Wild Basketry: Making Baskets and Natural Cordage from Foraged Plants

A makers’ guide to sourcing and harvesting foraged plants to make natural cordage and baskets.

Making with our hands is a fundamental human activity; connection with the natural world and the feeling of belonging to place are basic human needs. A counterbalance to our digitalised lives is the wish to connect with the simple joy and satisfaction of creating beautiful and useful objects, tapping into ancestral skills and wisdom and taking care of our world by reducing our ecological impact. Wild Basketry brings all this together in a rich combination of reflection and practical guide.

Beautiful photographs take you through a seasonal year of seven basketry and cordage projects, suitable for beginners as well as for those wishing to expand their basketmaking skills. Ruby Taylor guides you through each step following a range of techniques, with suggestions for further exploration, to give you a thorough grounding in the fundamentals of the craft.

Guidance on the principles of harvesting and processing plant fibres, and contextual information about the evolution of basketry, are covered throughout the book, along with spotlights on several inspiring international artists.

Ruby Taylor is an artist/maker and educator, and connection to the natural world is at the root of her creative practice. She works with materials foraged from woods, hedgerows and the land, and facilitates immersive outdoor courses in basketmaking, pottery and bushcraft in Sussex where she lives. Ruby holds a BA Hons in 3D Craft, post-graduate teacher training in Art & Design, a diploma in the Therapeutic Application of the Arts, and trained in basketry with a number of UK basketmakers. She has worked with East Sussex Archaeology and Museums Partnership teaching ancient craft and technology, and co-constructing prehistoric-style dwellings. nativehands.co.uk / Insta: @nativehands.uk / rubytaylor.art