The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, July 5, 1903, Page 12

12 WYVYY NN AT YV YV Y AT YYY Y SASANISAAARAAARAAALAA AANKAAAAANAL & AAA. ~T oo 4 " ’ & ecarned how to make an India ? Well, If 30u have succee s dodging the ape by 1 the bas- made them so on all kinds Wharton James s dis There are five s of . ali of which it re The mat. 2-— 3—The ¢.—The coll. b.— es has written a book Mezke Indian and Other e most complete and e ever published. It is source that the fol- i excellent s reprinted cke the uncontaminated In- work of art, in which hope, desire. love, reilg poetry, e. mythology. were al wove Hence the work epirit as far remove commercialism, pass- as it was from that ess or indifference. weaving material for un- ngers §t is soft and flexible and dled. As strength and digital stronger materials can y as they afford so much ties for the exercise of art c effort. « rame given to a Madagas- s a long leaf, over fifty 4 thus the tree Is often seventy feet high to the The leaf itself s very useless for this stripped from its pliable. of the most popular of L , because it is ble and fissile. TY the importance n 8 mere baske as k ght rattan into marked prominence. Pry ed for commerce rat- tan is stripped of its leaves and bark and is put up In bundles or round or flat strips, numbered from 1 to 15, No. 1 be- ing the finest and the most expensive, Nos and 4 are common sizes, and Nos. 5 and 6 being used for coarser work. Buckeye splints are good and several kinds are well adapted to this purpose, the wood being white, soft, spongy and easily worked. The wood splints of com- merce are purchased in long, wide strips. To prepare these for basket work two GEORGE WHARTON JAMES WITH VAHO WEDDING BASKET cutting implements are used. The broad is placed inside the groove of the sii h has three or more tiny but sharp knives protruding from its base. As the splint is drawn through the cutter it is cut into the desired width, the knives being set by Bauge oOr screw. Where no cutter is to be had the strips may be made with scissors, but this is a laborious task. matter of dyeing set firmly and in your minds that aniline dyes nathema” to all all true basketry They are the *‘accursed things” ring sorrow into the camp of the . Do not touch them. Discour- se in others, Vegetable dyes are softer in tone, more harm us, more permanent and better in a with basketry work. The loud ones of aniline colors do not suit flexible work as basketry Tolearn todye well is a liberal education in many things. One basket-maker found in the purple iris a dve almost as deep as its own blossom. The faded flowers are le liquid, and, when they attan, r it a beautiful quite as fast as most dyes. As a rule all materials and dyes need a mordant. This is to “fix” the dye. Alur is a good ordinary mordant and can be had, cheaply. anywhere. As a general however. chemistry teaches that where you have an acid dye It is well to have an alkali mordant, and when an al- kall acid mordant. Some suggest the use of a sclution of alum dissolved in a quart of water. Others prefer much less. preferably about four ounces to two gallons of water. When the alum is well dissolved place the liguid in a small tub and soak the ma- terial to be dved for fully two hours. This allows the fiber of the raffia or rat- tan to take up the mordant, and thus prepare for the permanent fixing of the dye—a thing much to be desired. Saffron can be bought from the drug- gists and is easy to handle. This gives & bright yellow. Onion skins give a dull yellow that is very satisfactory. GREEN.—Indigo, to be purchased from any druggist, gives the color for blue, but it must be confessed it is difficult to han- dle without experience. Learners will find that indigo will not dissolve in water. Sul- pburic acid will dissolve it, but the acld will rot the material to be used. So be- fore the material is immersed, the acid must be neutralized by an addition ofsoda. The sulphuric acid Is poured on the in- digo, drop by drop, and stirred vigorously, causing the liquid to foam in an alarm- ing manner. There is nothing to fear, however, As soon as the indigo is fully dissolved, add water and put in the soda until it stops foaming. Be sure to keep your hands out of this mixture. Use & stick to stir it with. It is well to make plenty of this mixture, which keep stir- ring often. This allows the soda to com- pletely neutralize the sulphuric acid, and the dye can be used with safety, diluting with water when used. RED.—Cochineal, though animal, is sug- gested for a aark, deep red. Combined with cream of tartar it gives a bright red. Madder gives a dull red and can be bought from the druggists in powder form. Cran- berries give a dull red, and beets a color similar but more satisfactory. The poke berry gives & purple red. You will not care to handle the poke berries, as they staln t.e hands badly. ORANGE.-Dragon’s blood ‘gives a pleasing orange. The powder can be bought from any druggist. Do not buy it in stick form, as water will not readily dissolve the etick, and alcohol must be used for .‘e purpose. The powder is much er to handle. BROWN AND PURPLE.—Logwood ex- tract gives a fine brown, and combined with ammonia a good purple. Walnut and hickorynut shells can be used with good results, and one will find great pleasure in experimenting with barks from different trees. TAN.—Sumac lea and stems give & ®good tan, while the fruit gives a reddish or what might be termed a light or pink tan. But this dye i never strong, even though a large quan!lly of the leaves are used: TO MAKE THE DYES.—For a dye pot o good enamel kettle is as serviceable us anything. All the materials are to be boiled. A general proportion ‘to be ob- terved Is two ounces to one galion of wa- ter. This gives a fairly strong 8ye. It can be diluted, if necessary, and if found not strong enough can either be boiled down or more material used. In using beets, put in about five or six large beets to a gallon of water. If these do not produce the desired effect put in more. Cranberries, use about one pouud to a gallon of water. Butternut bark, walnut shucks, sumac, pokeberries, onion skins, all that can be held in both hands; a little more will do no harm. All the above will generally give their color with half an hour’s good bojling On the other hand, cochineal needs fully two hours to produce good results. TO DYE THE MATERIALS.—First mordant as before described. Be sure and strain the dye, as if there is any sediment it is llable to arrest the work of the dye and give Irregular color effects. In every case the dye must be boiling when the material i{s immersed. Let i: remaln in the liquid from fifteen to twen- ty minutes. If this is not enough (as ex- periment will soon demonstrate) let it re- main longer. Keep turning the material over and over, always using a wooden stick for the purpose, so that the color may evenly reach all parts. THE SUNDAY CALL. TOOLS AND TERMS USED.—The bas- ketmaker should be provided with the following tools. A needle (about & No. § tapestry needle to begin with), strong scissors, an awl about four inches long. a small hammer, a yard measare and a foot rule; a sharp knife, a small plat pliers or pincers; a narrow plece of heavy iron or steel that can be used as a ham- mer between the spokes of a basket. Rub- ber thimble and finger caps are usefu., when these members are tender. HOW TO BEGIN.—It will be seen that carrying nets were and are made by the Mission Indians of California. The Pimas now have a carrying basket in which the net s used. Various materials can be used in this work. Twisted hemp, rushes, bralded raffia and yucca fiber. Even unbraided yucea may be used. It should be slight- ly dampened for several hours before us- ing it. One of the simplest things to be- gin on is a handkerchief bag. BSecure twelve strands of raffia of two colors and a stick about & yard long and one and one-halt inches wide. Hold the stick !n an easy position so that a strand of raf- fia may be doubled and tled around the stick. Draw the knot tight. Put on the rest of the strands in a like manner. Separate to about an inch knot each strand at gbout the distance of en inch with the nearest strand of the next pair. Make even meshes all the way across. Continue this all the way down for five or six rows, narrowing the meshes toward the bottom. Then slip the knots from the stick and proceed to close up the bug by knotting the loose ends to- gether, At the bottom the whole of the strands are gathered together and tied with a sin- gle or braided effect. The ends are then cut evenly, a length of plaited rafia put through the upper mesh and tied, the bag is complete. A pretty effect is caused by loosely bralding the strands of two bottom rows of meshes before knot- ting them. e THE WRAPPED WEFT type of weav- ing was employed by the Mound Bullders of the Mississipp! Valley and is still used by the Mohaves. A rigid hoop fis sus- tained by four uprights, all rigidly af- fixed at the bottom. The warp extends from the top to the bottom, firmly fas- ened to the hoop at the topandrigid mem- bers at the bottom. The weft, of twine or yucca fiber, is fastened to one of tne rigid uprights and then wrapped once around each wrapped element, continuing in a coil until the top is reached. TWINED WEAVING.—This is the most intricate and elegant of all woven work. Professor Mason thus writeswof the varie- tles of twined weaving as follows: Twined work has a set of warp rods or rigid elements, as In wickerwork, but the weft elements are commonly admini: tered in pairs, though In three-ply twi ing and in braid twining three weft el ments are employed. In passing from warp to warp these elements are twisted in half-turns on each other, so as to form & two-ply or three-ply twine or braid. Ac- cording to the relation of these weft ele- ments to one another and to the warp different structures result as follows: 1. Plain twined weaving, over single warps. 2. Diagonal twined weaving or twill, over two or more warps. 3. Wrapped twine weaving, or bird- cage twine, in which one weft element remains rigid and the other strapped about the crossings. 4. Latticed twined weaving, tee or Hud- son stitch, twined work around vertical warps crossed by horizontal weft element. & & Three-ply twined weaving and brald- fng in several styles: 1 PLAIN TWINED WEAVING.—The primitive mode of weaving requires a set of warp elements arranged parallel to each other. Two splints or weaves com- pose the woof and they are twisted with @ half-turn around each warp stem. The Aleut and Halda baskets are made In this weave. 2 DIAGONAL TWINED WEAVING.— The only difference between this style and the plain is In the manner the woof weavers cross the warp strands. The technic consists in passing over two or more warp elements at each half turn; there must be an odd number of warps, for in the rest round the same pair of warps are not Included in the half tv The ridges, therefore, on the outside pot vertical as in plain twined weaving, but pass diagonally over the surface. 3. WRAPPED TWINED WEAVING.— In this weave element the twine Is passed horizontally along the uprigut warp stem, generally on the Inside, while the other is wrapped around it and the wpright warp. The variations of one row of stitches inclining to the right and the other to the left is caused by the weaver's wrappMig from above or below. When.the pows of these stitches are forced closely wpon one another the eftect is the exact method followed by the Neah Bay weav- s 4. LATTICE TWINED WEAVING.—It is Delieved that this form of weaving is con- = DIAGONAL WEAVE S COILED BASKETS fined to the Pomas and is known under the name of Ti Weave “The ti (pro- nounced tee) twined weaving consists of four elements—(a) the upright warp of rods, (b) & horizontal warp crossing these at right angles, (c and d) a regular plain twined weaving of two elements, holding the warp firmly together. Baskets made in this fashion are very rigid and and frequently the hoppers of milis f grinding acorns, and also water-tight jars, are thus constructed.” 5. THREE-PLY TWINED WEAVING.— The three-ply twined weaving is the u of three weft splints and other kinds weft elements instead of two, and the: are four ways of administering the we vig.: (a) three-ply twine, (b) three-ply brald, (c) three-ply false embroidery, tlinkit, (4) frapped, Skokomish. It might be just as well to say that In all rafia work care should be taken to cut off locse ends as the wWeaver pro- gresses with her work. In rattan, splint, willow and other ware small fibers will split off from the work, and these can bs either singed off or rubbed off with a fine sandpaper. In singeing be careful not te scorch the basket. While the work is damp it can sasily be twisted into shape, hence before it is al- lowed to dry ome should correct all irreg- ularities. See if the shape is as it should be; especially examine the loops of the border and see that they are all of the same size; make the bottom flat and the ud te At FINE YOKUT BASKET IN THE COLLECTION OF: GEORGE WHARTON JAMES OPI KATCHINA BASKET IN [HE COLLECTION OF GEORGE