My Basket Fiber Favorites

I realize it’s a little bit disingenuous to call them my “favorites” when they’re the only two fibers I’ve worked with, but considering I only picked up my first stitched basket project a little over a year ago, I’m going to run with it for now. Who knows what other fibers I’ll learn to work with in the next twelve months?!?

Browse the Baskets page of my store and you’ll see two types of fibers in use right now: if it’s not openly labeled in the name of the product, it’s Madagascar raffia; otherwise, it’s corn husk. Both of these have their strengths (literally) and weaknesses (also literally), and provide a little something for everyone to the Treehouse shop!

Raffia

Raffia is a pretty common craft item and used for all sorts of unique ideas, from wreaths and ornaments to adding a simple rustic touch to packaging, to, yes, basket making. It’s a sustainably-harvested natural fiber that comes from the raffia palm, which is native to Africa with supposedly the best product coming out of Madagascar. The company through which I order my supplies carries all Madagascar raffia, both dyed and undyed/natural, which gives me a wide range of colors to work with.

Generally speaking, raffia is pretty strong as a fiber, and its flexibility makes it a popular choice for crafters. It usually doesn’t crack over time — what you get when you purchase a hank is what you’ll have for the life of the finished product if it’s treated well (i.e. not heavily soaked or smashed). Since most of us don’t have a raffia palm in the backyard, you’re purchasing not just the product itself but all of the work that goes into harvesting, drying, dying and packaging it so that it’s ready to use right out of the box, which is nice when I want to just sit down and get to work on a basket.

The cons of using raffia, of course, is that you’re using a product grown literally across the world, and then shipped to you. While it may be sustainably harvested, it definitely has a substantial footprint as far as fuel spent to get into the hands of American crafters. At least it’s lightweight.

Corn Husk

I was musing out loud after making my first couple of baskets last summer in the presence of my sister-in-law, who co-owns and co-operates the family farm alongside my husband’s grandfather, about whether or not corn husks would be a viable fiber option for stitched baskets. She has an uncanny ability to remember all of my thinking-out-loud commentary, so when fall hit and she had harvested her crop of Indian corn — known for its jewel-toned kernels and bright husks in fall decor — I found myself being presented with a massive sack of husks from corn she had kept for seed.

If you’ve ever shucked sweet corn, you’re familiar with this fiber in its green state: even when dried, it’s flexible and splits easily the length of the husk into narrower strips. That’s proven to be a bit of a double-edged sword as I’ve stripped husks down for thinner sections I can work into the stitched baskets: the fibers sometimes split or fray in places I didn’t anticipate, and the sections are also much shorter than raffia strands, meaning that I need to spend a lot more time stitching in new pieces. Both of these traits also make it difficult to use as the sole fiber — I’m still using raffia strands as the active stitching fiber to put the basket together. However, much like raffia, once it’s dried on the stalk, it seems to maintain its flexibility and strength. As far as processing, it’s just a bit of a tedious process to hand-strip the husks down into usable widths.

The Indian corn came “pre-dyed,” as I’ve been calling it, ranging in color from a pale cream to a rich burgundy red. Standard field corn, which will dry on the stalk and then be harvested in the fall, usually dries to a light cream or brown, so I anticipate that the regular variety would also be receptive to natural dyes. I’m looking forward to giving this process a try in the fall.

While the corn isn’t quite as versatile as the raffia right out of the bag, and requires some amount of processing work on my end, I do enjoy that it’s a natural fiber grown right here in Chautauqua County (and by my family!). It’s been a good conversation starter at craft shows for that reason.

To be investigated…

As I look around my yard, which includes some extraordinarily overgrown flower gardens as well as transitional spaces at the edge of the woods, as well as the family farm where we spend a good chunk of every day, I see a lot of fibers I’m interested in working with: grasses, both native and non-native ornamentals. Grape vines, both wild and intentionally grown. Wheat and oat straw — there’s a blowdown field that is otherwise not going to be harvested by the farm this year for grain or straw. Cattails. Many varieties of willow. I have a lot of research and learning to do about how to sustainably harvest, dry and utilize these fibers, but the basket journey is just beginning, and I’m excited to see where it takes me.