Basket Making - Round and Oval

Come and spend the day learning this traditional rural craft and make yourself a beautiful willow basket that will last for years and years! It is a fun and practical day that is suitable for complete beginners and intermediates.

The workshop will be run by Sue Kirk, who has been weaving willow baskets and sculptures since 1998 and has been teaching basket making for ten years. Sue makes bespoke baskets using over 15 varieties of organic willows grown in King’s Cliffe by her husband. She sells her baskets at the Oundle Farmers market and has made structures for Burghley Horse trials, Shakespeare at Tolthorpe and The Chelsea Flower Show.

With Sue’s excellent tutoring and guidance, you will begin by making a small round base roughly 15cm in diameter, then, after staking up, weave up the sides of your basket with an English rand weave and finish with a three rod border. The finished basket is about 17cm-20cm high.

This workshop is a good introduction to the age old traditions of basket making in which tools, materials and techniques have remained the same for generations.

Visit our gallery to see the fun we had last year.


Click here to learn more about Sue Kirk