Leather Handled Tote Basket
A generous tote basket with premium leather handles for a modern-rustic look.
Watch as soon as you've paid. The lessons open in your account, on a phone, tablet or computer, and you can come back to them as often as you like.
What's in the course
7 lessons · 58 min- 016 min
Intro & Starting the Base
A look at what's in the kit and the tools you'll want close by, then soaking the reed and weaving the base.
- 029 min
Adding the Leather Loops
Setting the leather loops in place before the sides go up, so they're woven into the basket rather than added after.
- 0311 min
Weaving the Sides
Turning the stakes up and weaving the sides as the shape flows from the square base to an oval, and how to square it off instead if you prefer.
- 046 min
Adding Leather Weaver
Working a strip of leather in with the reed: where to start it, how to keep it lying flat, and how to end it neatly.
- 055 min
Clipping and Tucking
Trimming the stakes and tucking them down to close off the top of the sides.
- 0620 min
Adding the Rim
Fitting the rim pieces inside and out and lashing them on to finish the top edge.
- 072 min
Finishing Touches
Trimming any stray ends and a last look over the basket. Then it's ready to carry.
About this course
The Leather Handled Tote is the basket most people picture when they say "tote," and it's the one people ask us about most. Eleven-inch sides on a 7" x 15" filled base, with leather handles strong enough for a weekend's worth of things. This course is how we weave it, filmed at our bench.
It's split the way the work is, from laying out the base to lashing the rim. Each lesson is short enough to watch, set the phone down, and weave that part before you move on.
You'll want the Leather Handled Tote kit, which comes with the reed cut to size and the pattern printed. For tools, everything on our weaving tools page will see you through, and most of it is probably in a drawer already.
Once you buy the course it's yours to keep. It lives under My Courses in your account, and the player remembers where you stopped, so you can pick it back up whenever the reed is soaked.
How it works
Buy the course and it appears under My Courses in your account the moment payment goes through. Open a lesson to watch it in the browser, on a phone, tablet or computer.
The player keeps your place in each lesson and marks lessons done as you finish them, so you can stop mid-row and pick it up another day. Checking out as a guest? You'll set a password right after paying so the lessons stay with you.
Questions
If a lesson won't play, or you can't find the course in your account, write to us with your order number. We answer.