A basket made from a recycled book

A woven basket made from a recycled book

This basket made from a recycled book is created by folding small pieces of paper and interlocking them together. It takes a little while to make, but is made using one simple fold repeated many times, so once you have the hang of it, its really easy to do, and quite therapeutic too. This technique can also be used to fold and weave many other materials, so is really useful to know if, like me, you love to make all kinds of things from all kinds of materials!

To make this basket, the main thing you need is an old book. You could also try using some other type of material like magazines, newspapers or plastic wrappers of some sort if you are feeling adventurous. You will also need something to measure and cut your book (or other material) and a piece of cardboard for the base of the basket. I used cardboard recycled from some food packaging – the same thickness as a cereal packet – but doubled up so it was twice as sturdy.

To begin, you need to cut lots of rectangles that measure 12,5cm by 5cm. I managed to get exactly four out of each of my sheets of paper. You will need a lot of these rectangles to finish a basket. I used 32 for each, and made 4 layers to make a basket that is roughly 12cm in diameter and 10cm high. You will also need a few extra pieces to attach the layers together. I used 16. So to make the same basket as me, you need 144 rectangles!

Making the building blocks for your recycled book basket

Before attaching them together, you need to fold up the rectangles by following these steps :

1. Fold and unfold the rectangle in half lengthwise to find the central line.

2. Fold each edge into the central line lengthwise.

3. Fold in half lengthwise to make a long thin strip.

4. Fold and unfold in the other direction to find the central line.

5. Fold each edge to this central line.

6. Fold in half along this central line.

Now you have your basic building blocks for the basket.

Building the layers of your recycled book basket

The basket is made by constructing several rings of these folded pieces of recycled book and then joining them together. Here is how to build one of these rings :

1. Take two pieces of paper folded using the steps above.

2. You can see in the picture above that each folded rectangle has two loops, joined at one end like a V shape (or like some bunny ears). Insert the two loops (or ears) of one folded rectangle into the two holes of another. Push it down to the bottom of the V shape.

3. Join the next piece by putting the two loops of a third piece into the two holes of the second loop, making sure to work in a zig-zag pattern.

4. Continue in the same way – always working in a zig-zag shape. Until you have used the correct number of pieces. You can use any number you want, depending on how big you want your basket to be, just make sure it is an even number, and that you use the same number for each ring of your basket.

5. To close the ring, you need to open up the very first piece -the one you started with – on one side.

This is a bit scary, but don’t panic. Even if you do mess up, you can simply take this piece off completely, and add it to the other end (as if you were adding just one more piece to your zig-zag) and start again.

6. Now you need to thread this piece through the last piece you added to your zig-zag. We are aiming for the same final result as when we joined the other pieces, but since it is the end of the loop, we have to do it a little differently. First thread the unwoven first piece of paper through one loop of the last piece, so it lines up in a ring, still following the zig-zag shape. Tuck the extra, short piece into this loop too.

7. Thread the unfolded strip of paper back down the second loop of the last piece. The photo below is taken from the other side, once it has been threaded through.

8. This is the most fiddly step. Fold the end of the first piece down the middle of the last piece, between the two loops. Use a cocktail stick, or another object to help you push it in, if you are having trouble.

It’s done! Now make as many rings as you want for your basket. Pile them on top of each other, and stop when you are happy with the final height.

Finishing the basket

To finish of the your basket made from a recycled book, you need to weave the rings together and add the bottom of your basket. Here’s how:

1. Pile the rings on top of each other.

2. Fold a piece of paper using the strips above, but only up to step 3, so you have a long thin strip.

3. Thread this strip through all of your rings from top to bottom, weaving through the existing folds.

4. Do this in several places around your basket, in both diagonal directions.

5. Glue these strips in place to hold the basket together.

6. Cut a circle of cardboard the right size for the base of your basket and glue it together. I used a glue gun to glue two pieces of card together before gluing around the rim to keep it in place.

And your basket made from a recycled book is now complete!

To have a go at making this basket made from a recycled book, or to make something else entirely, come along to the event Second Square #5 at Carreau du Temple this weekend. I will be there and will be running a small workshop on the theme How many different objects can we make from a recycled book?