How to Weave a Berry Picking Basket

Soak a flat reed or birch bark in water for 10 minutes to make it soft and pliable. If using cardstock, you may skip this step.

Cut 10, 18-inch-long, ½-inch wide pieces of reed, bark or cardstock to make your weaving strips. Keep reed and bark moist while working with it, using a wet sponge if necessary.

Lay five strips vertically on a flat surface, with ½ inch of space between each strip. Set a heavy book on top of the ends of the strips to hold them in place.

Weave another strip horizontally through the centers of the vertical strips. Staple the intersection point where the horizontal strip overlaps the vertical center strip to hold it in place.

Weave the remaining four strips horizontally through the centers of the vertical strips so that two are above the original horizontal strip and two are below, with ½ inch of space between each strip. You should have a woven square shape with equal lengths of reed, bark or cardstock extending past each side of the woven square.

Hold the intersection points of the square's corners in place with clothespins.

Cut a 24-inch-long, ¼-inch-wide weaver of bark, cardstock or reed. Weave it around all 4 edges of the square until the weaver overlaps itself. Attach the overlapping ends with a staple and cut off any remaining length.

Cut 10, 24-inch-long, ½-inch-wide strips to weave into the sides of your basket.

Remove the clothespins. Bend the strips extending past the sides of the square up at 90-degree angles to form the basket sides. If necessary, rewet your reeds and bark before doing this to prevent breakage.

Weave the strips all the way around the sides of the basket, leaving no space between the strips. Secure the overlapping ends of the strips with staples and cut off any excess length. Continue weaving new strips until you reach the top of the basket.

Snip off any excess length on the vertical strips.

Cut a ½-inch-wide, 24-inch-long strip and bend it into a handle. Attach the free ends of the handle to the basket's rim, using staples.

Wrap one of the long strips around the outside rim of the basket without weaving it, and wrap another long strip around the inside rim. Hold them in place with several clothespins.

Soak a very long ¼-inch-wide strip of bark or reed in water to make it very pliable. If you used cardstock for your basket strips, you can use a piece of ribbon for this step.

Lash the long strip or ribbon tightly around the rim of the basket, removing clothespins as you go. When you reach the end of the lashing strip, tuck it over the basket rim and weave it into the first few strips of the basket. Cut off the excess length and allow the basket to dry before using it for berry picking.