Baskets

Projects, techniques and inspirational designs for you and your home

Tabara N’Diaya

Published by Quadrille £14.99

Tabara grew up in Paris but her family originally came from Senegal a country known for its beautiful Senegalese baskets made from local grasses and coloured strings. In 2017, with her sister, she launched La Basketry, a home ware brand  designed in collaboration with a group of female basket-weavers from Ngaye Mkeka.

         In this, her first book ,she shines a light on the traditional craft of making baskets. However her contemporary designs fit in perfectly with the modern home.

         The book opens with examples of the history and culture of basket making around the world. This is a craft where you need very little in the way of tools and equipment so it is relatively inexpensive to set up. The book is divided into four main types of basket, based on the materials used, grass, cane, rope and twine.

In each chapter the materials are explained and as we now live in the days of the internet they are easy to come by.

         As well as basic techniques being covered the reader is given information on how to display woven pots and how to make them lids.

         I feel the strongest sections of the book are on the grass made baskets and the rope baskets. The techniques used for both are similar and involve turning and sewing although in the case of rope, the baskets are made using an ordinary domestic sewing machine.

         Tabara does basket making for pleasure in her spare time.

“ Basket making allows me to zone out. Hours pass while all I care about is transforming some grasses into a beautiful object, forgetting about my phone and my to do list and just focusing on the present moment.”