Learn to weave a willow butterfly

[@katekate5130]

Just beautiful! I have completed a big log basket thanks to your clear instructions. Thank you!

[@katnip2u]

SO WONDERFUL AND SIMPLE TO MAKE, thank you so much for sharing! I'm a gardener, landscaper, designer... for hire for a 3rd year now in Toronto, Canada. A few days ago I started pruning and at one property, after cutting off all the blue-leaf arctic willow shoots, I decided to keep them this year and try to make something from them. It will be BUTTERFLIES! In fact, I'm going to make them all sizes, colours and even shapes, AND even make them into other insects: dragonfly, bumblebees, etc. AND bring a few of them back to my clients from this property--to add to the aesthetics of their designer garden, AND to help start a conversation for my BIZ PR!

[@BigGreenArt]

That sounds brilliant! Blue leaf arctic willow sounds amazing, what colour are the rods?

[@katnip2u]

@@BigGreenArt The pruned twigs in their raw form range from light to dark mocha brown, probably the effect of the winter cold. Otherwise, during the active growth, they would be light mocha greenish-yellow (re: their bark) . I'm speaking as a gardener and not a final willow prepped rods for weaving specialist 😉 I almost finished 3 of them yesterday, they're looking great! I plan on colorizing some of them with ink. Now, it's an experiment, because I didn't process, prep the rods properly (as I'm learning should be done), but for a bit of wetting and pre-bending of the slightly larger, more snappy twigs. They will likely change the shape a bit as they dry... It's just for fun and not precision, and they're definitely more irregular, rustic-looking. The designer-artist in me is stoked I didn't waste this precious raw material... Also, I've talked to my clients about building them a living willow branch structure, dome-shaped, in their backyard, with the thick, almost 2-metre long willow branches!

[@debzmccairn5253]

BRILLIANT!!! Thankyou so much for patiently showing me how to do this.

[@BigGreenArt]

Glad it was helpful! All the best!

[@abhisarikaashok8774]

Its beautiful.. thank you for sharing. Greetings from India

[@claudiaapablaza8288]

Beautiful!

[@ChrissyWCrafts]

What age is the youngest to try this? Thank you

[@stewitwooit9744]

Locally there is a load of chestnut that has been coppiced, a year on the rods are between 4 & 6 ft long. Will these be any use as an alternative to using willow? Great video by the way.

[@BigGreenArt]

They'd certainly be ok for hoops, not sure they'd bend back on themselves? But worth trying if that's what you have.

[@dianefields6056]

Quite dragonfly-like = good.

[@heidinein645]

So great