Description
The Basket Room is proud to work with weaving cooperatives in several rural corners of Africa, and the talented craftswomen in this particular women’s weaving group are extremely accomplished in producing these repeat design baskets, using their tape measures to produce five set sizes. The women behind our baskets have woven from a young age: this meticulous, age-old craft is passed along the female line, from grandmothers to mothers to daughters. Sisal grass is sourced ready-rolled when orders come in and is hand-dyed using natural charcoal in large vats before a traditional twining method is used to produce each basket. Where once these women used to have to travel to Nairobi to sell their woven baskets, today The Basket Room places regular and fairly-paid orders with this most adept group, and completed baskets are stored in purpose-built mud huts.
Championing all the values of fair trade, working with cooperatives empowers women to support their families with a flexible income in the dry seasons, where subsistence farming becomes unsustainable. When you choose one of our woven baskets you actively support these weavers’ livelihoods, forging our commitment to fair trade. Each beautifully woven basket is supplied with a thank you card from the weaving cooperative.
