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Sweet Grass Baskets

The Charleston sweetgrass baskets are constructed from sweetgrass, palmetto, pine needles and bulrush. Originally, they were made from bulrush and palm, two of the primary materials most often employed in traditional coiled basketry. Bulrush and pine needles are now used just to add color to sweetgrass baskets. Because many of these ancient plants are mentioned in the Bible, sweet grass weaving was historically viewed as a spiritual endeavor, and the skill was regarded as a gift from God.

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Sweet grass basketry is exemplary of the coiled weaving technique. The sweetgrass is collected, then dried from green to brown. The baskets are a tradition brought over from Sierra Leone, which were coiled "so tightly they could hold water." They are similar to the shukalay baskets from Sierra Leone. Rather than plaiting or twisting, two techniques used in standard basket making, sweet grass weavers coil dried sweet grass and bundle them together in circles, often using palmetto leaves to hold the coils in place.

Sweetgrass baskets are usually started with pine needles, as they are flexible when wet. The Palmetto leaves are used to hold them together. Some sweet grass artisans finish their designs with bulrush, pine needles to give their baskets contrasting colors. The name of the tool, used from the handle of a spoon or a fork, is called a "nail bone".  This heritage of making sweet grass baskets has been handed down through the generations.

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I am a third-generation Sweetgrass Basket Weaver.