Pine Needle Basketry

Step-by-step instructions for more than 40 projects.

This special edition of 'Pine Needle Basketry : A Complete Book of Instructions for Making Pine Needle Baskets' was written by Linna Loehr Millikin, and first published in 1920, making it just shy of a century old. The book features chapters on Selecting and Preparing Materials, Wire Grass, Pine Cones, Raffia, General Directions for Starting a Round Article, Directions for Making the Various Stitches, and more. A super-short, knowledgeable fast read on making Pine Baskets, with detailed illustrations. This book is a great place to start for all those interested in taking up Basketry or starting out in the craft. IMPORTANT NOTE - Please read BEFORE buying! THIS BOOK IS A REPRINT. IT IS NOT AN ORIGINAL COPY. This book is a reprint edition and is a perfect facsimile of the original book. It is not set in a modern typeface and has not been digitally enhanced. As a result, some characters and images might suffer from slight imperfections, blurring, or minor shadows in the page background. This book appears exactly as it did when it was first printed. DISCLAIMER : Due to the age of this book, some methods, beliefs, or practices may have been deemed unsafe, undesirable, or unacceptable in the interim years. In utilizing the information herein, you do so at your own risk. We republish antiquarian books without judgment, solely for their historical and cultural importance, and for educational purposes. If purchasing a book more than 50 years old, especially for a minor, please use due diligence and vet the text before gifting.

A complete book of instructions for making pine needle baskets.

The methods of Indian basket weaving explained in this excellent manual are the very ones employed by native practitioners of the craft. members of the Navajo School of Basketry have set down their secrets in clear and simple language, enabling even the beginner to create work that can rival theirs in grace, design, and usefulness. Beginning with basic techniques, choice of materials, preparation of the reed, splicing, the introduction of color, principles and methods of design, shaping the basket and weaves from many cultures, such as Lazy Squaw, Mariposa, Taos, Samoan, Klikitat, and Shilo, each accompanied by specific instructions. There are suggestions for the weaving of shells, beads, feathers, fan palms, date palms, and even pine needles, and recipes for the preparation of dyes. Examples of each type of basket are illustrated by photographs, often taken from more than one angle so that the bottom can be seen as well as the top and sides. Close-up photography of the various types of stitching, especially at the crucial stage of beginning the basket, is an invaluable aid to the weaver. In addition, the authors have provided line drawings which are exceptionally clear magnifications of the various weave patterns. Anyone who follows the lessons contained in this book will have a knowledge of basketry unattainable in any other way. They are so lucid and complete that the amateur as well as the experienced weaver will be able to manufacture baskets distinguishable from authentic native articles only in that they were not woven by Indians. For those who merely seek a broader knowledge of American Indian arts, the book provides a comprehensive introduction to the subject of basketry.

Everyone will become a nature lover by creating baskets and other projects with things found in the woods, parks, and fields.

Techniques include weaving, twining, coiling, braiding, and stitching of natural materials.

"With the inborn wisdom that has guided them for so long through so many obstacles, Hopi men and women perpetuate their proven rituals, strongly encouraging those who attempt to neglect or disrespect their obligations to uphold them. One of these obligations is to respect the flora and fauna of our planet. The Hopi closeness to the Earth is represented in all the arts of all three mesas, whether in clay or natural fibers. What clay is to a potter's hands, natural fibers are to a basket weaver." —from the Introduction Rising dramatically from the desert floor, Arizona's windswept mesas have been home to the Hopis for hundreds of years. A people known for protecting their privacy, these Native Americans also have a long and less known tradition of weaving baskets and plaques. Generations of Hopi weavers have passed down knowledge of techniques and materials from the plant world around them, from mother to daughter, granddaughter, or niece. This book is filled with photographs and detailed descriptions of their beautiful baskets—the one art, above all others, that creates the strongest social bonds in Hopi life. In these pages, weavers open their lives to the outside world as a means of sharing an art form especially demanding of time and talent. The reader learns how plant materials are gathered in canyons and creek bottoms, close to home and far away. The long, painstaking process of preparation and dying is followed step by step. Then, using techniques of coiled, plaited, or wicker basketry, the weaving begins. Underlying the stories of baskets and their weavers is a rare glimpse of what is called "the Hopi Way," a life philosophy that has strengthened and sustained the Hopi people through centuries of change. Many other glimpses of the Hopi world are also shared by author and photographer Helga Teiwes, who was warmly invited into the homes of her collaborators. Their permission and the permission of the Cultural Preservation Office of the Hopi Tribe gave her access to people and information seldom available to outsiders. Teiwes was also granted access to some of the ceremonial observances where baskets are preeminent. Woven in brilliant reds, greens, and yellows as well as black and white, Hopi weavings, then, not only are an arresting art form but also are highly symbolic of what is most important in Hopi life. In the women's basket dance, for example, woven plaques commemorate and honor the Earth and the perpetuation of life. Other plaques play a role in the complicated web of Hopi social obligation and reciprocity. Living in a landscape of almost surreal form and color, Hopi weavers are carrying on one of the oldest arts traditions in the world. Their stories in Hopi Basket Weaving will appeal to collectors, artists and craftspeople, and anyone with an interest in Native American studies, especially Native American arts. For the traveler or general reader, the book is an invitation to enter a little-known world and to learn more about an art form steeped in meaning and stunning in its beauty.