In a world that has had enough of environmental pollution and is trying to find ways to reduce the consumption of plastic, the French-Style shopping basket is fast becoming a promising solution. These baskets are made from natural materials and hence are not harmful to the environment. They are biodegradable and can also be re-used numerous times before they have to be discarded.

A French-Style shopping basket makes use of natural substances like palm leaves. Though these baskets are called “French” baskets, they are not necessarily made in France. They can be manufactured anywhere in the world. Most people prefer the baskets that are handmade because the mass-produced, factory manufactured French baskets are not as sturdy as the handmade ones. The French baskets handmade in Morocco, also called “Medina baskets”, are extremely popular owing to the calibre of work, the superior treatment given to the baskets and the high quality of the end product.

The French-Style shopping basket uses palm leaves available locally. Most commonly used leaves are from a particular palm called Nipa palm. The leaves of this palm are long and feathery and suitable for basket weaving. The leaves are strong at the same time they are also highly flexible when slightly wet. Once dried, these leaves harden to give a tough basket that lasts a long time. These are the same leaves that are used in roofs for thatching. The leaves that are selected for making French baskets are slightly green and not completely mature. These types of leaves are easier to work with. The leaves are also soaked in water for some time to make them bendable.

With a little patience and a lot of hard work, the French-Style shopping basket can be made at home too. Collect palm leaves that are approximately similar in size and cut them into equal-sized fronds. Now cut 10 of these fronds lengthwise into equal halves. Tape edges of 7 other fronds to a surface, after you place them next to each other. Start weaving the fronds from the first pile with the ones that are pasted to the surface. Now you will have a mat. Now make the walls of the basket with more fronds and glue them to the basket. These walls will be of smaller size and can be secured to the basket with smaller sized strips that are pasted to the basket. You can also opt for handles in the basket by following the same process.

For coloured French-Style shopping basket, the palm leaves are coloured beforehand. While following the traditional pattern, natural dyes are used most of the time. However, these days a lot of experimentation is being done with artificial, environment-friendly colours. Sometimes these baskets have leather handles. In such cases, the leather is usually cow or goat and the procedure of leather dyeing follows traditional process. These baskets are rarely dried in factories or by artificial methods. More often, sun drying is opted. This makes the baskets stronger. As the entire method of making a French-Style shopping basket is natural, the production of these baskets is dependent on elements of nature like weather to a large extent.

Author Bio: Amanda Smith writes for Prickly Pear. They are a wholesale and manufacturing business that offer a beautiful range of French baskets as well as leather and fabric bags, beach bags, sarongs and kaftans, purses and other accessories. The web address is http://www.PricklyPearTrade.com. Visit their web site and experience their passion for using the finest materials and the most highly skilled craftsmen.

Category: Arts and Crafts
Keywords: French baskets, shopping baskets, African baskets