Crafty Basketry

Crafty Basketry Functional baskets made from natural materials. Don't you just love them? You can learn how to weave too.

From kitting out a boot room to bespoke log baskets, your project has my full attention. I teach children (age 8+) + adults up to respectable age.

25/08/2026

This is beautiful!

25/08/2026

At .fest , and I went and had a look around.

In pretty much the middle of nowhere, near Rugeley, Staffs, we're camping this week, while we're taking part in 5 days of weaving fun. This is where we'll be learning new skills, all to go with basketry. I will be taught how to make the vedmeis by . Watch this space for more updates!

20/08/2026

Last time, at Tear-up 2024, we had the time of our lives, being taught by the hugely knowledgeable Benjamin Nauleau, one of my heroes.

This workshop over three days taught us the making of a Brittany cockle basket; a frame basket made from split and shaven sweet chestnut or hazel (for the frame) and willow weavers that are split with a cleave and shaven also. I know!!! Five days later, and we were finished. 🤣🤭

All done by hand. Precision work. And I was as green as can be to this way of making a basket. It's good to be a student, a complete beginner, as you're reminded of what challenges you come up against.

Mainly blisters!

So this time, startingon Wednesday, I'm making with Hege Iren Aasdal Kurvmaker Hege Aasdal from Norway. Again at Tear-up near Rugeley. Another splint basket, so split wood, and this time a traditional Norwegian "vedmeis." So I've been practicing her way of splitting, just so I wouldn't be behind. 🫣

It'll be a time with lots of blisters, while trying to work with gardening gloves and not getting them stuck between the weave.

Watch this space.

Or should I say "Wish me luck?"

One thing's for sure, I'll be in my element. 🧘🏽‍♀️🕉

Teaching basket weaving to me is about much more than telling you what to do.After many years of teaching basketry to bo...
18/08/2026

Teaching basket weaving to me is about much more than telling you what to do.

After many years of teaching basketry to both beginners and experienced weavers, children and adults alike, I've learnt that we don't all learn in the same way. I know this too well from my own troubled start in life, not able to cram anything in, as it was taught (for me) in the wrong way. So I started structuring my workshops, making the process bite-size, if you like, practical and hands-on. I show the finished technique or product first, so that learners can see where they're heading. Then I demonstrate how it is created, breaking the process down into manageable stages. After that, it's over to the learner, while I stick with them, to guide them along, until I notice that they've got it in their fingers. Also plenty of time to answer questions when needed. Once you understand what you're meant to do, I step back and allow you to find your own rhythm.

That last part is important.

Basketry is repetitive. Your hands need time to become familiar with the movement. You need to experience the material rather than simply watch somebody else work with it. Feel what it's capable of, or not, how best to hold it. You'll feel all fingers and thumbs at first, but that's part of the learning process and so important for your brain, creating new connections and becoming more flexible.

I adapt my explanations and demonstrations to different ways of learning, but I also believe in giving people the opportunity — and the responsibility — to develop their own independence. For me, the achievement is for you to leave the workshop not just with a basket, but feeling completely relaxed and fulfilled, and with the knowledge that you'd be able to make another basket, feeling more confident with the material, and knowing enough to continue developing your skills afterwards.

That's why teaching is so rewarding for me. When I see someone stop thinking about every single movement and suddenly find their rhythm. That's the moment I love. Seeing them finding their flow.

Twenty Years of LearningBasket weaving! You learn it by making not just one, but another.And another.And another.My stud...
17/08/2026

Twenty Years of Learning

Basket weaving! You learn it by making not just one, but another.

And another.

And another.

My students are finding it just as addictive for them, as I always feel it is for me.

My own basketry practice has developed over twenty years through repetition, observation, experimentation and an ongoing curiosity about what the materials can do.

I didn't follow a formal qualification route. After my first two workshops in 2006, I continued to develop my skills through making — returning to techniques, trying them again, making mistakes, working out why something hadn't worked and then trying again. All in the weekends, down time from the busy office job.

You know, every basket teaches me something. A different shape may require a different approach. A particular variety of willow may behave differently from the one I've just been working with, but then every rod is different as well. They're natural materials and nature is influenced by weather. Climate. Also, a technique that works beautifully in one form, may need adapting completely for another.

That is one of the things I love about basketry.

There is an enormous body of traditional knowledge within the craft, but there is also room to experiment. I enjoy taking established techniques and asking how they might work in a different form, with a different proportion or for a different purpose — keeping the integrity and functionality of the basket while giving it a more contemporary character. And even now, I am still learning, and after twenty years, I hope I always will be.

That keeps the craft interesting, keeps me challenging myself, in flow, never a dull moment. A wonderful way of life, really. Yes, it's hard work, but nothing worth doing comes easy. It's a process. I love what I do, which keeps me going. Keeps me improving.

But all of this wouldn't be possible without you, loving what I do, getting inspired by it and giving it a try yourself, you, supporting me by purchasing a basket, workshop or gift voucher. Thank you! 🙏

From Willow to BasketBefore there is a basket, there is a willow bed.One of the things that has become increasingly impo...
16/08/2026

From Willow to Basket

Before there is a basket, there is a willow bed.

One of the things that has become increasingly important to my work is growing the material I weave with, without the use of plastics.

I cultivate 14 different, organically-grown basketry willow varieties (immediately into mud, no membrane), as well as hazel and Siberian dogwood in both Kent and East Sussex. It means my relationship with a basket begins long before I sit down to weave it. I see the willow through the seasons. I watch it grow, then harvest, grade, sort and prepare it. I sense which varieties give me the qualities I need - length, strength, flexibility, colour, texture - and I accept that each year's crop will have its own peculiarities due to the weather. No plastic is used in the process and hardly any mileage can be associated with this crop.

There is something very satisfying about taking a material that has grown near you, preparing it by hand and eventually turning it into something useful and beautiful. It also changes the way I weave.

When you know where your material has come from, you become much more attentive to it. You notice its differences. You learn when it wants to bend and when it doesn't. You learn to work with it rather than simply impose your will upon it.

That relationship between growing and making is an important part of my practice.

The finished product may be what catches your eye, but for me, the story began months, sometimes years, before the first rod was woven.

If you like what you see, then please give me a "follow," then click on that button again for drop-down and then tick "Favourite" and "Star," so you won't miss a post. You may be in for a discount!🎈

Photo credits: At Iden Lock assisting at a friend's plot, and Hambrook Marshes with other basket fanatics with photography by

A little introduction!I'm Marianne, basketmaker since 2006. I remember very clearly what it felt like to make my first o...
14/08/2026

A little introduction!

I'm Marianne, basketmaker since 2006. I remember very clearly what it felt like to make my first one.

I was working as a PA in the corporate world, surrounded by the pace, pressures and responsibilities of senior management. I had become so accustomed to that environment that I hadn't really noticed how much tension I was carrying myself.

Then I discovered basketry. There is something particular about creating. The slow, repetitive movement, the feel and scent of natural material, and simply being outdoors seemed to quiet everything else. Being used to the service industry, you also don't realise the importance of making something tangible, that you can cherish and use, which is just overwhelmingly satisfying.

For the first time in many years, I became aware of just how chronically stressed I had been.

What began with two short workshops with Alan Sage, became something much more enduring.

I was fascinated by the calm, the extraordinary variety of techniques, the possibilities within different forms, and the remarkable differences between varieties of willow. There always seemed to be another technique to understand, structures to explore, ways to create.

That curiosity is still at the heart of what I do.

Being a total addict now, I grow willow, hazel and Siberian dogwood. I harvest, weave, experiment, teach and continue to learn. For me, basketry has never simply been about making an object. It is about material, place, season, movement and attention. And perhaps most importantly, it is about taking the time to notice and be in the moment.

This is the story behind the baskets you see here — and I'm looking forward to sharing a little more of it with you over the coming weeks.

If you like reading more about my work and truly follow me, then please go to my Instagram page, click the "Following" tab again and set me as (one of your) favourite and hit the star below that, and you'll never miss a post. I promise I won't bombard you with them, but you could be in for some pleasant discounts along the way.😄 Thanks so much!

First photo: At Tear-up Fest, nerding out on a Brittany cockle basket with one of my hero-basketmakers, .nauleau
Other photos by

🪶✨ Get Creative This Summer with Willow Workshops! ✨🪶Looking for a hands-on activity for creative children this summer?J...
04/08/2026

🪶✨ Get Creative This Summer with Willow Workshops! ✨🪶

Looking for a hands-on activity for creative children this summer?

Join local basket maker and willow grower Marianne from Crafty Basketry on Thursday 6th August and learn the traditional art of willow weaving.

🌿 Make your own beautiful willow dragonfly to take home
🧺 Suitable for children aged 8–12 years
⏰ Workshop times: 10:00 | 11:30 | 13:45 | 15:15
👨‍👩‍👧 One-hour sessions with all materials included
🎟️ Pre-book to guarantee your place and save!

Why not make a day of it? Add a return journey on the Kent & East Sussex Railway and enjoy a scenic steam train ride through the beautiful Rother Valley to Bodiam.

🚂 Kids Travel FREE when accompanied by a fare-paying adult or senior.

Book now and let creativity take flight this summer! 🌞🦋
Limited spaces – pre-booking required! https://kesr.org.uk/willow-workshops-2/


Crafty Basketry
Visit 1066 Country Experience Ashford & Tenterden Tenterden, Kent - The Jewel of the Weald SussexForKids.co.uk KentLive What's On

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07775 944499

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