This project is one of the easiest willow basket for beginners to make. It is beginner friendly and uses the tension of the weave to create a strong and durable basket. Mother’s Day is almost here, gather the children, go out to the hedgerows and gather materials for these easy to make baskets, and craft one for Mom and another for Grandma.
Willow is an easy to grow perennial that is coppiced annually for its long, straight rods. A traditional farm tree, willow is hardy to USDA zone 3. When coppiced annually willow grows long and straight whips that are perfect for weaving baskets, weaving into strong fences, used for creating garden structures, furniture, and other useful and beautiful things. Willow also provides willow bark for medicine, and charcoal for artist materials or for biochar for the garden. Willow is a flexible and sustainable craft material that regrows every year. A willow garden can last for 20 years or more, growing crafting materials that are harvested annually.
At Joybilee we planted our first willow bed in 2003. This year during the willow harvest in March, we set aside some of the long, straight rods to plant a new willow garden, closer to the house. We also added more varieties of Salix purpurea to expand the variety of colors we have to work with. New additions for us include: Green Dicks, Packing Twine, France’s Red, Brittany Green, and Bleu.
Willow is a versatile crop that offers a lot to those who value time to craft and work with their hands.
One of the easiest willow baskets to make is a Catalan Tray or Tension Tray. I found the directions in a 1997 book, “Cane, Rush, and Willow, Weaving With Natural Materials” by Hilary Burns of the UK. Ms. Burns calls it a “Stick Basket”. It’s so simple even children can be taught to make it.
History of the Catalan Basket or Tension Tray
Catalan Trays (also called Tension Trays) are a traditional form of flat, woven willow basket that originated in Catalonia, the northeastern region of Spain along the Mediterranean coast.
They were historically used as cheese-draining trays by Catalan cheesemakers. The open, breathable weave allowed whey to drain efficiently from fresh curds while the sturdy structure supported the cheese during the early stages of production. This practical design was part of the broader Catalan basketry tradition, which for centuries supplied everyday functional items—baskets, trays, and containers—for rural life using locally abundant flexible materials like willow.
Beyond cheesemaking, similar woven platters served bread, fruit, or other foods at the table. Modern makers also use them as hot-pot trivets, decorative wall hangings, pocket-emptying trays, or bases for building taller baskets.
The “Tension” Technique and Name
The willow basket community often calls them Tension Trays because of the distinctive construction method: thick, round rods or stakes are arranged in parallel groups to form the framework, and thinner weavers are interlaced in an over-under pattern. The round materials naturally press against one another, creating mutual stress or tension that holds the entire tray firmly together without needing extra fasteners or a mold at the start. This gives the tray its characteristic flat, stable form and makes it surprisingly strong for its simplicity. The tension principle—relying on the natural spring and friction of round rods rather than a rigid mold—makes the design efficient and material-conserving, suiting eco-friendly economies where nothing is wasted. In essence, these trays represent a humble but clever solution born from the intersection of traditional agricultural lifestyles, foraging/growing willow, and the need for lightweight, reusable household tools.
The technique is beginner-friendly yet produces a beautiful, functional piece, that can be made with foraged materials or with basket willow or other round weavers.
Working with Willow or Foraged Materials
While I made my willow basket from basket willow and foraged red osier dogwood, you can use any straight, flexible twigs you can find in nature. Apple tree pruning, suckers from lilacs, lindens, fruit trees, dogwood, wild willow, grape, wild brambles with the thorns removed, spruce root, are all suitable materials. Check the flexibility of the branches. If you can bend it around your wrist without it cracking, you can use it for this project.
In this willow basket we’ll work with green materials. There is no need to dry them or soak them before you craft with them. Over time the materials will dry out and the weave will get looser. You may want to add more weavers at that time to keep your willow basket tidy. Thicker rods will be used for the wreath base and the “warp”
Materials you’ll need
- 3 x 4 to 5 foot long flexible weavers about 1/4 inch thick for the wreath base
- 4 sturdy twigs about 18 inches long, about 1/4 inch thick for the warp
- 60 to 75 flexible weavers less than 1/4 inch thick for the weft
Tools you’ll need
- Pruners or Secateurs
- An awl
How to Make the Willow Basket/Tension Tray
Make a Wreath Base: Take the flexible 4 to 5 foot long weaver. Cut off the bottom 2 inches and discard. Loosen the fibers in the rod by working it through your hands and applying pressure with your thumbs. This will make the rod easier to form into a ring. Form the rod into a ring about 12 inches around, looping the thinner end through the ring over and over, to form a wreath shape. Add a second long weaver about half way around the circle, from where you started the first weaver. Continue looping the willow around the circle to form a wreath about 12 inches in diameter. You are looking for a circle or wreath about half an inch thick all the way around. You can add the third weaver if needed, in the same way as the first two, to complete your wreath base. Decide which side of your wreath base is the top. Lay it down on your table with the top side facing you. (Below is a smaller wreath to show you what I’m doing with the willow. Avoid the hard angles in your own wreath, if you can.
Make the Warp Form: Take the 4 sturdy twigs and lay them over the top of the wreath base in pairs, dividing the circle into thirds. Again I’m using a smaller sample to show you the procedure.
Weave the Weft: Cut your flexible weavers into 15 or 16 inch lengths. Beginning with the thickest one place the thickest part of the first weaver under the wreath base, over the first pair of twigs, under the second pair of twigs, and over the edge of the wreath base on the opposite side. Then take a second weaver, about the same thickness as the first one, start it from the opposite side that you started the first one. Place the thickest end of the weaver, under the wreath base, over the second pair of twigs, under the first pair of twigs and over the wreath base edge. Using your hands, push the two weavers into the middle of your weaving, to secure the set up. This is the most difficult part of the weaving. It’s easy from here.
Weave the remaining weavers by always using the under-over weaving pattern, placing the thickest part of each weaver under the wreath base on one side or the other. The thickness of each weaving stick / rod will vary. Place the thicker sticks in the middle and the thinner sticks toward the edges of your wreath base. Continue working in the over-under weave pattern until the wreath base is completely filled in with weaver twigs. Correct the shape of the wreath base as you weave to maintain a circular shape or the shape you wish your finished willow basket to have.
When you near the end of each side of the twig basket, move the willow rods that you are weaving over and under closer together, so that they form an arch in the middle of the basket.
To finish the easy willow basket, wrap-tie the long rods together on either side using a fine piece of willow. Open a space with your awl, and tuck the end of the wrap-tie under the wrap to secure the end.
Using your secateurs, trim the excess willow sticks from the edge of the wreath base leaving a small amount of each weaver, overhanging the wreath base, to secure it in place.
Place your finished willow basket or tension tray on a flat surface. Add a couple weights to help it dry flat. If you used fresh material it may take a week to fully dry, depending on your relative humidity.
Use your willow basket for fruit, to serve bread or cheese, or even hang it on the wall. As it dries the colors will become more muted. But it will be beautiful.
Variations on a theme
You can make this Tension Tray, Willow Basket in any size you want. I’ve made a smaller ones to use as soap dishes for my handmade tallow soap. The principle is the same. Begin with a wreath base. Add two to 4 rods for the warp. Weave over-under with the weft sticks until you fill in the circle you’ve created with the wreath base. Trim the excess weft and tidy up the basket. Then weight it to allow it to dry.
This is a really easy project for children to make using foraged material like wild willow, fruit tree suckers or pruning, bramble canes, or twigs.
Leave a Reply