It was great fun and we were fired up to gather our own materials and use them in some weaving magic.
We weren't able to finish our baskets on that day. That had been nagging at me, though. So, a few days ago I cut back our watsonia (great weaving material!) and dried the leaves.
A stinking hot day was forecast for today so I decided that would be a perfect day for staying inside and finishing our baskets.
Gather the dried watsonia leaves the day before you want to do some weaving, bung them in the bath tub, soak. I read that they were to be soaked for only 5 minutes, but I left them in longer (about 15 minutes). However, I could have left them in there a lot longer as they were still a bit too brittle for my taste the next morning. I kept spraying them with water and re-wrapping the leaves.
Anyway, after their bath, wrap them in a towel overnight.
The next morning, grab a comfy chair and the leaves wrapped in towels.
Get out your basket and start weaving.
Here we are! First one done! I love the different colours of the watsonia leaves.
Different view. (Can you tell that I am really proud of the finished product?)
The interesting thing about watsonia leaves is that when you cut the green leaves off, they will dry to a green colour. If you let them dry on the plant, they turn a magnificent mahogany-ish colour.
Then on to Flower Gnome's basket.
*phew* Done!
What an enjoyable afternoon! It is very satisfying to create something with your own hands from material gathered from your garden.
9 comments:
I was just thinking yesterday we should get together and have a weaving day, okay well I had best finish mine.
They look fantastic!
Happy New Year see you soon.
Maggie, we can still get together for a weaving day. Grab Claudia, too. We have plenty of watsonia leaves. There is still half a plant to cut back.
Might even start a new basket myself. :))
Happy New Year to you and your loved ones! Yes. Must catch up soon. :)
Fabulous work! I *love* the colours of the leaves! Awesome :-)
Wow, that's an impressive effort from both Gnomes. You've put the class back into the term Basket Weavers :)
Beautiful baskets, they look like fun to make.
Happy New Year!
nice work. love those colours too!
They are beautiful baskets. I love the colours tooo. I dont think i have seen a wastonia plant
Thank you for your lovely comments!
They are fun to make and very rewarding as you use material from your garden.
Aussiemade, watsonias are a weed around here!
Absolutely gorgeous!!
I can jut imagine how nice it would be to collect veges from the garden in a basket you made yourself.
I might keep an eye out for a similar couse here. Did you make the frame as well?
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