Bamboo Baskets, Brand Name : Vietdelta, Packaging Type : Brown

The process begins by choosing a design or standard pattern including shape and

size. Materials are also gathered or purchased, and the necessary tools for

working those materials are assembled. If the fibers are such that they need to

be soaked, then soaking is done in advance of basket making, depending on the

nature of the fiber. Fibers are also dyed in advance of weaving or coiling.

If the design calls for a wood base, the base is shaped, and holes are bored in the

wood to accommodate the spokes forming the sides of the basket.

A basket is built from the ground up. Its base or bottom is made first. For a round

basket with a flat bottom (as an example of any of hundreds of types of baskets

that may be manufactured), the base is made by laying out a series of spokes that

are stiff and work like rods to support more flexible woven material. Other rods

called weavers are woven in and out among the spokes; the weavers are lighter,

thinner, and more flexible, so that they can be woven and so they won’t be

strong enough to distort the spokes.

The sides of this kind of basket can be formed in either of two ways. Initially, the

spokes for the base can be cut to be long enough to form the sides as well. When

the base is finished, the spokes are soaked to soften them, squeezed with pliers

at the perimeter of the base, and then bent up to form the sides.

The sides are also formed by cutting side spokes and weaving them down

through the base perimeter fibers and then up again so they form side spokes.

Side spokes are essential if the base spokes are large. The sides are then woven

with flexible weavers that are passed over and under the side spokes. Again,

these weavers need to be smaller than the material forming the spokes so the

spokes are not distorted. The side spokes are longer than the finished basket is

tall; the remaining ends of the spokes are used to finish the top edge of the

basket with a border. The spoke ends need to be soaked before the border can

be made so the spokes can more easily be woven in and out of each other and

the ends turned down into the basket sides.

The handle of the basket is chosen of the best available reed to be strong,

durable, attractive, and relatively smooth to the touch so it can be held. The ends

of the handle reeds are soaked in water and threaded down into the sides of the basket. The over-lap has to be long enough to prevent the handle from pulling

out of the sides when the basket is filled and used.

If the basket has a lid, the lid is made in the same manner as the base, but the

rods and weavers should be of the same sizes as those in the sides of the basket

to match the appearance of the basket.