1
2
7. To twine the remaining reeds, you will follow this pattern for weaving the rest of the
basket: Take the leftmost string (marked with the orange arrow in step 6 and in the
photos above) and bring it in front of the reed to its right (1) and behind the reed
that is next (2). Then, take the string now to the left (in the photo on the right, shown
with the green arrow) and pull it in front of the reed to its right (2) and behind the
reed that is next (3).
May 2015
8. Continue to alternate the pattern. While you go, evenly spread out each reed.
9. Continue until you reach the end of your weaving string (or “weaver”).
10. It might help you to make a small knot around the last reed, ensuring that the knot
is on the inside of the basket.
May 2015
11. Loop your next weaver around the last reed from the step before.
12. Continue the twining pattern described in step 7.
13. As you go, start bending the reeds upward to shape the basket. Pull your weavers
tightly enough to help hold the shape, but not so tightly that your basket becomes
too narrow.
May 2015
14. You might want to vary the color and texture of your materials.
15. Continue to weave. When you have only 5 inches of reed remaining, it is time to
finish the rim.
16. To weave the rim, you will need to soak the reeds in water for 10 minutes or so until
they soften. Place them so that the water reaches just below the bottom of the
weaving and does not wet your rows.
17. Once the reeds are soft, remove the basket from the water and flip so that the
reeds are pointing up.
May 2015
18. Select one reed. Pull it behind the spoke to its right and out to the front of the
basket.
19. Then, take the spoke you just went behind. Bring it behind the spoke to its right and
then to the front of the basket. Continue to weave each spoke to the front in this
manner.
20. When you reach the last spoke (green arrow), slip it under the first spoke (orange
arrow) and to the inside of the basket.
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21. It should look like this.
1
2
22. Select the next reed to the right (orange). Take this over two spokes to the right,
then insert it to the back (where the blue arrow shows).
23. Continue this pattern around the basket, moving the reeds to the inside. The
outside edge should like the photo below.
May 2015
24. Finally, trim the ends evenly. Do not cut them too short or your rim will come
undone.
25. If you would like, you can add an
embellishment. Take a piece of hemp
or string and tie a double knot at the
end. Insert the other end into a
wooden bead and bring the bead to
rest above the knot. Select a feather.
Place a small amount of glue onto the
end of the feather shaft (the “calamus”)
and insert it into the bead so the
feather will hang down (and cover the
knot). Then, insert the other end of the
string into your basket rim and tie it in
place.
May 2015