Our Hands Will Speak Willow : A Round Willow Basket Course

This in depth video course will guide you through the full process of making a round wicker basket. Throughout the course we will share nuanced tips from our experience as weavers as well as draw upon traditional techniques that have been passed through a lineage of basket makers. The course consists of a series of videos so that you can easily take breaks and revisit the steps as needed.

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sliding scale at a glance:

enter discount codes at checkout + payment plan also available at checkout

Tier 1: full price $178
Tier 2: $152 SLIDINGSCALE15
Tier 3: $125 SLIDINGSCALE30
Tier 4: $89 SLIDINGSCALE50
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In supporting this project you are directly supporting the work of an indigenous woman.
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Scroll further down our course page if you would like to read more info on our sliding scale.

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With the growing and growing light and song of spring comes the offering up of our first basket course at Coyote Willow School House !

This course is a gem. Our inspiration to create this school and these courses was sparked by messages from so many near and far with a wish to learn to make baskets. Taking this to heart we collaborated with an amazing friend and camera wizard to bring you high quality video teachings that walk you through the full process of weaving a willow basket .

With our combined basket making & teaching experience we have a keen sense of the important pieces to touch on in the process and the variety of questions folks have while learning & making a basket - a process that asks for dedication, patience, humor, and at times, humility - a reminder that willow is indeed the teacher here. We offer up a variety of camera perspectives in each lesson, most important being the over the shoulder perspective, as well as have full subtitles on all our videos. The course is self-paced and the content is clear and well organized in a way that moves you through the basket so that you can easily take breaks and revisit the steps as needed or refer back to certain techniques in future baskets.

Whether you’re a seasoned basket maker or new to the craft, this course is a joy to move through. If you’ve been wishing to learn willow basketry this course has everything you need to begin! And that’s the invitation here, to start making baskets, and keep making em.

We’ve had so much fun making this course - imagining all the willow-soaked hands and baskets to come and can’t wait to share it with you !

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What's included in the course:

High quality, clear, well-organized video lessons walking you through the full process of weaving a round willow basket - subtitles available for all video lessons.
Foundational information & techniques to willow stake and strand basketry opening the way to weave many baskets of various shapes and sizes - including preparing your willow for weaving, choosing your materials, tools and knife work, pairing, 3 rod wale, french rand, finishing techniques, borders, handles and different ways of finishing, and adding the foot.
Access to our community forum THE RIVER & THE ROWBOAT where you can post in-process and finished work, curiosities, questions about the course content, and be in communication with other folks on their basket making journey.
Access to seasonal Live Q & A calls with basket makers Mo & Aganaq (2024 dates TBA)

***We strongly encourage folks to bring their questions to the community forum and to the comments portion of the website while their moving through the course. As well as showing up for any of the Q & A calls you can participate in. We love hearing from you, taking in your questions, and answering them full of thought and care.***

((Materials for this course are not provided but folks can sign up for our Courting Willow course for an in depth dive into gathering, growing, or purchasing materials for your baskets. Check out the list at the bottom of this page for some recommendations on where to find cured willow for your baskets. We recommend connecting with local basket makers and following the threads in your communities/ home ecologies to find willow for your baskets!!))

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Sliding Scale

The Coyote Willow School House has decided to work with sliding scale pricing! While early bird and seasonal discount codes are a great way for folks to save on courses we feel they are still limiting and not fully representative of the type of accessibility we would like to offer.

Choosing a siding scale tier is a personal decision- the Green Bottle image shown below is a pretty great model that can help folks assess where they may fall within a sliding scale.

While the Green Bottle model offers 3 tiers, we offer 4 and with a little extra explanation.

Sliding Scale Tiers:

+++Payment Plans of 4 payments are available for all when you purchase the course +++

Tier 1: full price $178
Reserved for folks whose bottles are pretty much full. Folks who are well resourced and lean towards financially supportive members of their community, people who have financial resources to offer. These folks have good paying jobs or do not need to work for money and have stable housing or own property. If this is you we are so grateful for your full price payment! Your support by paying full price comes as an incredible affirmation to the work we are doing and allows us some wiggle room to offer this course to the folks on the lowest end of the tier! Thank you for this support!!!

Tier 2: $152 *15% off* Code: SLIDINGSCALE15
Reserved for folks whose bottles fluctuate between pretty full and not so full but never empty. Folks who still need to work hard to obtain security and stability in their life. They can and do offer support to their community when they can but still fall into moments of need. If this is you we see you! Thank you for joining us here, we know your time and resources are of great value and we are honored to be a part of your basketry learning journey!

Tier 3: $125 *30% off* Code: SLIDINGSCALE30
Reserved for folks whose bottles are never full. These folks work so hard for every necessity in life and often cannot work enough to obtain all the necessities this society deems necessary for survival. Community support often keeps these folks afloat. If this is you we are so so grateful that you are here and that you see value in our offerings! Thank you for supporting us. We hope that these courses may bring you so much joy!

Tier 4: $89 *50% off*Code: SLIDINGSCALE50
Reserved for marginalized folks. These folks are up against systemic oppression in ways that white/euro-descent able bodied cis/het folks cannot and will not ever be able to understand. These folks move through each day with an incredible level of strength, courage, and resiliency that was never by choice but due to circumstance. If this is you, know that you are a gift to this world. Thank you for being here! We are grateful for your support and to be a part of your basketry learning journey!

Come Weave!

sourcing cured willow for your baskets

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Here are some willow growers in the u.s. for sourcing cured willow for your basket weaving. We will update this list as more willow growers offering up willow in this way come into awareness (and there are definitely more coming!) For now, here’s what we’ve got. Some of the growers offering cured willow will have more to offer in 2024. We fully encourage folks to support local willow growers whenever possible and also are aware that it can be out of reach for folks in terms of cost, which is why we encourage supporting growers, growing your own/community tended patches, and forming relationship with the wild willow growing near you so that your hands can begin weaving in a way that feels accessible to you!

Often there is a minimum weight limit for shipping which will get you at least 2 - 3 small baskets worth of materials . The number of sticks you need for your baskets is included in the course content- so if you contact these growers and they say yes! we have willow for you! then you can feel confident that you will have all the information you need to place an order for your weaving project when you sign up for the course. Often these willow growers are happy to work with folks on finding the right materials for their projects .

Branch Ranch
Canada

Willowglen Nursery
Iowa

Willowbrook Basket Farm
Sandra Kehoe – grower and teacher

Living Willow Farm
Ohio

India West Craft
keep an eye out for offerings from India's polyculture in Indiana!

Willamette Willows

Oregon
Scheduled to sell basketry willows 2024

Ready to weave!

+++ Disclosure +++

We bring you this offering from a place of dedication to our weaving work over the past decade. Your support of this work through purchasing this class makes possible our ability to provide ourselves with basic needs like housing, the ability to feed and tend to ourselves and our communities, continuing our weaving and teaching practices as well as making this offering accessible to others. We acknowledge that we are all living within late stage capitalism, climate crisis, and continued and worsening injustices and exploitation of peoples worldwide.. This project is a dream and a seed we are excited to share, and although we want this offering to be available forever, we must disclose that it will exist only as long as it’s sustainable for us to offer. We kindly ask that this course is purchased as individuals and not as groups and that you honor our offering by keeping this content close and that when you’re ready, share and teach in your own developed style to those who come to you to learn... please continue the lineage in a good way.