Make a Pine Needle Basket

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Adding a gauge here will help beginners keep the coils uniform. Keep the gauge full at all times, by inserting one pine needle at a time, in the middle of coil, usually every three stitches.

Mark the starting point with a piece of tape. This will act as a reference throughout the project. Continue around nut center with additional coils, following the stitching pattern and always adding extra pine needles to the gauge.

ADDING THREAD

When your thread is about 4" long, you must add a new length to it. Tie on new thread using the double overhand knot. This knot may be positioned on the outer edge of coil, to be covered by the following coil, or pulled into previous coil when you take the next stitch.

ADDING EXTRA STITCHES

When your stitches seem too far a apart (more than 1/4") add extra stitches between the existing ones.

FORMING THE SIDE WALLS

Once you have completed the bottom of your basket, you will continue as before with the first coil of the side wall. Note the starting point. Stitch approximately six more stitches past this point. Pull the coil up on top of the last bottom coil. Don't try to do this gradually, just sit it on top of the last coil and continue to stitch as before. As you sew the next three rows of the sides, keep the coils sloping gently outward. On the third row, stop just as you come around to the starting point and add a length of tape across the center of the basket bottom and side walls. This will help position the nut handles evenly on both sides of the basket. Now, continue to stitch the coil to within approximately 1" of tape.

To keep the last stitch from pulling loose as you include the nut, you must tighten it down with a locking stitch. (SEE DIAGRAM 2) Insert the sewing needle from the front of the work to overlap the stitch in the coil. Next, run the needle from the back of work, through the coil, to exit at the front of your work beneath where the nut will be attached. (SEE DIAGRAM 3) Place the nut on top of the coil where indicated by tape and stitch through its small holes. (SEE DIAGRAM 4) This time insert sewing needle from front to back. Once nut is stitched down, run the needle back through the coil, to exit at the front, just to the left of the locking stitch. (SEE DIAGRAM 5)

To simulate stitches on the needles that rise to meet the nut, wrap the thread around the coil, every 1/4", then wrap-stitch the coil to the upper edge of the nut. Wrap the other side of the bundle to match the first side and continue stitching the bundle to the coil beneath. After both nut handles are added to the basket, continue with two additional rows of pine needles.

TAPERING Down To END THE COIL

As you stitch the last row of the basket, note the marked starting point, and stop adding extra needles. When gauge becomes loose, remove it but continue to stitch. You need to taper the coil down to a single layer of pine needles. As you approach the stopping point and feel there are too many needles in the coil, use the point of your scissors to go into the middle of the coil and cut away a few at a time. A good stopping point is on the curve of the handle, this will be less noticeable than on the outer rim of basket.

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