Basket Weaving Part II

I have had more fun weaving little baskets this week. Let me show you what I have been doing and what I have learned.

To begin, I purchased new cording that I found in the jewelry making aisle at Hobby Lobby. It is heavier with more body than the crochet thread that I used for last week basket. Each spool will lend two baskets with a little left over depending on how big your basket will be. I especially like the variegated cord. One web tutorial that I visited recommended waxed twine, but said it was difficult to find. I did fine with the cording that I used.

This is basket 3. The second attempt didn't turn out so well. I cut a piece of bass wood 1.1/2 inch long and 1 wide then measured where I would place the tooth picks at about 1/8 inch apart. I found that with the first two baskets, I didn't have enough toothpicks so the weave wasn't as nice and the corners were not square.

        

With this basket, I also used two strands of cording. You can see that I crossed them around each tooth pick to get a more even weave. Essentially, I zig-zagged around the tooth picks. I anchor the basket to a small block of florist Styrofoam so that I easily turn it as I weave around the tooth picks.

                 

You want a tight weave, but not so tight that you move the tooth picks. They should remain tall and straight.

I use T-pins to hold ends of cording in place

This photo demonstrates why more tooth picks more closely spaced are needed to create better corners. This is attempt #2 with the tooth picks further apart. Take not of the corners.

Here I ran out of cording and had to cut more. I will work the ends through the weave to the inside of the basket where I will trim them off.

I finish the basket with a coating of diluted Modge Podge so that it does not go on so heavy.

 

With the Modge Podge dried--several hours or over night--I am ready to pry the tooth picks out of the Styrofoams. I had to use the thin bladed tool that I use on my Circut to pry the tooth picks out. The tooth picks on the bottom of the basket will need to be sanded down even with the wooden bottom.

Next I clip the tooth picks as closely to the weaving as possible using my jewelry making wire cutters that cut with out smashing the the wood.

You can see how I have poked the tail ends to the inside of the basket. This one has a better shape than the last one I did (not shown).

I braid cord to place on top of the basket to make the rim.

and adhere it with Elmer's glue. I will need to let it dry. The basket needs work: sanding and shaping the bottom. I have discovered a better way to work the bottom. See the next basket.

I decided to do a round basket this time, using a wooden round that I purchased by the bag at Hobby Lobby in the wood crafts section. You will find a bag of various sizes of rounds that are made of a decent quality of wood, thicker and stronger than the bass wood that I used on the other baskets.

Again using two strands, I wove round and round and round until I had a basket with nice, high sides. I will work the ends in this time before I apply the Modge Podge. I will also make a handle. I'll show how I do that next week.

Here are the miniaturists that I consulted on basket weaving:

1 Inch Minis by Kris: this blog has the most amazing instructions to made a wide range of dollhouse miniatures. I will follow her instructions to make the handle for the round basket.

Cinderella Moments: If you haven't visited Caroline yet, you are missing out. You will have read her entire post to find the her basket directions, but you won't mind.

Studio Dollhouse Miniatures: I love this little tutorial on how to make mini towels. I have made some for the first basket that I made. More pics next week.

From Baskets to Lamps

I have written about making mini lamps before, but I have improved my method. Still using the small spindles used in early American type shelves and railings, I have improved the way I drill them. I purchased them at Hobby Lobby, located in the wood working section.

Last summer my husband purchased this work bench for me at Harbor Freight. What dear he is. It sells for under $200 and is easy to assemble. 

My favorite feature is the wooden vice that it has on the end so that I can clamp the spindle in it tightly and saw the ends off with my craft saw. The vice makes drilling so much easier. In the past I held the spindle in my left hand to drill it, praying that I wouldn't miss the spindle and drill my finger. 

After cutting off the ends, I lightly sand the ends to get a smooth surface, especially on the bottom so that the lamp stands straight. 

Once I have drilled the holes, I cut a channel for the electrical cord to fit in, using the dremel.

I will use a rechargeable dremel tool to drill the holes. This versatile tool will come in handy for a lot your miniature projects. It comes with attachments and a nice selection of drill bits.

I purchased large crimping tubes in the jewelry section to help secure the lamp shade. I am not sure exactly how I will attach the lampshade yet. I used the smaller bit to drill the hole clear through then I used the 1/8th bit to drill a large opening to fit the crimp tube in. I will glue the tubes in to secure them.

As you can see, this lamp has a hole in the side. I will fill it with wood putty and paint over it. It is difficult to get the holes drilled straight and entered. Takes a good eye and steady hand because the drill bit tends to jump around when it first contacts the spindle. Nor are the holes perfectly centered, another very difficult thing to accomplish. I tend to get in a hurry, but I think I should use a little hand drill to begin the hole so that the drill bit has a small hole to fit in then switch to the dremel.

I save these ends just in case I might find a use for them.

I needed some help from hubby because I wanted to upgrade the doors for the Bellingham. The kit doors are rather not very attractive as are the windows, so I have purchased House Works, Ltd. windows and doors. While the windows fit perfectly, the doors didn't, so I enlisted hubby to cut door holes larger.

He used the dremel tool to start the cut. This door needs to be made taller.

He finishes the cut with his handy dandy saw.

Now the doors fit perfectly. The top doorway needed to be taller while the bottom doorway had to be widened.  Thank you, dear.

There you have it another week's worth of work on the Bellingham. 

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