Step-by-step instructions for more than 40 projects.

A complete book of instructions for making pine needle baskets.

Excerpt from How to Make Baskets: With a Chapter on "What the Basket Means to the Indian" The twisting and weaving of Nature's materials, grasses, twigs, rushes and vines into useful and beautiful forms seems almost instinctive in man. Perhaps it came to him as the nest-weaving instinct comes to birds - for at first he used it as they do, in the building of his house. Later shields and boats were formed of wicker work but how long ago the first basket was made no one is wise enough to tell us. Today Indian tribes in South America weave baskets from their native palms, South African negroes use reeds and roots, while the Chinese and Japanese are wonderful workmen in this as in other arts and industries; but basketry has come down to us more directly through the American Indian. Generations of these weavers have produced masterpieces, many of which are preserved in our museums, and the young basket maker need not go on long pilgrimages to study the old masters of his craft. Here at last, as in England, the value of manual training is being realized, and basketry is taking an important place. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Basketry predates pottery and weaving in our history, dating back to 9000 BC. This comprehensive booklet provides background information, supply lists, and patterns to create baskets and jewelry from pine needles and baskets from gourds. Thanks to nature, each basket created with a gourd is unique, as no two gourds are ever the same. Pine needle baskets and jewelry also have their own uniqueness due to the color and size variations of the needles. Whether you're a beginner or a seasoned basketmaker or weaver looking to try new materials, you'll enjoy transforming pine needles and gourds into beautiful works of art.