Make a Traditional English Willow Woven Basket with Handle

Make a Traditional English  Willow Woven Basket with Julie from Pip Cottage. This is a great introduction to basket making where you'll learn various techniques to make your own and take away as well as enjoy a day connecting with this wonderful heritage craft. 

Learn more about your facilitator Julie 

Julie grew up in the countryside and has always loved being outside, roaming in the fields and woods. Her dad was a gardener and growing up she's always enjoyed arts and crafts, drawing and painting, knitting and sewing taught by my grandma, and later pottery and life drawing.

Julie studied sciences at college and went on to do an environmental degree and got work with various charities helping people and communities enjoy and improve their local green spaces, and onwards to college to study art and design. 

Julie found that creative crafts, using recycled and natural materials, was a great way to engage with people as part of the greenspace work and we learnt from other artists and crafters to make mosaics, animation, decorative fence panels, and out of willow - lanterns, garden supports, living willow structures and sculpture. 

She was inspired to go on a basket weaving course and got hooked. She loves that basketry is very sustainable and from being involved in the whole process from planting, growing, harvesting, grading and drying then using the sticks, leaves and fibres to create beautiful and functional objects inspired by the different hues and colours of the willow/plants, the smell as you work with it and how to manipulate it to create the curves and form of an animal or bird. 

Teaching weaving to others is very enjoyable and satisfying, it helps spread the skills amongst folk, it uses natural materials people can grow or forage, it can improve wellbeing and gives people an appreciation of heritage crafts and the making that goes into objects. It's such an ancient craft, some say it predates pottery, and cannot be done by machine, only by hand (or beak if you're a weaver bird). 

What you need to know

• All equipment and supplies needed to make your basket are provided 
• Tea and coffee throughout the day are included 
• Please bring along your own packed lunch