Basket Weaving with Paper Tutorial ...

Good Morning. I finally had time to edit my photo's for the Basket Weaving Tutorial. There will be a LOT of photos so please be patient as you scroll through. I changed the size of my basket, but the process is the same regardless of the size. The picture below shows my original basket (5" x 2" x 2") along with the new basket (4" x 4" x 2").


The photo tutorial takes you through the process of making the 4" x 4" x 2" basket. The first thing I did was make a sketch. I wanted a 4" square basket with a 2" height.

Once the sketch was done (as shown on the left), I did the math and noted that I needed a 9" x 9" square piece of cardstock to work with. The arrow on the right of the photo represents a 1/2" margin around.
I cut a piece of 12" x 12" cardstock to 9" x 9", put it on my Scor-Pal Eighths, and scored it as follows: 1/2", 2-1/2", 6-1/2" and 8". I then turned my cardstock to the left a half-turn; scored the same measurements as above.


Once you scored your paper you want to cut out the squares in the corner, as depicted by the yellow  squares on my drawing above, and as shown in the photo below.


It's a little tricky to do, but lightly score the 1st 1/2", and score from the 1/2" line to the 2-1/2" line every 1/4" as shown in the photo below. (This section is represented by the green section of my drawing.)


Using a ruler and cutting knife, cut the 1/4" scor-lines in all 4 sections.


Burnish the 1/2" and 2-1/2" Score lines to get the square shape. The brown you see in the picture below is lightweight chipboard. You can use a cereal box for this area. I cut the chipboard to 3-7/8" square. This provides extra stability for the basket.


Using the left over 12" cardstock, I cut out (10) 1/4" pieces. You will need 2 pieces for each row you weave.


The center picture above shows how you weave the 1/4" piece in and out of the slits you made. The right picture above shows the inside end of a 1/4" piece. I bent it up and adhered 1/8" Scor-Tape to the bottom and once the first row was complete I secured the edge. You will have extra length of the 1/4" piece; you will cut the extra length off.


The above pictures show the weaving of the 2nd row. You will weave in the opposite direction. Well sort of. You actually weave thru the same slits, but in the opposite direction. I hope that makes sense.

My basket has 5 rows that I weaved thru the panel slits. You will want to gently push each row down as you are weaving the paper through it. The last piece is the trickiest. You have to weave it in and out, sort of like sewing, as shown in the left photo below. The right photo shows the basket once the weaving is finished.


You will want to fold the 1/2" panel into the basket. I added 3/8" Scor-Tape to the inside of each panel, as shown below. When you are ready to fold the panel in, remove the tape and fold down and burnish the section. Then go to the opposite end, directly across, and do the same process. Before securing the other 2 sides I folded them in to see if they fit smoothly. If they don't, miter the corners just a smidge before adhering each panel.


To give my cream cardstock some color I used Prima Adobe House Ink and applied it to the outside of my basket.


The next step is to create the border around the basket. I'm sorry I didn't take pictures of this part. You will need (4) 1" x 4" pieces of cardstock scored at 1/2", burnish. I added 3/8" Scor-Tape to the inside of the burnished piece; both sides. Since I added the ink to my basket, I did the same for these pieces. 

Put the creased edge of the 4" piece over the side of the basket. Remove 1 side of the Scor-Tape, adhere to the inside of the basket first, then remove the Scor-Tape from the other side and adhere it to the outside of the basket, and burnish. Just like 1/2" panels above, I added the 4" piece to the 4" section directly across from where I just put the border piece on. I repeated this process for the other 2-sides of the basket. I did have to miter the inside of these pieces a smidge to make a crisp square.

Next, I cut 2 more pieces of cardstock to 1/4" x 9". I applied color to the edges, added 1/8" Scor-Tape, and wrapped it around the border I just added. 


Using a ruler and pencil I marked off 1" sections on the border. I used my Crop-A-Dile to punch holes where the pencil marks are, and secured tiny red brads into the holes I made.


To make the handles on this basket I used (1) 1/2" x 9" piece of cardstock, scored it at 1/4"; fold and burnish. I put 1/4" Scor-Tape in the center and burnished the piece together. I cut the 9" piece in half, applied ink to the edges, and used my Crop-A-Dile to add the holes. I lined up the handle and used the tiny red brads to secure them.

I hope this tutorial on how I made the basket makes sense. If you have question, please feel free to leave them as a comment and I will get back to you.

Until next time, I hope you have a marvelous day and weekend.

Take care,

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