Wonky Willow Weaving
Last week as part of our town's cultural month I took part in a Willow Weaving Workshop hosted by our local Horticultural Association at the Trading Store. The aim of the evening was to make a willow cloche which could be either open or closed at the top to support plants or allow them to grow through.
The Blue Peter 'here's one I made earlier' looked pretty impressive, shop quality in fact - I thought this was the beginners workshop with no experience necessary! After a lovely piece of homegrown pumpkin cake and a large mug of tea to steady the nerves, our teacher Trish talked us through the first stage of making the cloche- make 24 holes in a circle in an upturned banana box and select 24 pieces of 5ft willow, place in each hole and tie together at the top - so far so good, although mine seemed to start off looking a bit wonky!
The willow we were working with had been soaked for a couple of days to make it more bendy and it was actually quite easy to weave, once you got the hang of the weaving. You had to remember to always have three pieces on the go at the same time and each should exit through a different hole, ensure you always weaved to the right, but to always add new willow pieces to the left - it was certainly trickier than it sounded, but once you got into it was very therapeutic!
To make the cloche we weaved a circle twice around the base and then had to spiral the weaving upwards, to then do another two circles around the top. After this you could either tie the tops together to make a tepee or weave them into arches and then it was finished and ready for use in the garden.
Whilst it's certainly quite rustic and probably one of a kind, it was really fun to do and I am looking forward to getting it set up in the garden - I certainly have enough plants to support!
The Blue Peter 'here's one I made earlier' looked pretty impressive, shop quality in fact - I thought this was the beginners workshop with no experience necessary! After a lovely piece of homegrown pumpkin cake and a large mug of tea to steady the nerves, our teacher Trish talked us through the first stage of making the cloche- make 24 holes in a circle in an upturned banana box and select 24 pieces of 5ft willow, place in each hole and tie together at the top - so far so good, although mine seemed to start off looking a bit wonky!
The willow we were working with had been soaked for a couple of days to make it more bendy and it was actually quite easy to weave, once you got the hang of the weaving. You had to remember to always have three pieces on the go at the same time and each should exit through a different hole, ensure you always weaved to the right, but to always add new willow pieces to the left - it was certainly trickier than it sounded, but once you got into it was very therapeutic!
To make the cloche we weaved a circle twice around the base and then had to spiral the weaving upwards, to then do another two circles around the top. After this you could either tie the tops together to make a tepee or weave them into arches and then it was finished and ready for use in the garden.
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| The final cloche - a little wonky, but great fun to make! |
Whilst it's certainly quite rustic and probably one of a kind, it was really fun to do and I am looking forward to getting it set up in the garden - I certainly have enough plants to support!
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