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Soak needles in warm water for at
least 20 minutes or until they can
be looped into a circle without
breaking. Remove the sheaths from
the ends of the needle bundles with
your thumbnail. Tie the end of the
raffia around the circle as
illustrated in figure 1. Thread the
#18 tapestry needle onto the raffia.
Going through the front of the loop,
make several tight loops around the
circle as illustrated. On the last
loop through the circle of pine
needles, secure the loops by passing
the needle through the loop of
raffia as illustrated. Cut off the
end of the raffia that does not go
through the needle. |
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Working from the front of the loop,
make 2-3 loops through and around
the circle of pine needles. Always
put the needle in from the front of
the loop. This will be very
important when working a design on
the basket. |
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Every two or three wraps, put the
needle through the raffia as shown
in #3. This will secure the wraps if
you let go |
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Pull the long ends of the pine
needles until the pine needle loop
has a tiny hole in the middle.
Figures 4 and 5. |
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|
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Carefully cut off the ends sticking
out to the right. If the loops in
step 1. were tied securely, the loop
will not come apart. |
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Wrap more loops over the cut ends. |
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Start the next row by stiching
through the original first loop on
the lower row. Put the needle in the
top one-third of the row below, with
the stitches placed so that the pine
needles are still completely
covered. One stich into each stich
on the row below usually works. Keep
the stiches a constant distance
apart. |
Copyright © 1997 Marian Gee |
