Naturally dyed raffia & Basket weaving
Learn how to dye raffia with plants and flowers then weave your own basket.
Learn these ancient crafts
Making baskets is one of the oldest known crafts that humans first started doing. It is the most widespread craft and can be found in almost every part of the world.
Archaeologists have found evidence of textile dyeing dating back to Neolithic period. But I would guess that plant dyeing (such as raffia) probably dates much further than that.
Discover the joy of creating your very own basket using beautifully coloured raffia.
Over 3 hours of videos in small bite-size segments, with written instructions. Shared in a way as if you’re right beside us at our kitchen table, garden or craft space.
Your raffia basket course opened up a whole new creative world for me. Thank you so much. I've made many raffia baskets, twined with sumac leaf stems, dyed raffia and daylily leaves, made a sweetgrass basket, and now am experimenting with willow. All from the confidence gained in your online course. I've wanted to make baskets for a very long time....and now I am! Thanks Ellie.
Darlene
Hi, We’re Rebecca & Ellie
Natural dyers & textile artists.
Rebecca is based in the UK, and Ellie lives in Australia.
We’ve been friends for many years and through the magic of the internet, we’ve joined up to offer this course together. We’re really so excited about being able to share Dye raffia & make Baskets with you!
We’ve both been dyeing with plants for a decade and love to empower others to get started with slow, mindful crafts.
Rebecca Desnos specialises in natural dyeing with foraged and homegrown plants, and has written a number of books, including Botanical Colour at your Fingertips and Grow Your Own Colour.
Ellie Beck is a textile artist, writer, photographer, and creativity coach. She’s the author of the book Mindful Thoughts for Makers, and has been teaching online and in-person for over 15 years.
Join us in our studios where we will inspire you on your own creative journey.
What tools and materials do I need?
For the basket weaving:
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Raffia is made from the leaves of a Palmyra palm, a tree native to Madagascar. The leaves on the raffia palm are approx 10 metres long or more, and the segments are dried and shredded becoming the raffia fibre we use. These vary in length depending on their position on the leaf. Segments range in length from 1-2 metres; with the shortest strands coming from the base and tip, and longest, best quality strands coming from the middle.
I get mine undyed and then dye it myself, but you can also purchase it already coloured if you like.
Please make sure to source real palm raffia as it’s an actual plant and can biodegrade after use, as well as take natural dyes.
You might find paper raffia in some shops, and this is ok to use. But please do try to not use plastic raffia (a lot of big-box stores sell this).
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You can use either a metal or plastic needle. You’ll need a tapestry needle with a blunt nose. Generally about a size 13 is good.
The blunt nose means that you won’t pierce the raffia as you’re stitching.
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These aren’t a requirement, but optional extras. You might want to weave in some beads, ribbons, feathers as you go. Look out for treasures, keep your natural dye fabric scraps and test pieces.
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string (from a hardware store can work), fabric, twine or jute.
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Fine sharp scissors, a basket to store your raffia (It can get a bit messy), a cup of tea, a friend to weave with
For the natural dyeing:
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You’ll need a pot to do your dyeing in. Make sure this is something that you won’t be using in the kitchen for cooking. You can find large pots at op-shops / thrift-stores, or kitchen supplies shops.
Look out for both aluminium as well as stainless steel.
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Things like tongs and spoons (large and small), and bowls (stainless steel), rubber gloves, sieve.
Natural dyeing is a little like cooking, so you will need similar things, but make sure you don’t use them in the kitchen for cooking.
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You can do natural dyeing in your kitchen, but make sure you have good ventilation. Even though it’s “natural”, a lot of things still have an effect on you and your family.
I dye inside as well as using a camping gas cooking stove outside in my garden.
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Also called iron. Use this to darken your dyed raffia or fabric.
You can buy this from natural dye suppliers (see my resources page)
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Or aluminium sulphate for mordanting silk. Available from dye suppliers.
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Used for pretreating cellulose fabric.
You can also make your own use soya beans
Ready to join us?
add some mindful making to your life
enrol now
$97us
Over 2 hours of videos presented into bite-sized segments
Step-by-step how to for making a basket using raffia
Dyeing raffia, fabric and yarn using avocado skins & seeds, fresh indigo leaves, pomegranate skins, tea & onion skins
Written dye recipes
Bonus written instructions for growing your own fresh indigo
On-demand and lifetime access to the whole course
I just wanted to say thank you for your wonderful raffia course. I'm slowly working my way through it and am enjoying getting lost in the process. It's definitely a moving meditation and lovely to feel connected to a craft that is so old.
Nicole
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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This is an online course with immediate and life-time access. You can watch the videos as many times as you like, whenever you like.
The course is housed on my special online course site, Teachable. Upon purchase you’ll receive links to create your own account.
Teachable can be viewed on your desktop as well as via their app (alas, not for android)
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You’ll get lifetime access to all my courses, and can watch them whenever you want. This is an on-demand video course.
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The course is available for immediate access, and you can watch the videos whenever you want for as long as you want.
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Yes! With step-by-step videos you’ll feel like you’re in our studio and garden beside us.
If you’ve never done any natural dyeing before, Rebecca will help you feel confident to step into the world of creating colour using plants, leaves and metals.
I share my basket weaving from the very start, so if you’ve never done anything like it before you’ll learn right beside me.
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Due to the digital nature of my courses I don’t offer a refund. But of course I always want you to be happy, so if you feel the course isn’t as described please contact me.
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Oh, yes, send me an email and I’ll help you out. ellie@petalplum.com.au
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My online courses are all sold in US$. You can check out a currency converter here. Your credit card will automatically work out their conversion.
I charge gst if you live in Australia.
