You are very good at presenting complicated information in an accessible and unintimidating way. It is a real gift. I am terribly charmed by your videos and I'm delighted to learn the old ways.
I'm loving this! I'd forgotten that 50 years ago I made a hay net for my pony out of the strings which bound the hay bales together, in the days before the horrid nylon strings they use now. I also recall most women had an expandable net shopping bag presumably made in a similar way! Glad to have found you Sally.
I never thought I could be interested in cordage making, net making or basket/bag making! It is surprising what you can be interested in by finding the right instructor! Many thanks to you for teaching this to me. And please keep on doing videos, they are really nice to watch.
I have done one with linen (flaxed processed into yarn). I had some left over flax. It wasn't quite tow, but it was the left over shorter fingers I didn't use in a spinning project. It got old because I didn't want to spin shorten length of flax. I corded it and made the loop and twist bag. I liked doing it, and had a satifying feeling getting something useful out of unwanted flax.
Dear Sally, Everything about your channel is just superb! Your personality, your accent, and your KNOWLEDGE! Alongside your impeccable inclination for imparting it!
Dear Sally...I do not often comment, yet wish to share, on this one, how deeply I appreciate fellow indigenous life skills creators/facilitators now providing content like this. We, and those now learning, have taken full advantage of this format of documentation to effectively preserve and share so much ancient knowledge that before most folks could not learn or appreciate the complexity of the "made world" humans have existed in for eons. Now with a field like "experimental archeology," which I would of loved to have gotten a chance to work in while in college, we are seeing even deeper understanding and sharing of these vernacular skills. In this video you share a foundational skill I learned as a child, and have since come to see as a fundamental acquirement for those who practice traditional living at some level. I am wondering if you have come across any in academia that study such textiles as the foundational beginning of our species starting to understand the complexities of mathematics as it relates to the inherent application of geometric shapes, patterns, symmetry, and counting involved for the process of creating textiles? I believe many fail to understand that all of these..."primitive hand crafts"...(as many erroneously call them) hold within them all the cognitive elements of geometric patterning, reflectional symmetry mathematics, grid systematics, ratio application, transformations, sequencing, fractal patterning, and countless others that "modern humans" are just now beginning to really analysis with the help of computers...yet...our species have had this fundamental understanding at very complex levels for millenia. Thank you once more for a wonderful video...
I've had several conversations with other archaeologists about how the mechanics of textile processing indicate that our early ancestors were using complex mathematical principles even if we have no real evidence of how they described them. It's a fascinating area
Ive just come back from a Nalbinding workshop held by my local Spinners &Weavers Guild , it was fascinating and now I've found you to help me remember the method and give more detailed and excellent instructions. Thank you so much . I love ancient skills .
This is great!!! And thank you so so much for pointing out that raffia WILL work, I'm one of those that doesn't have much access to "wild grasses" as it were (or rather, there might be plenty of local plants that would work but I've no idea how to evaluate them). And this technique is so nice! I kept thinking as I watched that it's not unlike the sort of knot used for tying up a roast, haha. I suppose I have food and cooking on my mind since it's the morning after US Thanksgiving as I watch this! But that little extra twisting bit really seems like what I was told is a surgeon's knot: start like an overhand knot and put the string through twice. (Which I recognize might not at all be the actual knot, but boy is reading up on knots, macrame, etc VERY confusing for the newbie) The bag design seems so versatile, too. Carry whatever you need - though my Oma might've called that a bread bag. But she grew up in what's now Poland, and lived many years in Germany between the two world wars: she used to tell me about going to the bakery every day and bringing home a little bag of Sammeln - which means "rolls" in German technically, but Oma seemed to use it to also mean some kind of small loaf of bread. But the way she described her bag, it had that net like structure. I don't doubt it was machine made and probably out of whatever material was cheap for the time and place, but that wasn't the kind of thing she discussed. Lovely video and so nice to see you again! Thank you!
Your interesting video caught my eye, as I spent 25 years in Papua New Guinea, and learned how to make several versions of their Bilum bags. The older generations did indeed use many kinds of fibers including from tree bark. Now they pretty much use commercial yarns, and wind two strands together on their thigh to make a sturdier string. What you are doing appears to be another stitch variation of the same craft.
Thanks for that; Crocosmia is quite invasive here and it's good to know we can do something useful with it. *::takes a deep breath and dives into the rabbit hole::*
@@jayneroberts919 Yes, depending on the size, you might need to cut our some of the centre stem that runs down the length of the leaf but usually it will soften enough to use, once wet.I've even twined them right off the mucky, fall ground, once they turn brown. You can twine the green, but there will be shrinkage.
Thank you so much. I get it that I'm supposed to be dazzled by things that are made out of recycled plastic, only to find out that the plastic is much more resistant to any form of natural deterioration after the recycling process. I'm inspired to discover what I can create that will be perfect for my needs using this method. Brilliant !!!
The idea of recycling plastic and rendering it less environmentally harmful is nice but the reality is that recycled plastic has a lot of limitations. Even, perhaps especially, yarns made from recycled plastic or recycled synthetics, have some major drawbacks. So I feel a bit guilty about not getting excited about recycled plastics. I also _love_ the idea of taking natural materials and turning them into something quite different and useful.
30 Nov 2024, Oh, dear, another temptation to buy a nalbinding needle. I do not need any more crafts in my life. I do not need any more crafts in my life. I do not need any more crafts in my life. If I just keep repeating it, maybe I'll believe it... If I were going to make one of these bags I'd probably be looking at it as a shopping bag.
Sally, I have learned so much from you! I no longer live in the country where I could access all sorts of fibers, but I can certainly practice my techniques using commercial raffia. I knitted a Viking longboat as an homage to my cousin when she died, and my treasured handmade cordage formed the rigging on her ship. It meant so much to me to be able to hand make her whole longboat.
Excellent....my goats are treading on their beautiful organic hay but im going to get busy with a hay net using this technique...thankyou for an excellent tutorial ❤😊
Exactly what i was looking for. Im always so thankful for you taking the time to share/make these vids. Also you mentioned "in literature" on the difference of baskets and nets, id love if you could share a title or two
I've often looked at my banana trees and wondered if I could make twine. That might be too ambitious at the moment so I'll buy a hank of raffia and give it a go. Such a practical thing but so beautiful as well. I'm in Australia.
I've seen videos of people processing the banana trunk to make twine. It looks lustrous and very nice but they had the machinery especially for processing the fibre.
@SandraBonney It must have be done by hand before machinery was invented. I might try one winter so I don't get sun-stroke because I bet it will be hard work. Or I'll use raffia.🍌
Eastern US here. I have Musa Basjo that reaches ten to fifteen feet tall in zone six and dies to the ground every winter and comes back from the corm in zone 6. The fiber is called abaca, and it is used to make manilla rope that is rot and salt resistant. You just cut it down in fall and carefully peel each leaf from the trunk like onion skin. Lay them in a sunny spot till dry, and they split down easily for all kinds of twine and basketry projects.
@@randysmith5435 Thanks I'll google that. Australia has just had the hottest spring ever so hope we survive the summer. Too hot to garden so maybe I will make twine .
I think this kind of bag would make an excellent market bag, or maybe use it to hold big shells or a catch of seafood. It's amazing what you can make with a little cordage and creativity!
Dear Lady, you have affected me greatly! I've fiddled with my horseradish stems, hibiscus bark, day lily leaves, and I'm planting nettles. The problem comes when I stare at the celery strings and wonder whether I should save them...
It looks like the nailbinding version of single (foundation row) and double crochet! I had never really looked like nailbomdomf is done, very interesting
Very good instructions! You have the gift of teaching. Cordage is in my opinion the first manufactured material that led to civilization. Thank you for all of your videos!
I love your videos, Sally; your teaching is so clear and easy to follow. And thank you for your mention of NZ flax; its probably the easiest fibre for me to source. Harakeke (four syllables, 'a' as in 'father', 'e' as in 'pet'), Phormium tenax, is a grass totally unrelated to European flax (Linum usitatissimum), but just as useful, and fairly ubiquitous in my part of New Zealand
Thank you for the rafia info! I was thinking, oh this is neat I want to try this, only to get stumped at the question of what material to use, and as if by magic, you seqwayed to rafia!
Hi Sally. I did try this before (only having a drawing of the stitch in a book) with one of my garden-plant fibers. It did not work out well. Now I saw your video I will try it again. I started twisting cordage of raphia (always have some of it, for garden use) while watching.
I just harvested a bunch of yucca fiber so this video was great timing ❤ and i have made one of those thorne fibre combs i think its the coolest thing. I also made a fibre comb from the nail part of a deers foot works great
Maybe bags came after the baskets because bags are compact and can carry nearly anything a basket can. Easy to store and grab a bunch for the harvest. Tighter bags for small seeds and nuts. Eventually getting tight enough to hold the tiniest of seed. I have to try this way. I like the look and I have loads of fiber.
really cool! over the summer i grew linen as i was curious how easy or hard it is (very easy. i did literally nothing to it all year and got loads). now i just have to process it, but i certainly have this channel to thank for inspiring me to do this. would be fun to make one of these if i could out of what i get from the linen
On jan 1, 26 California will go completely plastic bag-less. So i think during this next year i will make a bunch of bags this way to use. I wonder how much weight they can carry? I wonder if it can carry a gallon of milk... I will have to test this. There is a florist supply store a few miles away so i can get the rafia. Im intrigued by this now. I wonder if hemp cordage would be stronger, i can probably get hemp cheaper and would be more of a local material than rafia so maybe i will try that instead.
The weight shouldn't be a problem. I would suggest working in some kind of handle, though. Like two 4" pieces of round wood or something. Otherwise carrying anything heavy will make it cut into your hand really painfully.
I'm old enough that I remember the days when a lot of people had "string bags" that were actually made out of netted nylon i-cord. The "fabric" if I can use that word, was more open than these bags. On the positive side, you could squinch them up and put them in your handbag and then pull them out when needed and they held quite a lot of shopping. Their two big negatives were that (a) small items like little jars of spice tended to fall out the holes and (b) the corners of heavy cardboard boxes (like clothes detergent, clothes detergent was usually powdered and therefore sold in cardboard boxes back then) would poke out and either rip your nylons or your legs. From the look of it, these bags have a less open fabric which I think would mitigate both the problems above. I live in a state in Australia where single use plastic bags have been banned for the best part of a decade. I have a collection of calico bags, and they get put through the wash from time to time. My favourite style of bag is the "bookbag" style, with a long, thick strap that I can put over a shoulder easily. I'd suggest that you go through your fabric stash (the fact that you're watching this video says to me that you have a fabric stash!) and use some left-over fabric to make some bags, as well as nalbinding/netting some like this. Sally makes the cordage making and the nalbinding look easy, I think I'd need a bit (as in, a lot) of practice to get up to her standard and speed.
I love your videos and always get excited when a new one comes out ❤ Quick question, have you come across evidence of left handedness in your research? I love that you always give instructions for left handed crafters, like myself. I've blown a few of my crochet and knitting friends away after explaining that i cant help and finish their projects because its been started right handed. They never knew there was a difference!
I have a feeling that there are a few examples of left handedness in prehistory, deduced from working angles in objects. Can't point at a specific paper offhand but if I get a chance I'll have a look
This cordage reminds me a lot of sisal rope/string! (It's also called 'seagrass rope' in my native language). I'll definitely try to make this with some sisal cordage! I'll save making my own for another time 🤭 But it's good to know raffia is a good fiber! It's easily available!
Hello Sally, thank you so much for your videos. They have enriched my life. I was wondering, with baskets like these, how do you maintain them? Do you need to wet them once in a while to not let them dry out? Thank you!
They should be stable as they are, but if they get out of shape, a quick rinse through and reshaping can really refresh them. Thank you for your kind words!
I get so excited when I see your videos. Learning ancient skills, or at least watching them done is fun. RAFFIA! I have been wondering how I could make a simple carrier for a bottle of water on my saddle that is super light weight; I think you have shown me. Also, the joining method is brilliant. I've used horse hair, and it is wiry, so I have never been pleased with any joinings. Thanks!
That’s really cool. I think I noticed that it’s mostly like the same stitch was used in bilum bags from Papua New Guinea which from what I understand,it seems that most were nålbound. However I tried to do the stitch but it was very difficult to make,I remember that the simple loop of what others called buttonhole was very versatile in almost any country including the ones found that was made by the indigenous people of the Americas. I wonder for a request you could try making a replica of the Puebloan sock found in the southwest,though it was made with yucca and other plant material such as agave and they used some fur from either a coyote or other animal to insulate the feet during winter.
I am wondering if brambles were ever used in a similar way to nettles? The 'middle aged' bramble runners are difficult to trim as they are tough. The new growth is too soft and the old growth gets very woody. Your collection of different fibres got me thinking as brambles are very common in the UK.
Would these have had a different top edge? To make the top where the drawstring is last a bit longer if it was used a lot? Though i guess if it wore thru you would just unravel and attach new cordage and remake the top rows. Thank you for sharing your tutorials.
I’m just wondering if an old-fashion “flower fakir” would work to split the raffia in the same way that as your homemade prickly tool does? Might have to try that… :P
I am very interested in making cordage with horse hair. Not the tail hairs but the coat that sheds in spring. I’ve been saving his shed coat find a way to make it into cordage. My horse Icelandic. Thanks, Hedy
How does it behave if you make bundles of it and cord it compared to spinning it? Because of the lack of crimp you may find it's worth blending it with something else. Definitely need to experiment
Since the fibers are best worked damp, how do you re-dampen them if you have had to put the project down for a couple of days? Would you recommend re-wet the whole project again in the same way that you started it, or just use a spray bottle to wet the working ends of the cordage? I live in a very dry area and I know that the fibers will be very dry, even if left just overnight. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience with us!! The process of making cordage and using it has fascinated me and I have quite a stash of raffia that I now am excited to start using!
This was a very interesting and informative video. Thank you for making it. On the whole, I think I find sprang weaving to be a more engaging topic than nalbinding. But at this point, anything is better than all of the ceaseless saddle stitching I'm having to do for Christmas presents. Bring on the nalbinding! Perhaps I mis-observed something, so I have to ask: does doubling or tripling up on the "twist" portion of this stitch stiffen the structure, or does it just make a mess of everything?
You are very good at presenting complicated information in an accessible and unintimidating way. It is a real gift. I am terribly charmed by your videos and I'm delighted to learn the old ways.
I'm loving this! I'd forgotten that 50 years ago I made a hay net for my pony out of the strings which bound the hay bales together, in the days before the horrid nylon strings they use now. I also recall most women had an expandable net shopping bag presumably made in a similar way! Glad to have found you Sally.
I never thought I could be interested in cordage making, net making or basket/bag making! It is surprising what you can be interested in by finding the right instructor! Many thanks to you for teaching this to me. And please keep on doing videos, they are really nice to watch.
Same. It's really interesting what stumbling over a random video can bring into your life. =)
She is an excellent teacher and that makes the subject that much more interesting
❤
Wow! When I’m crocheting in the round I had no idea that the basic technique goes all the way back to the neolithic!
I have done one with linen (flaxed processed into yarn). I had some left over flax. It wasn't quite tow, but it was the left over shorter fingers I didn't use in a spinning project. It got old because I didn't want to spin shorten length of flax. I corded it and made the loop and twist bag. I liked doing it, and had a satifying feeling getting something useful out of unwanted flax.
Dear Sally,
Everything about your channel is just superb! Your personality, your accent, and your KNOWLEDGE! Alongside your impeccable inclination for imparting it!
Thanks so much 😊
@@SallyPointer always a pleasure! 😁
its a "bagsket" !!!
this is soo cool. i love the idea of raffia to play with thanks!!!
Dear Sally...I do not often comment, yet wish to share, on this one, how deeply I appreciate fellow indigenous life skills creators/facilitators now providing content like this. We, and those now learning, have taken full advantage of this format of documentation to effectively preserve and share so much ancient knowledge that before most folks could not learn or appreciate the complexity of the "made world" humans have existed in for eons. Now with a field like "experimental archeology," which I would of loved to have gotten a chance to work in while in college, we are seeing even deeper understanding and sharing of these vernacular skills.
In this video you share a foundational skill I learned as a child, and have since come to see as a fundamental acquirement for those who practice traditional living at some level. I am wondering if you have come across any in academia that study such textiles as the foundational beginning of our species starting to understand the complexities of mathematics as it relates to the inherent application of geometric shapes, patterns, symmetry, and counting involved for the process of creating textiles? I believe many fail to understand that all of these..."primitive hand crafts"...(as many erroneously call them) hold within them all the cognitive elements of geometric patterning, reflectional symmetry mathematics, grid systematics, ratio application, transformations, sequencing, fractal patterning, and countless others that "modern humans" are just now beginning to really analysis with the help of computers...yet...our species have had this fundamental understanding at very complex levels for millenia.
Thank you once more for a wonderful video...
I've had several conversations with other archaeologists about how the mechanics of textile processing indicate that our early ancestors were using complex mathematical principles even if we have no real evidence of how they described them. It's a fascinating area
Ive just come back from a Nalbinding workshop held by my local Spinners &Weavers Guild , it was fascinating and now I've found you to help me remember the method and give more detailed and excellent instructions. Thank you so much . I love ancient skills .
I like the fact that you don’t have to make all the ‘yarn’ before you can start on creating a bag.
This is great!!! And thank you so so much for pointing out that raffia WILL work, I'm one of those that doesn't have much access to "wild grasses" as it were (or rather, there might be plenty of local plants that would work but I've no idea how to evaluate them). And this technique is so nice! I kept thinking as I watched that it's not unlike the sort of knot used for tying up a roast, haha. I suppose I have food and cooking on my mind since it's the morning after US Thanksgiving as I watch this! But that little extra twisting bit really seems like what I was told is a surgeon's knot: start like an overhand knot and put the string through twice. (Which I recognize might not at all be the actual knot, but boy is reading up on knots, macrame, etc VERY confusing for the newbie)
The bag design seems so versatile, too. Carry whatever you need - though my Oma might've called that a bread bag. But she grew up in what's now Poland, and lived many years in Germany between the two world wars: she used to tell me about going to the bakery every day and bringing home a little bag of Sammeln - which means "rolls" in German technically, but Oma seemed to use it to also mean some kind of small loaf of bread. But the way she described her bag, it had that net like structure. I don't doubt it was machine made and probably out of whatever material was cheap for the time and place, but that wasn't the kind of thing she discussed.
Lovely video and so nice to see you again! Thank you!
Your interesting video caught my eye, as I spent 25 years in Papua New Guinea, and learned how to make several versions of their Bilum bags. The older generations did indeed use many kinds of fibers including from tree bark. Now they pretty much use commercial yarns, and wind two strands together on their thigh to make a sturdier string. What you are doing appears to be another stitch variation of the same craft.
Love the chicken wire/honeycomb look. I have a bunch of Crocosmia leaves, dried and waiting for this project. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.🐔🐝❤
Thanks for that; Crocosmia is quite invasive here and it's good to know we can do something useful with it.
*::takes a deep breath and dives into the rabbit hole::*
That is an interesting fact. Do you just cut off the leaves and hang them up to dry?
@@jayneroberts919 Yes, depending on the size, you might need to cut our some of the centre stem that runs down the length of the leaf but usually it will soften enough to use, once wet.I've even twined them right off the mucky, fall ground, once they turn brown. You can twine the green, but there will be shrinkage.
Thank you so much. I get it that I'm supposed to be dazzled by things that are made out of recycled plastic, only to find out that the plastic is much more resistant to any form of natural deterioration after the recycling process. I'm inspired to discover what I can create that will be perfect for my needs using this method.
Brilliant !!!
The idea of recycling plastic and rendering it less environmentally harmful is nice but the reality is that recycled plastic has a lot of limitations. Even, perhaps especially, yarns made from recycled plastic or recycled synthetics, have some major drawbacks.
So I feel a bit guilty about not getting excited about recycled plastics.
I also _love_ the idea of taking natural materials and turning them into something quite different and useful.
As soon as I finished watching this video, I ordered raffia. I want to try making market bags. Thank you so much for all the brilliant videos.
Oh before I forget. The outer leaves of sweet corn can be torn when fresh into short raffia like strips when dried
The soak information is so useful! As a beginner, just playing around with material from my yard, oversoaking was a setback!
30 Nov 2024, Oh, dear, another temptation to buy a nalbinding needle.
I do not need any more crafts in my life.
I do not need any more crafts in my life.
I do not need any more crafts in my life.
If I just keep repeating it, maybe I'll believe it...
If I were going to make one of these bags I'd probably be looking at it as a shopping bag.
Good luck with your mantra, I've failed miserably at the same. 😅
@@maureenstrang6130: 2 Jan 2025, Ah, yes! I discovered Sally's shop and, among other things, ordered some fibre and nalbinding needles...
Just woke up and wanted to watch something inspiring and sensual to get my day going - and there was your video. Thank you!
I taught myself nålebinding a few years ago. So happy to see you doing it!
Sally, I have learned so much from you! I no longer live in the country where I could access all sorts of fibers, but I can certainly practice my techniques using commercial raffia. I knitted a Viking longboat as an homage to my cousin when she died, and my treasured handmade cordage formed the rigging on her ship. It meant so much to me to be able to hand make her whole longboat.
I could see how this became more important as people combined it with pottery to carry bottles/pots
Excellent....my goats are treading on their beautiful organic hay but im going to get busy with a hay net using this technique...thankyou for an excellent tutorial ❤😊
Exactly what i was looking for. Im always so thankful for you taking the time to share/make these vids.
Also you mentioned "in literature" on the difference of baskets and nets, id love if you could share a title or two
'Basketry Technology ' by Adovasio explores how we describe basketry structure in archaeology and is probably the main reference on the topic.
@SallyPointer thx
I've often looked at my banana trees and wondered if I could make twine. That might be too ambitious at the moment so I'll buy a hank of raffia and give it a go. Such a practical thing but so beautiful as well. I'm in Australia.
I've seen videos of people processing the banana trunk to make twine. It looks lustrous and very nice but they had the machinery especially for processing the fibre.
@SandraBonney It must have be done by hand before machinery was invented. I might try one winter so I don't get sun-stroke because I bet it will be hard work. Or I'll use raffia.🍌
Eastern US here.
I have Musa Basjo that reaches ten to fifteen feet tall in zone six and dies to the ground every winter and comes back from the corm in zone 6.
The fiber is called abaca, and it is used to make manilla rope that is rot and salt resistant.
You just cut it down in fall and carefully peel each leaf from the trunk like onion skin.
Lay them in a sunny spot till dry, and they split down easily for all kinds of twine and basketry projects.
@@randysmith5435 Thanks I'll google that. Australia has just had the hottest spring ever so hope we survive the summer. Too hot to garden so maybe I will make twine .
yay my favourite youtuber just uploaded! In all seriousness you're the only person i drop everything for as soon as i see the new video notification!
Wow, thanks!
What a satisfying video. I have long wanted to know how to do this. Thank you Sally.
I think this kind of bag would make an excellent market bag, or maybe use it to hold big shells or a catch of seafood. It's amazing what you can make with a little cordage and creativity!
Dear Lady, you have affected me greatly! I've fiddled with my horseradish stems, hibiscus bark, day lily leaves, and I'm planting nettles. The problem comes when I stare at the celery strings and wonder whether I should save them...
Beautiful ! Love the twist, will be using that technique. Ms Pointer you make Super tutorials. Thank You.
I have missed you.
It looks like the nailbinding version of single (foundation row) and double crochet! I had never really looked like nailbomdomf is done, very interesting
Good to see another instructional video from you!
Very good instructions! You have the gift of teaching. Cordage is in my opinion the first manufactured material that led to civilization. Thank you for all of your videos!
Love this. I've always wondered how these bags were made. Another skill to add to my reenacting repetoire. Thanks!
I always adore your videos. Such handy practical skills to have and always so calming to watch. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge
You are so welcome!
Always a delight! You are such a clear teacher
I love your videos, Sally; your teaching is so clear and easy to follow. And thank you for your mention of NZ flax; its probably the easiest fibre for me to source. Harakeke (four syllables, 'a' as in 'father', 'e' as in 'pet'), Phormium tenax, is a grass totally unrelated to European flax (Linum usitatissimum), but just as useful, and fairly ubiquitous in my part of New Zealand
Brilliant Sally … thanks so much … great tutorial
As always a lovely clear demo of what to do - thank you
What a wonderful video. Fascinating technique, explained in a very warm and easy to follow way. Feels like listening to a dear aunty. ❤
Thank you for the rafia info! I was thinking, oh this is neat I want to try this, only to get stumped at the question of what material to use, and as if by magic, you seqwayed to rafia!
I enjoyed your video immensely! I can’t wait to try my hands at it. Thank you!!!!
So interesting and your instructions are very clear.
Love it! Actually the dark background works better in contrast than the white cloth.
Brilliant work Sally ,you have such skills and knowledge. Excellent demonstration. Thank you from Scotland.
Hi Sally. I did try this before (only having a drawing of the stitch in a book) with one of my garden-plant fibers. It did not work out well. Now I saw your video I will try it again. I started twisting cordage of raphia (always have some of it, for garden use) while watching.
Oh. You're the reason I have a nalbinding tool, nail... needle.
I just harvested a bunch of yucca fiber so this video was great timing ❤ and i have made one of those thorne fibre combs i think its the coolest thing. I also made a fibre comb from the nail part of a deers foot works great
Maybe bags came after the baskets because bags are compact and can carry nearly anything a basket can. Easy to store and grab a bunch for the harvest. Tighter bags for small seeds and nuts. Eventually getting tight enough to hold the tiniest of seed. I have to try this way. I like the look and I have loads of fiber.
Thanks for sharing this interesting technique with us! I do love learning about these things.
Thank you
💗🎩💗
You just got yourself a new subscriber
So interesting !!!
Thanks a lot for sharing your wonderful skills.
Excellent video! Thank you!
I'm so grateful to find your channel, thank you for your wonderful knowledge and experience ❤.
What a wonderful profession. ❤❤
really cool! over the summer i grew linen as i was curious how easy or hard it is (very easy. i did literally nothing to it all year and got loads). now i just have to process it, but i certainly have this channel to thank for inspiring me to do this. would be fun to make one of these if i could out of what i get from the linen
I absolutely love learning from you. I’m so interested in finding different bast and ancient textiles based on region.
Absolutrly lovely and really quite easy and y9ou explain and demonstrate so well
Very interesting! Well demonstrated!
So glad I found you!
Thank you so much for your videos!
as always so interesting and well explained thank you Sally
Lovely! Beautiful, thanks ❤
I love your acorn and oak leaves dress!!
On jan 1, 26 California will go completely plastic bag-less. So i think during this next year i will make a bunch of bags this way to use. I wonder how much weight they can carry? I wonder if it can carry a gallon of milk... I will have to test this. There is a florist supply store a few miles away so i can get the rafia. Im intrigued by this now. I wonder if hemp cordage would be stronger, i can probably get hemp cheaper and would be more of a local material than rafia so maybe i will try that instead.
The weight shouldn't be a problem. I would suggest working in some kind of handle, though. Like two 4" pieces of round wood or something. Otherwise carrying anything heavy will make it cut into your hand really painfully.
Raffia or hemp are both more than strong enough for the purpose
@@raraavis7782 or a bit of macrame. I use a shopping net with thick yet flexible macrame handles and they're quite comfortable.
hey that’s great news California! I wish the rest of the states will follow you
Of course we can all do our own part..🛍️
I'm old enough that I remember the days when a lot of people had "string bags" that were actually made out of netted nylon i-cord. The "fabric" if I can use that word, was more open than these bags. On the positive side, you could squinch them up and put them in your handbag and then pull them out when needed and they held quite a lot of shopping.
Their two big negatives were that (a) small items like little jars of spice tended to fall out the holes and (b) the corners of heavy cardboard boxes (like clothes detergent, clothes detergent was usually powdered and therefore sold in cardboard boxes back then) would poke out and either rip your nylons or your legs.
From the look of it, these bags have a less open fabric which I think would mitigate both the problems above.
I live in a state in Australia where single use plastic bags have been banned for the best part of a decade. I have a collection of calico bags, and they get put through the wash from time to time. My favourite style of bag is the "bookbag" style, with a long, thick strap that I can put over a shoulder easily. I'd suggest that you go through your fabric stash (the fact that you're watching this video says to me that you have a fabric stash!) and use some left-over fabric to make some bags, as well as nalbinding/netting some like this.
Sally makes the cordage making and the nalbinding look easy, I think I'd need a bit (as in, a lot) of practice to get up to her standard and speed.
I LOVE this!
I love your videos and always get excited when a new one comes out ❤
Quick question, have you come across evidence of left handedness in your research?
I love that you always give instructions for left handed crafters, like myself. I've blown a few of my crochet and knitting friends away after explaining that i cant help and finish their projects because its been started right handed. They never knew there was a difference!
I have a feeling that there are a few examples of left handedness in prehistory, deduced from working angles in objects. Can't point at a specific paper offhand but if I get a chance I'll have a look
@SallyPointer thank you so much!
Always thoroughly enjoy your videos! Thank you!
This cordage reminds me a lot of sisal rope/string! (It's also called 'seagrass rope' in my native language).
I'll definitely try to make this with some sisal cordage! I'll save making my own for another time 🤭 But it's good to know raffia is a good fiber! It's easily available!
Wonderful video!
Thanks. I'm going to have to try this.
Hello Sally, thank you so much for your videos. They have enriched my life. I was wondering, with baskets like these, how do you maintain them? Do you need to wet them once in a while to not let them dry out? Thank you!
They should be stable as they are, but if they get out of shape, a quick rinse through and reshaping can really refresh them. Thank you for your kind words!
Thank you. Very inspiring.
31:00 We can coin a term and call it a bagsket. 😊.
I get so excited when I see your videos. Learning ancient skills, or at least watching them done is fun. RAFFIA! I have been wondering how I could make a simple carrier for a bottle of water on my saddle that is super light weight; I think you have shown me.
Also, the joining method is brilliant. I've used horse hair, and it is wiry, so I have never been pleased with any joinings. Thanks!
Thank you so very much
Lovely share.
I’m doing a piece of Ayrshire embroidery that has this technique in centre of flowers
Ooooh I would enjoy doing this.
I don't have a use for it, but looks like fun, I may try making it in the summer from daylilies.
That’s really cool. I think I noticed that it’s mostly like the same stitch was used in bilum bags from Papua New Guinea which from what I understand,it seems that most were nålbound. However I tried to do the stitch but it was very difficult to make,I remember that the simple loop of what others called buttonhole was very versatile in almost any country including the ones found that was made by the indigenous people of the Americas. I wonder for a request you could try making a replica of the Puebloan sock found in the southwest,though it was made with yucca and other plant material such as agave and they used some fur from either a coyote or other animal to insulate the feet during winter.
I've been looking at those socks just recently, definitely a great project
Thank you this is so interesting and helpful ❤
The stiffness would make it a good small fishing net, unlike the soft one.
I am wondering if brambles were ever used in a similar way to nettles? The 'middle aged' bramble runners are difficult to trim as they are tough. The new growth is too soft and the old growth gets very woody. Your collection of different fibres got me thinking as brambles are very common in the UK.
Have you seen my video on processing bramble for fibre? This sort of bag would work well in it
that first example is how i make dream catchers, except you don't use the tension for bags that i do for the dream catchers
I'd love to try this with yucca cordage at some point
comedy mustache ALWAYS helps
I am probably goint to try making cordage out of corn husk and see how that works.
That should do absolutely fine
Exquisitely done. Thank you for sharing
💙 Liked and subbed 💙
Very good
Isn't fantastic that a desire to get more than one fish at a time lead to all the textile arts? Your twisted stitch is also a needle lace stitch.
Great video as always Sally, thank you. I always like learning a new twist on cordage work😂
Have you made a video on how you process willow for fiber?
Would these have had a different top edge? To make the top where the drawstring is last a bit longer if it was used a lot? Though i guess if it wore thru you would just unravel and attach new cordage and remake the top rows.
Thank you for sharing your tutorials.
You can increase into the top row so that the drawstring goes through twice as many loops if you like, but I've never found it really necessary
In Sweden the material that she uses for this tutorial is called Bast.
Yes, raffia is a bast fibre, but like lime bast or willow bast.
Lovely ❤
I’m just wondering if an old-fashion “flower fakir” would work to split the raffia in the same way that as your homemade prickly tool does?
Might have to try that… :P
People often use the wire 'frogs' (pin holders) from florestry as flax hackles,
I am very interested in making cordage with horse hair. Not the tail hairs but the coat that sheds in spring. I’ve been saving his shed coat find a way to make it into cordage. My horse Icelandic. Thanks, Hedy
How does it behave if you make bundles of it and cord it compared to spinning it? Because of the lack of crimp you may find it's worth blending it with something else. Definitely need to experiment
really cool
Since the fibers are best worked damp, how do you re-dampen them if you have had to put the project down for a couple of days? Would you recommend re-wet the whole project again in the same way that you started it, or just use a spray bottle to wet the working ends of the cordage? I live in a very dry area and I know that the fibers will be very dry, even if left just overnight.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience with us!! The process of making cordage and using it has fascinated me and I have quite a stash of raffia that I now am excited to start using!
Raffia is pretty friendly to being redampened, I wet mine several times to block it with no problem
This was a very interesting and informative video. Thank you for making it.
On the whole, I think I find sprang weaving to be a more engaging topic than nalbinding. But at this point, anything is better than all of the ceaseless saddle stitching I'm having to do for Christmas presents. Bring on the nalbinding! Perhaps I mis-observed something, so I have to ask: does doubling or tripling up on the "twist" portion of this stitch stiffen the structure, or does it just make a mess of everything?
It definitely makes a stiffer structure in my experience
@SallyPointer Ah! Splendid. Thank you for the answer.