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- Free Patterns
- and
- Techniques
|
- Written by:
Patricia R. Yunkes
40 Mallard Lane
- Jersey Shore, Pa 17740
|
-
-
- Free Patterns
- Box Made from Greeting
Cards
- German Star
- Spider Webbing-Tenerife
- Herb Weaving
-
- see below
- _______________________
-
-
- Free Techniques
- Skeds
- Slider
- Roping or Cordage
- Gathering Bark
- Replacing Spokes
-
- see below
- _______________________
-
-
- Spider Webbing
-
- You can imagine my surprise when I first learned to do Tenerife,
and discovered I had been doing it for years and didn't know
it. I first learned to do it in my very early 20's as a design
to do on a gingham apron; you know the material with the little
squares. Only then we called it Spider Webbing.
-
- I also did Spider Webbing a few years later just above the
knee of my girl's jeans, using crochet cotton to match those
cute little ruffles I sewed on the bottom to disguise the fact
that they had grown an inch or two and the jeans seemed a little
shorter. Everyone put ruffles on the bottom of jeans, I swear.
-
- Anyway, here I was, in a convention class with this cool
basket maker from California, Judy Mulford, learning to do Tenerife
on a circle of wire. And she was teaching me Spider Webbing.
So here it is for you to sew on your kids jeans, or that cute
gingham apron.
-
- P.S. If you want to learn to do it on a wire or plastic circle,
I have a pattern that will combine Tenerife and an arrowhead
or fetish on an ornament.
-
- Spider Webbing - Another Form
of Tenerife
- Written by Patricia Yunkes
Materials Needed
Something to put your design on, a gourd, apron, jacket,
Jeans, etc.
Thread - crochet cotton, waxed linen, or raffia
Tapestry needle |
 |
-
-
- Spider webbing or Tenerife is a form of needle weaving. It
can be done in a square, diamond, circle or oval shape. There
are many patterns, but this one is a good one for a beginner.
There are many books on Tenerife that will give other designs.
-
- Instructions:
-
- 1. Draw your pattern with dots. You will need 20 in all.
Using a needle and thread, sew your spokes onto the design. You
can use Figure 1 for a guide on how to place them in order.
-
 |
 |
 |
|
Figure 1 |
Figure 2 |
Figure 3 |
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- 2. When you finish you will be underneath hole 20. Bring
your thread up through hole 2 and take your thread to the center,
where you will start your weaving.
-
- 3. Starting at the base, use the needle to weave over and
under, back and forth over the corner 5 spokes. See Figure 2.
Continue doing this until you are about halfway up your design.
Then weave only the middle 3 spokes until you are near the top.
Pull them tight and pack them closely, but do not distort the
shape of the spokes. When you are as high as you want, thread
the needle through the weaving from the top to the middle of
the base, and start on a second section.
-
- 4. When all four sections are done, bury the thread in the
weaving, and cut your thread short.
-
-
- Herb and Moss Basket
-
- You will learn the basic technique of coiling (loosely)
with herbs and waxed linen. The finished basket will be an eye
pleasing naturally fresh smelling delight.
-
|
Written by:
Patricia R. Yunkes
4686 Forest Road
Cooksburg, Pa 16217
-
- Tested by Ruth Davis
-
- Basket Size: 5 to 8" dia. X 4 to 6" high
|
 |
-
- Materials:
- Waxed linen thread to match the color of your herbs.
Herbs, flowers, weeds, Spanish moss, etc. I like to use Silver
King (Artemesia), Sweet Annie and Spanish moss because they dry
leathery, but you can use more brittle materials if you work
with them green or if you use extreme care with them when dry.
You may be able to work with brittle dried materials if they
are soaked in water, but too often the stems are too brittle
to bend and they break. You simply have to experiment with several
things. Flowers that have heads down the stem can be used; some
varieties of goldenrod work beautifully well when fresh. You
have to pick it early, dry it quickly, and spray with hair spray
to keep it from later turning to fuzz.
-
- Tools:
Sharp needle with a large eye
Scissors
-
- Directions:
-
- 1. Take a small bundle of 3 or 4 stems that is about ¼"
in diameter when compressed and fold it in half. See Figure 1.
If your piece is not 8-a0" long, add more pieces, staggering
them so your bundle is even. If your material is thin or you
don't have very much, mix with some Spanish moss.
-
- 2. Bend the bundle at the fold until it meets itself. Continue
bending until you have a small coil started. See Figure 2. Keep
the end of the bundle to your left.
-
 |
 |
 |
|
Figure 1 |
Figure 2 |
Figure 3 |
-
- 3. Take your needle and waxed linen thread, and sew or lash
from the side closest to you to the other side, first though
the end of the bundle, then bring the needle and thread around
the back and over the bundle to the front again. Hide the end
of the thread between the coils. See Figure 3.
-
- 4. Continue sewing in this manner, stopping every few stitches
to add small stems to your bundle of herbs. Make sure the stems
are large enough to give your project body. Pulling your thread
tight will also help give strength to the basket. For your first
herb basket, I suggest you make the base about 5" in diameter.
This is a good size to work with.
-
- 5. You can make the sides curve gently or have a sharp 90-degree
angle by the way you lay your coils. See Figure 4 and 5. When
you start the sides, remember to angle the coils for the sides
away from you, then you will still be sewing from the outside
to the inside of the
basket. This will make a difference when you get some height
to the walls. Coil the walls to the height you want. I suggest
1 ½ to 3" high.
-
 |
 |
|
Figure 4 |
Figure 5 |
-
- 6. When you reach the height you want and the top is even,
take a long stem and shove it into the rim of the basket horizontally.
Bend it perpendicular. Do the same with a second stem, only run
it into the rim in the other directions. See Figure 6. Read step
7 before doing this step.
-
 |
 |
|
Figure 6 |
Figure 7 |
-
- 7. Repeat step 6 on the other side of the basket. See Figure
7. These stems should be long enough that you can twist them
together into a very loose handle.
-
- 8. With your waxed linen secure one end of the handle to
the base by sewing through the handle and the base several times.
Now simply wrap the linen thread around the handle snugly, adding
stems where needed to fill nicely. Allow little ends to fall
out gracefully.
-
- 9. When you reach the other side, secure the handle to the
base as you did on the first side. Secure the thread and cut
the excess off.
-
- 10. You may add small sprigs of herbs to any spots that are
bare by simply sticking them into the weaving. If you have pulled
your thread snug and allowed ends of the herbs to stick out,
very little thread will show, and that which does adds to the
flavor of the basket.
-
- 11. Allow your basket to dry. When dry, you may spray with
hair spray if you wish to help it hold its shape. You must spray
goldenrod, or it will mature and go to fuzz.
-
- The idea for this basket came from a magazine article on
coiling with grasses and from watching the black American ladies
from Charleston, S.C. area weave their low country sweet grass
and pine needle baskets. My first weed basket was done from weeds
I gathered from along the highway in the Rocky Mountains in Montana.
You can use any of these materials and achieve wonderful results.
-
- _____________________________________
-
- If you enjoyed this pattern, check out my web site
for more patterns or kits from Patricia Baskets
- www.patriciabaskets.com
____________________________________________________________________________
Ó 1994, revised 2004 Patricia Yunkes, 4686 Forest Rd.,
Cooksburg, Pa. 16217 Phone: 814-927-2249
E-Mail - patriciayunkes@patriciabaskets.com.......... Web Page
- www.patriciabaskets.com
- Box Made from Greeting
Cards
-
- Written by Patricia Yunkes
-
- Size: 2" square x 1" high
-
- Materials:
1 pretty front of a greeting card
1 plain back of a greeting card
|
|
-
- NOTE: Make sure all folds are accurate.
Press all folds with a hard flat instrument, like a bone awl.
-
- Instructions:
-
- 1. Cut the front of a greeting card 4 ¼" square
for the top, and 4" square for
the bottom. They are both folded the same way.
-
- 2. Lay your square with the printed side down. Draw a ling
diagonally across the square from corner to corner, from the
upper right to the lower left and the upper left to the lower
right.
The two lines will cross in the center (Fig. 1)
-
 |
 |
 |
|
Figure 1 |
Figure 2 |
Figure 3 |
-
- 3. Take one corner and fold it so the point is on the center.
(Fig. 2) Crease the fold.
-
- 4. Take the fold and place it on the center line, covering
the point. (Fig. 3)
Crease the new fold.
-
- 5. Unfold this side and move on to another corner. Do all
four corners like this.
See (Fig. 4) which shows creases.
-
- 6. On each outside edge, cut the second triangle (out) to
the left of the right point, Areas are dark on Figure 4. Also
make a cut 2 squares deep 1 square to the left of each cut out.
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 |
 |
|
Figure 4 |
Figure 5 |
-
- 7. Take any 2 adjacent corners (points A & B) and fold
them up at the furthest inside folds. See Figure 5. The side
on the right side will have a long "arm" (arm A). Tuck
this arm inside to
the left. Fold the left side (B) tightly over the arm. The point
will lay flat on the box.
-
- 8. Take the arm B attached to the side B that you folded,
and fold that arm so that it
lays over fold line C. Repeat step 6 with side C and then do
side D.
-
- 9. The last side to do is A. Just make sure the arm from
D is on the inside, and when you fold side A over, it will lock
the box together.
-
- 10. Fold the bottom of the box the same way. If all folds
are accurate, your boxes should be perfectly square and fit together.
-
- 11. You can make different sizes, but you will have to experiment
with different size squares. They don't all work as well as this
size does. Hope you think this little box is as neat as I do.
-
-
- If you enjoyed this pattern, check out the web site
for more patterns or kits from Patricia Baskets
___________________________________________________________________________
c 2000 Patricia Yunkes, 600 Chatham Park Dr., Pittsburgh, Pa.
15220 ...Phone: 412-343-2671
- E-mail: patriciayunkes@patriciabaskets.com ......Web
Page - www.patriciabaskets.com
-
-
- German Star
- A Type of Moravian Star
-
- Written by Patricia Yunkes
-
|
- Materials:
4 paper strips, cut ¾" x 22"
String for hanging
- Supplies:
Scissors
Pencil
|
 |
-
- Instructions:
- Base:
1. Take 4 strips of paper and fold them in half. Taper the ends
on the right side on the open ends, from the middle to the edge,
approximately 1 ½" down. Fig. 1. Mark the tapered
ends on one side only: A, B, C, D
-
 |
 |
|
Figure 1 |
Figure 2 |
-
- 2. Hold strip B in your left hand, a few inches from the
fold. Place the folded end of strip A over (and around) strip
B about 2" from B's fold, with the ends hanging down. See
Fig. 2. Then, place strip D over A, below B and going in the
opposite direction from B. Place C over D in the same manner.
Draw the ends of C through B, like threading a needle. Fig. 3.
Pull on the open ends gently to draw the strips together and
tighten. The taper on the ends should be on the right when that
end is up.
-
- 3. Turn the base over and fold the top part of leg C down
and crease. Bend the top strip of D over C and A over B. Bend
B over A and tuck through the hole that was formed when C was
bent over. Fig. 4. The pieces we have folded over, we will now
call A-1, B-1, C-1, D-1. Mark them at the ends. At this point,
you have the base locked together with 2 legs going in each direction.
Fig. 5.
-
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Figure 3 |
Figure 4 |
Figure 5 |
Figure 6 |
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- Flat Points - See Fig. 14 -
(outside points)
-
- 4. If you have the right side up, the A-1, etc. marks should
be visible. Turn the star so that A-1 is in the upper right corner.
Take leg A-1 and bend it back and to the right. Fig. 6. Make
sure there is an opening where it joins the base for A-1 to tuck
in to later.
- 5. Then bend it forward and down so it is next to and parallel
to A (itself). It will lay over B and D-1. Fig. 7
-
 |
|
Figure 7 |
-
- 6. Bend A-1 in half at the point. (Fig. 7.) Tuck the end
into the loop created when B-1 was folded back. It will lay flat
over A (itself), but will be shorter. (If there is no loop there
at the edge (Fig. 8), you have probably turned the star wrong
side on top, and are working on the wrong side).
Note: It might help to bend the point slightly back when tucking
the end through to the middle.
-
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Figure 8 |
Figure 9 |
Figure 10 |
Figure 11 |
-
- 7. Turn the star clockwise and do the top right point in
the same manner with B-1. (Fig. 9). Do the same with C-1 and
D-1. (Fig. 9). Then turn the base over (Fig. 10) and repeat the
alternate points with A, D, C and B. (Fig. 11).
-
- Raised Points
8. Mark the ends of the strips with an X on one side, and an
O on the other. Take A, B, C & D and bend them back at the
middle of the base. Crease. They will cover A-1, B-1, C-1, and
D-1.
 |
|
Figure 12 |
(Fig. 12) Straighten C out to its original position, and holding
it flat, bend it to the right in a circular motion. You will
always see the C you have marked near the end. Lift strip B and
tuck the end of C under B and push it until it comes out from
between the 2 sides that form the point at the top of B-1.
(Fig. 12) (This figure shows C (dotted) in a position before
it is bent and as it is bent). Gently pull the curled point tight.
Note: As you twist the strip, do not turn it over. Having your
marks visible all the time will help. If the point doesn't form
right, loosen it without pulling it out, and grasping the
middle of the strip between your finger and thumb, twist it.
Now pull it tight again. Take the end of B and do the same. Then
A, and D. (Fig. 13).
-
 |
 |
|
Figure 13 |
Figure 14 |
-
- 9. Turn the star over and do the raised points on the other
side in the same way.
-
- 10. Trim the ends even with the folded flat points. (Fig.
14).
-
- Your star is now finished.
Punch a small hole in one of the flat points with a needle and
put a thread hanger on it. You may hang it as it is or apply
glitter by:
1. Dipping it in hot wax, and sprinkling glitter on it.. or
2. Spraying with a clear acrylic and sprinkling glitter on it..
or
3. Using a spray glitter.
___________________________________________________________________________
Ó 1993 revised 2002 Patricia Yunkes, 600 Chatham Park
Dr., Pittsburgh, Pa. 15220
- Phone: 412-343-2671
- E-mail: patriciayunkes@patriciabaskets.com......Web
Page - www.patriciabaskets.com
-
-
- Free Techniques
-
- To Make Roping or
Cordage
-
- Materials
Appropriate grasses, roots, vines, daylily leaves, etc. for twisting
Safety pins
Something to pin work to
-
- Instructions;
-
- 1. The material must be pliable. If
it a natural material, and is dry or brittle, it must be soaked.
-
- 2. Taking two strands, or two bunches
of strands, tie a knot in the top. Fig. 1. Run a safety pin through
the knot and fasten. Tie a string onto something solid, and fasten
the safety pin onto the string.
-
- 3. Take one strand in each hand, and
twist each one to the right (clockwise). Warning: the tendency
will be to twist them both inward, but they must both twist in
the same direction.
Fig. 2.
 |
 |
 |
|
Figure 1 |
Figure 2 |
Figure 3 |
- 4. Cross the right hand over the left
hand, and switch strands. Fig. 3.
-
- 5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 continuously,
until the roping is the length you want it to be. To add a piece,
simply place one strand alongside the old short piece, and continue
twisting and crossing. Later you can trim the end that protrudes
off.
-
- 6. When it is the length you want,
simply tie a knot in it and cut the ends off.
-
- _________________________________________
Ó 1990 Patricia
Yunkes, 18265 Rt. 700, Hiram, Ohio 44234 Phone: 216-834-4282
___________________________________________________
Ó 1996 Patricia Yunkes, 600 Chatham Park Dr. #108, Pittsburgh,
Pa. 15220 Phone: 814-927-2249
e-mail: patricia@penn.com Web Page: www.patriciabaskets.com
-
- Neat Basket Making
Tip - Make a "Slider
-
- Use this for Tucking Rims, Making Crows Feet, Curls
or Wherever you need to slide reed under reed
-
-
- Take the plastic lid from a margarine tub, coffee can, etc.
and with a scissors, cut a piece about 3" long x the size
of the reed you are working with. It is thin and smooth enough
to slide easily into the place where you want to tuck reed into,
so just slide it into place, and slide your reed either over
or under it, whichever is easier for you.
Replacing a Broken or Weak Spoke
 |
 |
|
Replacing a Flat Reed Spoke |
Replacing a Round Reed Spoke |
- There is nothing as frustrating to
a basket maker as a broken spoke. It has to be fixed, and it
has to be as good as possible. Generally, flat and round reed
spokes are easy to mend; Nantucket Spokes are another story that
we won't go into right now.
For flat reed spokes, simply slip
in another piece of reed, the same size over the old spoke. Shove
it down far enough so that it is secure, and hide the end between
the weaver and the old spoke. Clip the old spoke off so the top
is hidden between the new spoke and a weaver. If the old spoke
protrudes to the rim, cut it even with the rim, and rim over
it.
- For round reed spokes, such as egg
baskets, just cut a new spoke longer than the opening you have
left to weave. Soak the new spoke, and sharpen the ends. Then
slip one end into the weaving nest to the old one either over
or under it. Slip it in pretty far, so you can bend the remaining
end a little and slip it into the other side of the break. Center
it, and clip out the broken part so the ends are hidden under
a weaver. Make sure you have the spokes doubled for several rows
of weaving. Further weaving may solve this problem. Continue
weaving over both spokes and they will now act as one spoke.
-
- _______________________________________________________________________________
c 2005 Patricia Yunkes, 600 Chatham Park Dr., Pittsburgh,
Pa. 15220 ...Phone: 412-343-2671
- E-mail: patriciayunkes@patriciabaskets.com ......Web
Page - www.patriciabaskets.com
-
- Gathering Tulip Poplar
Bark
-
- Written by:
- Patricia R. Yunkes
- 40 Mallard Dr.
- Jersey Shore, Pa. 17740
|
 |
-
- Tree identification and how to gather
bark.
-
- Tools Needed - A pocketknife and a saw or ax.
-
- Identification - The yellow poplar or tulip tree has a distinctive
shaped leaf, 3 to 6" long and wide, with wide lobes. In
spring, it has a large (1 1/2") showy tulip-like flower,
white, with an orange base. The bark is dark gray, sometimes
with whitish marks. It is smooth on younger wood and branches,
and thick and deeply furrowed on the lower trunk the tree is
very graceful, straight and tall.
-
- Poplar bark can be gathered from approximately April 1 to
mid-July. At this time, there is a lot of sap in the tree and
the bark is easily slipped off.
-
- Begin by finding a tree 4 to 6" in diameter, with as
few branches or blemishes in the bark as possible. If you look
in a dense woods, you will find straighter and taller trees with
fewer lower branches, as the tree has had to literally "stretch"
for the sun. Tulip poplars are notable for their straight trunks.
-
- The bark should be fairly smooth. If it is rough near the
bottom of the tree, you can later use a shave horse and draw
shave to cut the outer bark off; then you can cut the inner bark
into splints to weave with.
-
- Test the bark by setting a strip 1/2" wide by 4"
long with you pocket knife. If the bark is smooth, you should
easily be able to cut through the bark to the wood beneath. Use
your knife to pry up a corner of the bark. Grasp it firmly with
your fingers and pull it away from the tree. If it is difficult
to pull, and part of the bark sticks to the wood, it is not yet
time (in late March and April) or it is too late (in mid-July).
You can take strips a few inches wide, and as long as you can
reach and the tree usually heals itself. However, I like to cut
the tree down, as it is much easier to get a quantity of bark
this way, and you can take the bark off and cut the wood for
fence posts and rails or for fire wood.
-
|
