Birch Bark and Pine Needle Baskets

Plaited birch bark

Nordic birch bark work plaits long strips of bark into baskets, backpacks, salt boxes, and even shoes. The strips are cut in a long spiral around the trunk of a felled birch, then cut to even widths, trimmed, and rolled. Plaiting is usually diagonal (on the bias) in a checkerboard or twill, with strips folded back at the edges and the work doubled for strength. Swedish sloyd still makes these alongside woodenware ¹.

Harvest timing and respect follow the Birch Bark Work lesson in the Green Woodworking course: bark peels cleanly in early summer, when Ojibwe harvesters say the flies start biting, and cutting must never damage the inner bark of a living tree ². For most of us, felled trees and firewood are the source, and a permit is needed on national forest land.

Folded and stitched bark containers - makak and the Swedish folded box - are covered in that lesson too.

Coiled pine needle baskets

Coiling is a different structure entirely: a continuous bundle of material spiraled outward and stitched to the round below. No stakes. Coiled baskets are made worldwide from grasses, rush, and needles; in the American Southeast, longleaf pine needles stitched with raffia or plant fibers became a well-known form.

Needles: the longer the better. Southern longleaf pine needles run 8-18 inches; in Wisconsin, red pine (4-6 inches, in pairs) is the best local choice, and white pine (3-5 inches, in fives) makes fine, delicate coils.

• Gather fallen, brown needles or green ones (which dry to a soft green), from clean ground.
• Wash them; some makers dip them in hot water briefly and dry them flat.
• Soak in warm water for 20-30 minutes before working, so they bend without breaking. Most makers trim off the papery sheath at the base.

Stitching material: raffia is the common choice; waxed linen thread, sinew, or yucca also work. Use a blunt tapestry needle.

Starting and coiling:

1. Wrap the tip of a small bundle of needles tightly with raffia for an inch, bend it into a tight circle, and stitch it closed - the center.
2. Run the bundle through a gauge (a short piece of straw, tubing, or a cut bead) to keep its thickness constant, adding needles into the gauge before the old ones run out.
3. Stitch the bundle to the coil below every half inch or so, wrapping around the new bundle and through the top of the previous round. Space stitches evenly, splitting the previous stitch for a “wheat” pattern or going beside it for a plain stitch.
4. Build the base flat to size, then shape the walls by placing each new coil slightly outward or on top of the one below.
5. Finish by tapering the bundle over the last few inches and wrapping it tight.

Decorations - a polished wood or pine cone slice center, beads, or contrasting stitches - are common.

What to take from this

Plaited bark baskets use long spiral-cut strips of birch bark plaited on the bias; harvest bark with the same restraint as for any bark work. Coiled baskets spiral a bundle of soaked pine needles (red pine is the best Wisconsin choice) through a gauge, stitching each round to the last with raffia every half inch, flat for the base and stepped outward for the walls.