Rush Basketmaker

Rush basketmakers and rush weavers create traditional woven baskets, storage containers, and rush-seated chair panels using English rush (Scirpus lacustris), willow, cane, sea grass, and other natural plant fibres. Rush weaving for chair seats involves cutting and twisting rush into continuous strands, working a figure-of-eight pattern over and under chair rails to produce a woven seat panel that, when dry, contracts and hardens into a firm, resilient surface. Basketry involves staking-and-strandweaving, using upright stakes of willow or cane and interwoven horizontal weavers to build a basket from base to border.

Additional techniques include coiled basketry (winding a core of fibre and sewing it with a binding stitch), twined basketry, and decorative variations using coloured or dyed materials. Chair caning — a distinct but related craft — uses pre-woven sheet cane or hand-woven cane patterns (six-way weave) to reseat antique chairs. Each of these crafts requires understanding of natural fibre preparation: rush must be dampened to working consistency; willow must be selected by variety and cut at the right season; cane grades vary from 00 to 6 for different applications.

The Craft and Guild of Fine Arts (CGFAS) and the Basketmakers' Association support the craft community through workshops, demonstrations, and exhibitions. No statutory qualification exists — skill demonstrated through practice and portfolio is the standard. Most rush and basket makers are self-employed, combining production work with teaching.

Rush seating of antique chairs is a repair and restoration service with consistent demand — every antique chair with a rush or cane seat that wears out requires a skilled hand weaver, and no machine process can substitute. The antiques restoration market, country house furniture collections, and private clients with valued antique furniture sustain this work. Contemporary basketry has experienced a significant revival as a sustainable, plant-based material practice — gallery exhibitions, craft fairs, and online sales support a growing community of practitioners. Teaching rush and basketry courses provides a reliable income stream in parallel with commission work. The materials are low-cost and renewable; the primary asset is skill.

Morning: soak a bundle of English rush in the garden trough — select rushes of consistent width, sort by length, and begin weaving a drop-in rush seat for a Victorian dining chair. Work the figure-of-eight pattern around the chair rails, packing tightly and maintaining even tension through the seat. Afternoon: complete the rush seat, tuck the final ends, and begin the second chair from a matching set. End of day: prepare materials for a weekend willow basketry workshop — weigh and sort willow stakes and weavers by variety, soak the tips, and set up the workshop space with a template base for each participant.