Eye Baskets: Folded Baskets Made with Spring Tree Bark

In spring and early summer an eye basket, in it’s simplest form, can be made in the woods in just a few minutes. This simple technique is handy knowledge to have in your tool kit.

The first day of this class (Saturday) will be spent in the woods learning how to harvest bark from spruce, aspen, alder, and birch, as well as digging spruce root and processing it. We will then learn to score the “eye” midway in a sheet of bark, fold it into a basket, and clip it together with wooden clothespins we have made. The second day we will spend at The Folk School Workshop folding up the corners, stitching the sides, and binding the rim. There will be ample time to make one from each tree species, and we can make them as simple or fancy as you like.

For the day in the woods we will meet at The Folk School at 9:00 am, form a car pool, and drive out to the woods. Dress for the weather, prepare for bugs, pack a lunch, and bring along gardening or work gloves and a retractable blade utility knife or pocket knife. We will be working on the ground so if you need something to kneel or sit on, bring that along as well.