Coiling
SOFT TOOLS / Winding
Coiling is part of the bigger category of basketry. Simply put, coiling is a winding technique, in which the main and dominant element – for example a cord – is winded or wrapped around a core element. Doing so, it coils the different elements from the core together.
Coiled baskets appeared early in time. The first ones were discovered in Egypt, and date from the Neolithic era. As they were light, they fitted the nomadic lifestyle better than ceramic vessels. They are created by winding flexible plant fibers from a center outward in a spiral and then sewing the structure together. This spiral nature limits them to circular objects; beehive containers – also called skeps – were built this way for hundreds of years, and straw hats still are today. Its spiral shape makes it easy to identify a coiled basket. Some books claim that coiling is more like sewing than weaving (see illustration).
Soft Connection Lab decided to integrate this winding technique into the research because it allows us to connect all kinds of different materials together and allows to connect shorter pieces of material. Although the spiral characteristics might be seen as a limitation, it also allows us to challenge this restriction and see if this Winding Soft Tool can be used outside of its traditional context.
ROOTS
The oldest known coiled baskets were discovered in the Governorate of Fayoum just 100 kilometers southwest of Cairo. Carbon-dated to the Neolithic era between 10.000 and 12.000 years ago, these baskets date back even before any pottery vessel saw life. They were too heavy and too fragile to be useful to far-traveling hunter-gatherers. Though baskets in general might’ve been tremendously practical for the societies they were used in, for the historians and archeologists who have been trying to discover their history, they are in fact rather difficult. Because baskets were always made of natural fibers that unless were intentionally preserved, they decayed and perished with the passing of time. This means that much of the history of baskets has been lost and is largely based on speculation.
Traditionally the foundation of a coiled basket was made up of one, two, three, or sometimes more slender plant shoots, bundles of grass or shredded plant fibers, pine needles or a combination of grass and sticks. The materials used to coil baskets were plant fibers such as blades of sweet grass, willow twigs or pine needles. They were all bundled together. These could be used for the coil/the core itself as well as for the winding element that is stitching the coils – which sometimes consist of loose elements – together.
Coiling begins at the center of a basket and grows upon itself in spiral rounds, each attached to the round before. In other words, a single element, often a cord or a strand of fiber, is wrapped or wound in a continuous spiral around itself, respectively around the coil or the core. The designs are not made by changing the weave, but rather by using a different color sewing thread, changing the direction of the coil, manipulating the coil, using different materials as the coil or as the stitching material.
Imbrication, a decorative technique unique to coiled baskets made by Salishan people of the Pacific Northwest, involves folding a strip of grass, bark or other fiber under each sewing stitch on the outer surface of the basket.
TRADITIONAL APPLICATIONS
Coiled baskets were used for all sorts of functions, from storing food to clothes, even coffins and sandals were made using the coiling technique. Some claim even that due to the scarcity of wood in ancient Egypt, baskets were used instead of cupboards to store things. In the tomb of Tutankhamun 120 baskets were discovered.
North- & South America
Along the southeast coast of North America long leaf pine needles (20-30 cm) were used to coil baskets. Meanwhile northeastern native Americans often coiled sweet grass (Hierochlo odorata) or yucca fibers into coiled baskets. Some researchers mention that coiling sweetgrass baskets was introduced by enslaved people in the seventeenth century.
The baskets made in the US could widely vary in size and purpose. While closely coiled baskets were used to carry water, others were used to storage food, or as hats or seed beaters.
Africa
Coiled baskets can be found worldwide. Sometimes it is even striking how similar the design is. In Uganda, they used the coiled baskets to shore bread, herbs, medicine or even coffee beans.
Mudhif
A Mudhif is a traditional reed house made by the Ahwari people (also known as Marsh Arabs) in the swamps of southern Iraq. In the traditional Ahwari way of living, houses are constructed from reeds harvested from the marshes where they live. A Mudhif is a large ceremonial house, paid for and maintained by a local sheik, for guests or as a gathering place for weddings or funerals.
Europe
In Europe the materials used were often bundles of grass, such as rye or wheat. Coiling was used to make baskets in general but also beehives.
Watch & Learn
Strictly speaking, weaving coiled baskets is a sewing technique, as the basket-maker can use a needle to punch holes in the core/the coil through which the maker draws sewing strands.
The most important element of coiling is the stitch that holds everything together. There are different stitches and there are also differences in how to apply them. You can choose to place the stitches close together to completely cover the core, or you can space the stitches and leave the core visible. The spacing is often related to the function of the object; a sieve was traditionally widely spaced, while a milk basket was traditionally closely spaced. You can also decide to wrap around the core in between stitching.
In The world according to basketry, Willeke Wendrich makes a distinction between engaged or non-engaged coiled basketry. The most common form of coiling is engaged. This means that the active strand wraps around the bundle or core, and by doing so, stitches through the bundle or core of the previous row. Not engaged coiling means that the strand wraps alternately around one or two bundles.
Traditionally, the coiling technique leads to round or oval baskets. But you can use your fantasy and create any shape you like.
START TO COIL
Here you’ll find a basic tutorial about coiling and about the spiral stitch you can use.
VARIATIONS ON STITCHES
A lot of variations of stitches are possible, such as the overhand stitch (or whipstitch), the figure-8 coil stitch or more decorative stitches, such as the split, the V-shaped and checkerboard stitch.
