Another exploration of soft pottery started with a big happy accident. We have been looking for ways to get very vertical sides to the baskets to make them taller like a vase. One way to do that is to increase the starting diameter so you can tilt them up at a right angle up and over the nose of the machine.
I made a huge starting disk and one of my machines was having fits. I thought it would be cool to have a dark thread against the natural colored rope. Since the machine was being contrary, the stitching looked horrendous. It really need to be covered with some fabric on the top and the bottom. There are a couple of ways to do this, one I don’t like and the other I hate. It was too late for the one I don’t like and I had never done the more difficult one at such a large scale. After much frustration and naughty words, I got it done and it came out pretty darn good!
I wanted the sides to just be naked rope with no fabric wrapping. It was a challenge to keep the sides smooth and consistent, more like a pottery vase and less like a basket. Barry had found some very nice dyed rope that was all cotton and consistent quality. I added some in about midway up, not really knowing at the time how tall it would become at the end.
This project was indeed an exploration and there was much collaboration between the two of us along the way. In the past, I start them, stop when I am done, leave him some rope to work with and have him finish them how he decides (with my approval of course). This time, his ideas for the finishing touches drove the design and construction along the way.
Using two colors of rope on the brim was a gamble but it worked. Barry found a single copper pipe from an old wind chime we collected in some former life and proceeded to saw, file, sand and paint it for several iterations to finally get it how he wanted it.
So, it is what is. I present to you a labor of love, “Savannah Porch Social“. Imagine sitting on your front porch sipping sweet tea and visiting with whomever walks by.
Available at $95 for a limited time at The IN Store, or just let us know. SOLD
This large basket is a new design concept for us. Think of it as “soft pottery”. We are excited about the expansion of our creative inspirations that will incorporate some skills previously developed in jewelry making.