The rattan of which the baby's go-cart and mother's armchair are woven came from a far-away forest in India. Troops of monkeys may have swung upon the very pieces on which your baby brother is bouncing, for the rattan hung from tree to tree in long festoons. One day some brown natives cut it down and stripped it of its leaves. It was then packed in bundles and sent to this country. The hard, shiny bark cut into strips has been woven into cane seats for chairs, and the inner part or core of the rattan was cut by a machine into the round strands that you see in wicker furniture.

It takes a man's strong hands to weave great armchairs and baby carriages, but boys and girls can make charming little mats and baskets as well as tiny chairs and tables for the doll's house, and other interesting things. Dealers in kindergarten supplies sell the rattan in different sizes, from No. 00, which is as fine as cord, to No. 7 or No. 8, which is almost as thick as rope. You will only need the medium sizes, Nos. 2, 3 and 4, for your weaving, with some raffia—the soft but strong fibre that the gardener uses for tying up his plants. This you will also find at the kindergarten-supply store. A pair of shears, a yardstick and an awl are the only tools you will need.

Rattan comes in long skeins or twists (see Fig. 15). Always draw it out from the loop end, so that it will not get tangled and break. Two sizes of rattan are generally used in making a basket, the thicker for the spokes or ribs and the fine for the weavers. Both must be soaked in warm water to make them soft and pliable.

As many spokes as are needed are first cut the required length and tied together with a piece of raffia. The weavers are then coiled into rings, so that they also can be soaked. This is done as follows: Starting near one end of a length of rattan, coil it into a ring. Twist the short end around this ring once or twice to hold it (see Fig. 16). Coil the rest of the strand into rings, one above the other, and twist the other end of the rattan around them all until they are held securely. Have ready a basin or pail of warm water—not hot—and let the spokes and weaver soak in it for ten or fifteen minutes.

Suppose we begin with a mat, which is started, just as the baskets are, at the centre.

A Mat or Stand for a Teapot

Feel the ends of your weavers and you will find that some are stiff while others are almost as soft and pliable as cord. Choose a soft one to start the mat. The four spokes arranged in pairs are crossed in the centre, the vertical ones being above the others, or nearer to you. Place the short spoke, seven inches long, between the upper parts of these vertical spokes. They are held in position by the left hand, which is, as always, the one that holds, while the right is the weaving hand. An end of the weaver (which has first been unwound) is placed along the horizontal spokes, back of the vertical ones, with its tip toward the right. The forefinger of the right hand now presses the weaver across the vertical spokes and down behind the horizontal ones on the right (thus binding the end of the weaver securely), next over the lower vertical spokes and behind the horizontal ones on the left (see Fig. 17). This is repeated, and then, starting with the upper vertical spokes, the spokes are separated and the weaving begins (see Fig. 18). If you want to do close, even work, do not pull the rattan as you weave, but press it with the forefinger, under and over the spokes as close to the work as possible. The spokes should be very evenly separated, for upon this much of the beauty and strength of your baskets will depend. Think of the regular spaces between the spokes of a wheel and how much trouble one badly placed spoke would make. When there is just enough weaver left to go around once, the edge is bound off. This is very much like overcasting.

After going under one spoke and over another, the weaver is passed under the last row of weaving just before it reaches the next spoke. It then goes behind that spoke, in front of the next and under the last row of weaving before the next spoke. When a row of this binding has been made around the edge the mat is finished with the following border: Cut the spokes all the same length, not straight across but slanting, so as to make a point that can easily be pushed down between the weaving. Then hold them in water for a few minutes. When they are quite pliable the first spoke (any one you choose to begin with) is pushed down between the rows of weaving beside the one to the left of it or spoke No. 2. No. 2 is pushed down beside the next one to the left, No. 3, and so on all the way around the mat. Take care that at least an inch of each spoke is pressed below the edge of the mat.

Small Candy Basket

This little basket may be woven of rattan in the natural colour and afterward dyed or gilded, or one can buy the rattan already coloured.

Weave a bottom like the beginning of the mat, and when it measures two inches in diameter (that is, from side to side, across the centre), wet the spokes and turn them up. The spokes should be turned up away from you, for the side toward the person weaving is always the outside of the basket and the weaving should go from left to right—as you read. Bend them over the middle finger so that the sides of the basket will be curved.

Place the bottom of the basket on your knee, with the side which in starting was toward you turned down and the spokes bent upward, and do the weaving of the sides in that position. In joining a new weaver lay it across the end of the old one, back of a spoke (see Fig. 19).

The weaver at first should not be drawn too tight, but allowed to go easily, though it must be pressed closely down upon the row beneath it. When about three-quarters of an inch has been woven up the sides, the spokes are drawn gradually closer together by a slight tightening of the weaver, and this should be continued until an inch more has been woven. Bind off and finish with this border. The spokes for the border should measure at least four inches from the last row of weaving to the end of the spoke. Cut and soak as described in the directions for making a mat. Spoke No. 1 crosses the next one on the left, or No. 2, and is pushed down beside the next spoke, No. 3. No. 2 crosses No. 3 and is pushed down beside No. 4, and so on around the basket.

Doll's Table of Rattan

Perhaps you did not think it was as interesting to make a mat as to weave baskets, but you will be glad you know how to do it when you see some of the things that can be made with mats. For example, this dear little wicker table, just the size for a doll's house and the shape for an afternoon tea.

Two groups of spokes, one of three and the other of three and a half, are crossed in the centre. The short spoke should be put between two others, never on the outside of a group. The mat is woven like the other mat and basket until it is three and a half inches in diameter, when the edge is bound off. Bring each spoke across the next one and press it down beside the next, as in the border of the basket, except that the long end is not cut off, but brought out between the fourth and fifth rows of weaving on the under side of the mat. The loops of the border are drawn in so that they will not be more than a quarter of an inch beyond the weaving. The long ends of the spokes (which are to form the legs of the table) are brought together and bound with a piece of fine wire just under the centre. Separate them into three groups of four spokes each. The odd spoke is either cut off or whittled very thin and bound in with one of the three groups. A strand of raffia is now doubled around two or three spokes, above the wire binding, and wound tightly around one of the groups until it has covered two inches, from the binding down. At the end a half hitch or one buttonhole stitch is made, to keep the raffia from slipping. It is then wound up again to the top. The raffia is brought down the second leg as far as the first one was wound; here it is turned with a half hitch and brought up again in the same way. The third leg is also wound down and up again, with a half hitch at the bottom to hold it. After this third leg has been covered the raffia is brought in and out between the legs, where they separate, in order to spread them more. It is then tied and the ends are cut close. Finally the spokes at the end of each leg are cut slanting so that the table will stand firmly.

Doll's Chair of Rattan

Would you like to make a tiny high-backed chair to use with the tea table in the doll's house? It is only a trifle more difficult to make than the table.

Two groups of twenty-inch spokes of No. 3 rattan, one having three and the other three and a half spokes in it, are crossed at the centre, bound around twice with a weaver of No. 2 rattan and woven into a mat three inches in diameter. After binding off the edge the following border is made: Each spoke is brought down beside the next one, as in the border of the mat, except that the long end is drawn out between the second and third rows of weaving on the under side of the mat. When all the spokes have been brought out in this way underneath the mat, or seat, the four groups of three spokes each which are to form the legs are so divided that the vertical spokes in the centre of the chair seat shall run toward the front and back of the seat. The thirteenth spoke is whittled to a thin point and bound in with one of the other groups, which are wound with raffia down to the end, turned with a half hitch and brought up again. A neat way to start the raffia is to thread it across a row of weaving in the chair seat, just above the group it is to bind.

A piece of No. 3 rattan about nine inches long is coiled into a ring and held within the space enclosed by the legs, about half way down, where it is wound around with a strand of raffia and bound securely to each leg.

The back of the chair is formed by inserting four spokes of No. 3 rattan, ten inches long, beside those in the seat, at that part of the seat which has been chosen for the back. To do this push a sharp pointed awl in between the weaving, beside a spoke, draw it out and you will have made room for the new spoke to run in. Bend the spokes up and weave back and forth upon them with a No. 2 weaver, turning on the outside spokes. Needless to say, the weaver must be very soft and pliable in order to make these sharp turns. You will find that you can make almost any kind of a back you choose.

If you decide to make an oval-shaped back, then when you have woven it high enough, bring each of the outside spokes over and down beside the other one, running it in between the weaving. The inner spokes are crossed at the centre and run down beside the outer spokes. To make an armchair insert six spokes instead of four at the back of the seat and weave the outer spokes in with the others for a few rows. They are then bent over and forward to form the arms. Each is cut to the desired length and run in beside one of the side spokes in the seat.

A Bird's Nest

At the Bird Market in Paris charming little nests are sold, woven of rushes on spokes of brown twigs, in the shape of an Indian tepee. They are intended for caged birds, who cannot build their own nests of sticks and grass and horsehair from the fields and wayside. Some free birds like them, too—wrens, for example.

A boy or girl who has made the mat and basket and doll's furniture will have no difficulty in weaving one of these nests. Then there will be the delight of hanging it in a tree (not too near the house) and watching to see what bird will choose it when nesting time comes.

Let us weave a nest that shall be light and yet firm. Spokes of rattan will give it strength and weavers of raffia will make it soft and comfortable. Two groups of spokes, one of four and the other of four and a half, are crossed at the centre, bound three times with a strand of raffia and woven into a bottom an inch and a half across. Another weaver is then added and an inch of pairing is made. Pairing, or bam tush, as the Indians call it, is a simple stitch. Two weavers are started, each one behind a spoke (see Fig. 20). The one on the left is brought over the first spoke, under the next and down in front. It is now the turn of the second weaver, which also passes over the first spoke on its right, under the next and outside, where it is held down in front while the other weaver repeats the process. So it goes on around the nest. The spokes are then wet so that the bottom may be formed into a bowl shape, with sides rounding up from the very centre. A row of pairing in No. 2 rattan is next woven to hold the slippery raffia in place. This is followed by five-eighths of an inch of raffia woven in pairing, the sides still being flared. Two rows of pairing in No. 2 rattan are then woven, drawing the spokes in very slightly. At this point, which is the widest, the nest should measure eleven inches around the top. A row of under and over weaving is started, and at the place which has been chosen for the doorway the weaver is doubled back on a spoke and woven from right to left until it comes to the second spoke to the right of the one it first doubled around. It is brought around this spoke, thus making the beginning of a doorway, which has an unused spoke in the centre of it. The weaver then returns to the spoke it first doubled around, where it doubles back again. This is repeated until the doorway is an inch and a quarter high. Two rows of pairing in No. 2 rattan are then woven all the way around, forming a firm top for the doorway, where they cross it. The spokes are drawn in closer and closer with rows of pairing in raffia, until, when an inch and a half has been woven, they meet at the top. The ends of the spokes are left uneven lengths and bound around with a strand of raffia threaded through a tapestry needle.

A loop to hang it by is made of two strands of raffia, five and a half inches long, covered close with buttonhole stitch in raffia. The spoke in the centre of the doorway should be cut at the lower part of the opening, just above the weaving, and after it has been wet until quite pliable it is bent and pressed up between the weaving beside the upper part of the same spoke.