Basketry is so easily done and at such a small cost that almost any one, even a very little child, can master it without very much difficulty. With very few tools some beautiful gifts and other useful articles may be made.

In this chapter it is my intention to tell little children just how to make some pretty things with materials that they can obtain from nature's storehouse and otherwise.

In making baskets a great deal of rattan is used. I suppose that some of my little readers will wonder what rattan is. Well, I will tell you. It is a kind of grass or leaf which grows in forests of foreign countries, twining about the tress, hanging from branch to branch sometimes hundreds of feet in length but hardly ever over an inch thick. The people over there in those countries send this material to us so that we can make many pretty things. For little boys and girls living in the country there are materials which they can get from the fields and river banks that may be substituted for rattan.

For instance the water willow when peeled proves a very good material. Reed, which is a sort of grass that grows on the banks of rivers, may also be used after it is dried and peeled. Raffia is another material which is commonly used for this work. It is a sort of soft substance generally pale yellow and can be bought by the pound at any large store.

Dried grass is sometimes substituted for raffia and the results are often just as pretty as those obtained by the original material.

Grass twine is used. It is something like rope, and rope is often substituted for it. Raffia is generally used to cover it in making baskets.

A few tools will be necessary for our work such as a strong pair of shears, a tape measure or ruler, a vessel for water, and some very coarse, blunt-edged needles.

Simple baskets of rattan are very interesting to make and I will tell you how to make a small round basket without a cover.

For this basket you will need four fourteen-inch pieces of rattan or spokes as we are going to call them, one eight-inch piece and two or three longer pieces for weavers.

Before starting the work, the rattan should be soaked in water until it becomes soft enough to bend easily. Then two of the pieces are placed side by side in a vertical position and the other two in a horizontal position crossing the vertical pieces at the centre. Between the two horizontal pieces and to the right of the centre the half spoke is placed.

These are held in position by the left hand, while the right hand does the work.

One end of the long piece called the weaver is placed at the centre, back of the horizontal spokes, with the end toward the right. The first finger of the right hand presses the weaver across the vertical spokes, under the horizontal on the left, over the vertical, and behind the horizontal again. Repeat twice so as to fasten well.

Separate the spokes evenly, and it is now ready for the weaving (Figure 201).

If there is any of the winding piece left, it may be used as a weaver.

The weaving is done by pressing the weaver under one spoke and over the other until the bottom of the basket is about two and one half inches across.

Soak it in water for a few minutes and then bend the spokes upward to form the sides of the basket.

In order to make the weaving of the sides of the basket easier, rest the work on the knee, holding the spokes with the left hand and press the weaver under and over the spokes with the first finger of the right hand. If the weaver comes to an end join a new piece by crossing them behind a spoke about an inch from the end of each.

When the sides of the basket have been woven, leaving about an inch and a half of the spokes extending, it is ready for the border.

Cut the spokes to an even length with a slanting cut, so that the points may be easily pushed down between the weaves. Hold the spokes in water for a few minutes and then push one of the spokes down beside the next spoke at least three quarters of an inch below the edge. Do this with every spoke until the border has been completed. Now our little basket is finished and ready for use.

Sometimes little girls like to have their baskets brightened up. A pretty lining of silk or other material would do this very nicely.

Perhaps some children would like to know how to make a basket with a cover. It only requires a little more time but it will prove very interesting.

The material for this basket consists of six sixteen-inch spokes, one spoke nine inches long and three or four weavers.

The bottom of this basket is made in the same way as the one previously described. After this much has been done, wet the spokes and proceed to turn them up and weave the sides of the basket. The weaving is done rather loosely until you have used three of the weavers. The last weaver is drawn more tightly so that the basket will assume the shape of an apple with the top cut off. The edge is finished off with a flat border which may be made by soaking the spokes in water until they become quite soft. Each spoke is brought behind the next one to the right of it, and out over the front of the basket. Then the end of each spoke which is lying over the front of the basket is brought up over the next spoke to the right and is pressed down inside of the basket. When it is dry the ends of the spokes may be cut off.

The cover is made like the bottom of the basket, only the spokes are bent gradually upward from the centre. The material for this cover consists of six fourteen-inch spokes, one spoke seven or eight inches long and two long pieces for weavers.

When the cover is nearly as large around as the top of the basket it is finished off with a border like the one described for the top of this basket. The cover has to be fastened to the basket and the easiest way of doing this is by making rings of rattan.

A piece of rattan about twelve inches long is tied into a ring, the ends being twisted in and out of the ring. Three rings are necessary, none of them measuring more than a half or three quarters of an inch across. One ring is attached to the cover on the front between the border and the last row of weaving, the ends being sewed under a spoke. Another ring is attached in the same way at the back of the cover and the third is fastened across a spoke in the front of the basket between the fourth and fifth rows of weaving. The cover is placed on the basket so that the ring at the back will be just over a spoke of the basket. A small piece of weaver is then placed between the third and fourth rows of weaving, below the border and to the left of the spoke mentioned. It is brought through the ring on the cover and drawn just tightly enough to allow the cover to close easily. The ends are crossed and brought through to the inside and sewed down, as the rings were. When this is done the basket is complete.

There are many other pretty articles that can be made easily, such as a mat for a teapot or lamp and trays for other purposes (Figure No. 203).

A very simple way to make a mat would be to cut four fourteen-inch spokes of rattan, one eight-inch spoke, and two weavers. The mat is started in the same way as the first basket in this chapter. When the end of the first weaver is reached, a second is joined to it. By the time the second weaver has been used, the mat is large enough for a border. The mat has to be bound. The binding may be done by passing the weaver under the last row of weaving just before it reached the next spoke. It then goes behind that spoke, in front of the next and under the last row of weaving. The spokes should then be soaked in water, and when soft take spoke No. 1 and cross No. 2 and push it down beside No. 3 and so on around the mat. A number of these mats may be made and joined together for various purposes. Two mats joined by ribbon make a very pretty whisk-broom holder.

In nearly all this work weaving is the principal thing. By changing the weave we can obtain very interesting and pretty results. The simple over and under weave may be changed by using two weavers and twisting once, twice or three times between the spokes according to the size of the article.