BA Autumn School 2026 – Harvest Moon Basket

Tickets available from 10am, Saturday 30th May, 2026

Our Autumn School at Waterperry House and Gardens, near Wheatley, Oxfordshire offers three days to immerse yourself in basketry with top-class tutors. It’s also a great chance to unwind and connect with fellow basketmakers from across the UK and beyond.

This year teaching will start at 1pm on Friday, 2 October and finish with photos at 4pm on Sunday, 4 October.

The ticket price for this residential event is £430, which includes all meals (vegetarian) and single-occupancy bedrooms.  There will also be an option to purchase accommodation and breakfast on the nights of Thursday, 1 October and Sunday, 4 October for an additional £85 per night.

Only one ticket is available per BA member, and material costs are payable directly to tutors at the end of the week.

There are three bursaries of £395 available, with an additional amount to go towards travel expenses, all generously funded by the Worshipful Company of Basketmakers’ Charitable Trust.  Applications for bursaries open on Saturday, 14th March and close on Sunday, 19th April.  Successful candidates will be informed by 16th May.  Please click here for more information and to apply online.

By purchasing a ticket you are agreeing to the cancellation policy as detailed in the Basketmakers’ Association’s Terms and Conditions

Course details

In this workshop you will learn to make Louise’s version of the ose, or hen basket.  In 2025 she made a basket for each full moon of the year, producing a different variation for each one.  Her harvest moon basket takes the form of a shallow crescent with an exaggerated circular opening to echo the shape of the moon.

The harvest moon basket is a traditional frame basket using hoops and ribs to form the skeleton, which is then woven with willow.  Louise will supply several varieties of willow to weave with.  You could also bring a small item, such as a shell, stone, bone or charm to hide within the basket.

Louise will bring examples of variations of her basket and samples of formers for you to explore, as  well as her 2026 moon baskets, and she will demonstrate how to splice hoops using a shave horse.

Suitability: for those with previous weaving experience, good manual dexterity and patience.

Estimated cost of materials: £30

Your tutor

Having made baskets in her home studio and taught at festivals for over 10 years, Louise (Rough Around the Hedges) now has a permanent making and teaching workshop in Liss, Hampshire. She believes in weaving people and nature together and focuses on making and teaching with willow and a variety of hedgerow, woodland, and wetland plants.