SMASH THE SHELL

I finished the main body of my Egyptian-style oval basket earlier this year.

Once the sides were about an inch shorter than the intended finished height, I rotated where I was holding the core to the inside face of the basket and kept coiling. I did this for one full round and then rotated back to the top of the previous coil to continue working the side of the basket to be a little higher. This creates a ledge to hold a lid along the inside of the basket.

I found it helpful to use a binder clip to stabilize the loose core materials between work sessions. You can see the clip and the Elderberry twig I am using as a gauge in these progress photos.

The top edge is finished simply by tapering the core down to nothing and continuing to coil as usual until reaching the end of the core and weaving in the end of the palm strip.

I am now working on making a passable lid — the challenge is getting it to be the right length and width to match the ledge on this base!