An engaging makers’ guide to the history and craft of straw plaiting, brimming with helpful step-by-step diagrams.

'A must-have for anyone interested in working with straw and an astonishing contribution to the preservation of this endangered craft.' Jay Blades MBE, Co-Chair of Heritage Crafts An engaging makers’ guide to the history and craft of straw plaiting, brimming with helpful step-by-step diagrams. Straw plaiting has been used to make accessories from hats and baskets to handbags, trimmings and homewares around the world for centuries. Once employing tens of thousands of people in the UK alone, the craft is now listed as Critically Endangered on Heritage Crafts’ Red List. This book aims to change that, drawing on more than 50 previously unpublished patterns and techniques from around the world that will help you to unlock the history and preserve the skills of straw plaiting. For each pattern, follow the step-by-step diagrams and instructions and discover how they were developed whilst learning about materials, tools and preparation. Once familiar with the plaiting techniques – using straw as well as other materials – you will be able to develop your own skills, possibly blending in recycled materials, which are increasingly being used to produce beautiful and unique pieces.

"Straw plaiting has all but disappeared from the public consciousness; what was once so common, it touched the lives of everyone everywhere... Veronica Main's exhaustive research may ignite a timely renaissance of interest in straw as we search for sustainable alternatives to plastic." - Selvedge Magazine

"This is a book that will fascinate and enthral both researchers and makers alike." - The Braid Society