Amish Basket Weaving

[Abby Brown] Iowa has a handful of Amish communities.

Horse and buggies like this one are part of that culture and are clues that members of that community live nearby.

(A brown horse in full tackle is hitched to a simple, black covered four-wheeled carriage.)

There's a religious rule in the Amish community that says they should not appear in photos or in videos, so it's a rare opportunity to get to take a camera inside an Amish workshop.

(Map marking Decatur County in south central Iowa.)

The Amish Country Store in Lamoni is an interesting place to check out Authentic Amish products like foods, quilts, and baskets.

(A shelf holding several sizes of hand-made woven baskets with different types of handles.)

It's pretty common to see an Amish horse and buggy parked outside too.

What's not common is the opportunity to observe an Amish craftsperson at work creating the goods showcased in a store like this.

Today we're going to meet Anna. She and her family are basket weavers, and we're going to see Anna's hands and hear Anna's voice as she teaches us how to weave a traditional Amish basket.

(Tap)

(Anna uses a staple gun to attach flat, wood strips to a wood base.)

(Anna stands at a work table, facing the window as she works. She is wearing a simple dark blue, long-sleeved dress and with a lighter blue apron tied around her waist. On her head she wears a simple white bonnet that covers her hair.)

(Anna pulls a long, thin strip of wood soaking in water from a bowl.)

(tapping sounds)

(Anna uses a nail and hammer to attach the long wood strip to the basket.)

Anna, why was that piece in water?

[Anna] Because if it's dry, it will crack when I put the nails in there.

[Abby] Okay. Who taught you how to do the basket weaving?

[Anna] Mom did some of it. The aunts teach me too.

(Anna takes short-handled shears and cuts off the excess wood that forms the trim of the bottom of the basket.)

[Abby] All done?

[Anna] Yes.

[Abby] So you have the base. You have the posts. And you've reinforced it. What's the next step?

[Anna] Weaving.

[Abby] Weaving.

(Anna places a wooden frame in the shape of the basket inside the posts surrounding the base of the basket. The wooden frame has four legs like a stool. The height of the frame equals the depth of the basket.)

[Anna] It's a cheat to keep the shape of the basket.

(Anna removes long, thin wooden strips from a bowl of water and begins weaving the strips in and out of the posts at the base of the basket.)

(Anna removes a blue, thin cord from a bowl of water.)

[Abby] So tell me again, Anna, what's the last step here?

[Anna] It's to put the top wrap on.

(Anna pulls the thin blue strip of wood through the basket at the top and loops it in a circle over the top edge of the basket leaving space between the basket and the wood strip like a ring. Anna takes a longer thin piece of wood and runs it between the ring of blue strip and the top of the basket.)

[Abby] The top wrap on. Okay.

(When the basket is done, Anna turns it upside down and writes who the basket was handmade by.)

[Abby] Amish basket weaving in Decatur County is now an expanding craft instead of a dying craft. Why? Because the Amish families here are located in very rural areas. They used to only be able to sell their baskets to places that they could reach in a horse and buggy.

But today, thanks to the internet and the help of a local business man, the baskets that Anna's family weaves can be distributed nationwide. Keeping a tradition that's been passed down for thousands of years going strong.

And one more note. These Amish baskets are intended to be used. From pie holders to laundry baskets, they are practical pieces of art.

Every county in Iowa is like a beautiful quilt of people and places and cultures. Here in Decatur County, the Amish community is woven in and appreciated.

Funding for FIND Iowa has been provided by The Coons Foundation, Pella and the Gilchrist Foundation.