The Making of Haley's Round Nantucket Six Inch Basket Purse with Scrimshaw

Haley with her Basket

I made this basket for Haley last fall. It is a 6 inch round Nantucket Basket with a lid which I fashioned into a small purse. I used cherry bases, cherry long handle, bone findings, an old ivory piano key for the nameplate, and an ivory scrimshaw piece I did myself. This scrimshaw was my very first attempt at doing some scrimshaw and while primitive and a student piece, I was happy with the outcome. In fact, the whole basket was an experiment. I had recently purchased a 6" Lid Mold from DELS Nantuckets and wanted to try it out.  

The very start of the weaving

The first few rows of weaving.
They are always the hardest part of the basket for me.

After I got going on the Base.
Starting to look good but still needs a lot of packing

The Basket comes off the Mold

View of Interior before any varnishing

Varnishing

Doesn't look too Bad

Varnishing after I got the lid made
and the hinges on

Haley with her son Austin and husband Brian at our home at Christmas. 2013
I gave her the basket as a Christmas Present 

Towards the End of Making Basket - I have glued on the scrimshaw but haven't gotten on the bone hasp yet

Finished Basket

View of Interior with Lining

Still on the Workbench

Interior Name Plate done on an old Piano Key

Close up of Lighthouse Island Scrimshaw
My very first Attempt at Scrimshaw

I think the Scrimshaw lights up the basket!

The very first of my new Nantucket 6 inch round basket purses and what a satisfying project it was and a wonderful gift for Haley! I hope to make many more!!This was made during the Fall of 2013 in Gloucester, MA. This basket should last her for years to come and be the perfect summer purse! I hope she enjoys and loves it!

Happy Basket Making,
Melissa Abbott

Avery's Beaded Nantucket Basket with Schooner and Lighthouse Scrimshaw and Dark Green Staves, Reed Rims and Cherry Bases and Handles

My daughter Avery with her Beaded
Nantucket Basket with  Scrimshaw. I made this for her during the Fall of 2013 and gave it to her as a Christmas Gift in December 2013.

The Beginning.
My daughter Avery is an artist so I took a risk and decided to do a completely creative basket for her and I really went outside the Nantucket Basket Box with this One!! I started off with a gorgeous Cherry Base and decided to use a dark green staves on the 8" purse mold.

I really liked how it looked so I kept going!!

I added Glass Mariposa Beads and Gemstone Malachite Beads between layers of Yarn and Cane

I even added layers of Lapis Lazuli and Malachite Beads
with yarn and cane for the Lid

Next I worked on the Scrimshaw. This was only my 2nd EVER Scrimshaw but I had worked on some drawings for it during the Gloucester Schooner Festival during the Summer of 2013. I had worked up a little design from some quick sketches I had done during the races, and I decided to go with it.

I even Scrimshawed her name on an
old Piano Key for inside the Lid

Close Up of the Scrimshaw. I used an antique piece of Ivory Blank and India Ink, scribing with a Scrimshaw tool I bought on Etsy. I was a little scared when I did this because I didn't want to make a mistake with it. I was reasonably happy with how it came out. I would do more scrimshaw in the future. I really like the look of it with the black and white next to the basket and it matches well with the bone findings I used.

This is the Basket, the day I gave it to her in December 2013

Close up of Lid

Avery's Basket next to Emily's Basket
while still on the Workbench

I realize this Basket is non-traditional and many might not consider it a Nantucket basket but I did it in the same style but added more decoration and beads. I had always had the idea in the back of my mind to add beads to the Nantucket Baskets similar to the Pine Needle Baskets I do and I am happy with the cross pollination. I would make another one someday!!

Happy Basket Making,

Melissa Abbott

The Mermaid Basket

 While I was in Merritt Island, Florida during February 2012, I decided to do a Sculptural style Pine Needle Basket using a reproduction Mermaid Scrimshaw center as a motif. I had gathered a great many really wonderful Florida Long Leaf Pine Needles from a park in Merritt Island after a great windstorm. After washing them in Dawn and laying them outside in the sun to dry, I imagined the center of the basket surrounded by some small tibetan bone beads I had.

 This is the beginning of the mermaid Basket using black Crawford's linen waxed thread. While this was all being pulled together, it is interesting to note that there were many manatees gathering in the canal next tothe dock of our rental house. The house was at the very end of a small offshoot canal off the Banana River waterway there. We were observing them, and feeding them some lettuce leaves. It is thought that sailors imagined the manatees as mermaids. They have trumpets like an elephant but sort of look like a hippo. One night very late, we heard lots of trumpeting in the canal. Waking up out of a dead sleep, I couldn't imagine what was going on. in actuality the bedroom was right next to the canal and we were sleeping virtual steps from about 50 gathered manatees.

 As it happened, and all of this happened while I was working on this basket, and as I started my first sculptural interpretations of waves and bubbles surrounding the Mermaid in the basket, I spoke with the owner of the house and I mentioned that on two subsequent evenings there was a great deal of commotion in the canal with the manatees. She told me that they came every year up into that canal to have their babies and what I was hearing was the births of their young!!

I could hardly believe it! I was witnessing a true miracle as I developed the Mermaid Pine Needle Basket. The reason I am telling you this is because this basket truly has the energy and miracles of Mermaids infused into it! It was a very exciting time!

This is a side view of the finished Mermaid basket and really holds the flavor of those special times with the manatees on Merritt Island, Florida during the winter of 2012!