Wire basket
Yes, those two words do conjure up my near neurotic devotion to the HBO series, but this is not about my turning into a basket-case over the Wire. It’s about a craft that involves making shopping baskets out of plastic wires, something my aunt Madhavi mami has been doing for decades.
Madhavi mami has made hundreds of these, and gifted one to nearly everyone in our extended family on my mum’s side on some occasion or other; my parents have brought the veggies home from the market in the one she gave us, for twenty-three years. It was getting rather frayed at the handles of late, so she gave them another one. While I was visiting her some time back, she was making yet another, so I decided to capture the process in a photo-essay.
Kits for these baskets are available, in solid or multi-coloured packs, in that great mecca of crafts in Pune, Tulshibaug. I haven’t been able to trace how the wires themselves are made, or from what kind of plastic. The wires are flat, slightly curved, and are in long spools of 20-odd metres per colour. You start off by cutting off strips of equal length (there is some odd maths involved here about the ratio of the primary to secondary colour, one being slightly shorter than the other to ensure the rectangular shape of the basket).
Then you make the first knot of two tightly interlocked Zs, folding one wire into a Z, and then threading the other sideways into it. Once they are locked in the vice like grip, you have the basic unit of the basket.
This is not as easy as it seems, and the main problem is sorting out which wire goes where, and keeping the knots tight. It takes not so much physical strength as deft wristwork to get the knots to sit snugly, and takes a bit of practice. I tried a few after a very long time – my aunt taught me this basket making when I was a kid, and the bits I helped her make were very easy to spot in the finished basket: loose, half-hearted patches in the middle of the tight, determined weave. They weren’t much tighter this time round either, but I was certainly determined!
You then add knots in all four directions of this initial knot, making the central spine of the flat bottom of the basket. Once you have the length and breadth you want, you “turn” the knots upwards into a rectangular tube, and keep weaving till you have a basket deep enough. When done, you weave the wire ends inwards into the basket, leaving it with a sturdy edge.
Then you braid a nifty handle for it.
These bags were probably the height of fashion a long long time ago, and when I was in college it was simply not cool for a certain set, especially the urban elite in Pune and Bombay, to be seen grocery shopping in them. They are, I guess, the shopping basket equivalent of crocheted granny squares, and over the last couple of decades, it’s breathtaking how almost everyone has taken to the flimsier, disposable “carry-bags” as not only more convenient, but a consumer’s free right. In this utterly warped sensibility that views plastic bags as modernity and progress over cloth and straw, clogging our drains and brains alike, these baskets are quaintly unfashionable, stubbornly utilitarian, and odd: they too are plastic, but reusable and heavily durable. Does anybody who has seen these in Pune or elsewhere know whether they are, or can be made of some kind of recyclable plastic?
Hello!
Thank you for this! My grandmom used to make these bags and after I trained in design and started working in Bangalore with industree crafts we redsigned and made woven bags in different styles and techniques for a long time. But I never knew this particular technique completely. And last month my nani passed away leaving a treasure of plastic wires. Thanks to your post iam exploring making these bags now – it is good to start me off! will let you know where iget.
fantastic. love to learn
hi
thankyou for reminding us of our school days, nowa days these hand woven bags have vanished. I would like to learn or atleast buy one . could u kindly give the details from where to get them or who can teach us to make the bags. i am in pune presently
waiting eagerly for your reply
with regards
Hello Madam
Kindly pls explain me how to make this kind of bag.Please.I love to learn all these things.Kindly help me pls.
Thank u
K.Sujatha
Can you tell how to turn corners and how to weave the handles?
pls tell me the wire lengths and how to make the dwn side and how to turn it please.
give the procedure for designfull handbags
have been looking all over the web… so wanna make this… more pics or a video would be great!!!!!!
hi, i’ve made 2 of these baskets while living in bhutan. now that i am back in the US i can no longer find string suitable for making these. any idea where i can get it or order it online? thanks! sarah
hi…i would like to know the different type of knots used in this wire basket weaving…
Thanks for the posting. My mother used to make this years ago and now wants to make one. She forgot the ratio of the length of wires to be taken. Your input is greatly appreciated. Thanks.
would like to be guided regarding measurements and also the handles pls mail me if possible .Thank you
may I know where can I get the wire and how much cost per one bundle
Thank you for the post….I remember learning this from my mom as a little girl and she still has a couple that she made years ago. I have occasionally tried to find the wires here in the US without success….you get what is called lace wires which are very thin.
These baskets are made by children with learning disabilities in a school in Dahanu Road, Maharashtra.
Kindly contact 09273235969 or leave a text and they will get back to you.
Hi,
Looking to manufacture this kind of bag (Plastic Wire Basket)
If anyone is in this field or know someone, please contact me
Fanny +91-9900003253 from Bangalore
I have run into a blind woman that weaves these baskets. Her daughter apparently helps her initially to coordinate the colors and she continues. Pretty amazing. If anyone is interested, please let me know. We are in Bangalore. These baskets are the “in thing” now, apaprently and can be used for different purposes – magazine/newspaper holders in the living room, laundry baskets etc. She said that she can custamize it – sizes/colors. Thanks – Sudha
I have been searching online for this basket tutorial for years. So glad I finally found it!!. Do you have a video tutorial? If possible upload a video on how to make these. Thank you.
Also, there are lot of other crafts make form this wire. Do you know any more?
Hi, I have been looking everywhere for these baskets. Do you have a video tutorial on how to do these? Kindly reply. Thank you.
WONDERFUL, I REALLY LOVE THIS KIND OF BAGS, ITS REALLY USEFUL FOR NOWADAYS MARKET, MY MOM WAS ALSO EXPERT IN THIS KIND OF BAGS, BUT NOW SHE FORGOTTEN TO MAKE HANDLES FOR THE BAG, SO I KINDLY REQUEST YOU TO TIPS ON THAT, IF POSSIBLE GIVE VIDEO TIPS.
Wonderful page.. I know the basics…. dou you have any other designs
What is the measurement of the wires to be cut and how does the base done
I would like know how to make different type of knots in wire basket weaving
I would like to learn different knots in wire basket making and also would like to know where can I buy the wire for the baskets. Just now finished making one small basket
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Hi, had been looking for this type of bag for my g.son to learn.how to turn the corner and sides?
Instead of 4 wire zig zag weave it 3of the corner wires to make a knot and withbthe main colourvwire weave till the desired size
Howdy! Someone in my Facebook group shared this site with us so I came to give it a look.
I’m definitely loving the information. I’m book-marking and will be
tweeting this to my followers! Superb blog and outstanding
design and style.
I was searching this for last so many days on web and finally found it today. to made me remember my childhood when my grannie taught me this. It’s been so many years and now I don’t remember the way I made it. Want to teach this to my daughter, please send me the method and proportion of wire.
I know this art making plastic cane wire bag. you can contact me on 9967250059 I live in mumbai,chembur