BA Autumn School 2025 – Garden Fibres and Cordage

Tickets available from 10am 10th May 2025

Our Autumn School at Waterperry House and Gardens 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.

The ticket price for this residential event is £395, which includes all meals (vegetarian) and single-occupancy bedrooms.

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 £300 each, sponsored by the Worshipful Company of Basketmakers’ Charitable Trust, available for the Autumn School.  Please click here for more information and to apply online.  Please also note that you need to purchase a ticket before you apply..

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

Course details

This workshop is designed to give an introduction to gathering and processing a range of plant-based fibres that typically grow in garden situations.

You will be using both pre-gathered materials and plants gathered from around the Waterperry estate. You will be instructed on when best to gather material and how to process and store it in preparation for making cordage, soft basketry and weaving.

Over the weekend you will produce a selection of fibre and cordage samples, exploring the
different properties of each plant and where they might lead you. You will also be shown looping and weaving techniques using your cordage and be given an understanding of how it can be used in a variety of ways.

Suitability: all levels
Materials: £ no additional material costs

Your tutor

Alice Fox is an artist based in West Yorkshire.  Her desire to work sustainably lies at the heart of her work which is based around found objects, gathered materials and natural processes.  Some of the plants she uses are grown in her allotment.  She works with natural fibres, employing natural dyes, stitch, weave and soft basketry techniques to form tactile surfaces and structures.  She teaches and exhibits both nationally and internationally.