MDK Summer Camp 2024: Virtual Workshop with Flax and Twine

Our favorite part of any childhood summer camp experience was the Craft Hut. The Craft Hut was the best. We’re revisiting that core experience with a virtual event designed to give us all the joy of escaping for a bit and doing something fun together.

MDK Summer Camp 2024 is going to be a special live Zoom event on Friday, July 19, from noon-3 p.m. Eastern time.

This year’s Craft Hut counselor will be Anne Weil of Flax & Twine. An inspiring authority on handmade baskets of many kinds, Anne will lead us through basketry basics as we work on our very own Calliope Baskets.

We’re expecting a big group, so the focus will be on teaching, and sharing hints and tips for success. You’ll leave with new skills, a strong start on your Calliope Basket, and absolutely zero mosquito bites.

The Project

The Calliope Basket is a great starter project for beginning basketeers. The natural raffia material coils beautifully, transitioning organically from one color to another and creating a lightweight, flexible, yet sturdy vessel. You’ll learn the basic technique without worrying too much about counting or exactness, and shape your basket as you wish, from a shallow container to a curved bowl shape. With 5 colors in the kit, no two baskets will be alike!

What’s in the Kit?

Your MDK Summer Camp 2024 kit includes everything you need to make your very own Calliope Basket—or three of them!

Your all-inclusive camp box will include exquisite materials and tools from Flax & Twine, plus a little something from MDK.

• Six 50 g bundles of Madagascar raffia
  • 2 natural 
  • 1 MDK Sunny Yellow (exclusive to MDK!)
  • 1 Mallard 
  • 1 Strawberry 
  • 1 Cinnamon 
• Sharp darning needle
• Snips
• Muslin bag
• Printed Calliope Basket Pattern and video tutorial by Flax & Twine
• A limited edition souvenir patch for MDK Summer Camp 2024, suitable for affixing to your basket or Girl Scout sash

Your order confirmation email will include a PDF with the link to join the Zoom event on July 19. (We’ll also send you an email reminder that week and that morning, but it’s wise to keep the PDF handy in your downloads folder.)

As shown, the finished basket measures 7.5″ in diameter by 2″ in height, but you’ll learn how to change the size and shape of your basket to make it your own. The camp box includes plenty of materials for experimentation and play. (If you stick to the dimensions as shown, you can make 3 baskets with this kit.)

Our Camp Counselor

We’re thrilled to welcome Anne Weil to MDK. We first met Anne on the floor of a needlecraft trade show, where we fell in love with the stylish simplicity of her baskets and her warm, inspiring way of communicating the love of handcraft. Two minutes into a conversation with Anne, we were desperate to make baskets!

Anne originally founded Flax & Twine as a blog in 2010, wanting to discover her creative voice. Leaving her job in investment banking, she began to create, write how-tos, and photograph her craft projects. Over years of sharing her projects across the internet and in print magazines, including Martha Stewart Living, Apartment Therapy, and Elle DECOR, followers asked so regularly how to find materials and notions for specific projects that Anne decided to start creating all-inclusive DIY kits. 

Continuing to design knitting, weaving, crochet, basket weaving, and embroidery projects for her followers, Anne expanded her kits to include step-by-step videos to make creating a breeze. She started sourcing her favorite materials and tools to work with, importing cotton and linen fiber from Turkey and Egypt, and making wood looms and tools here in the U.S.

Anne’s passion for helping others create shows in every Flax & Twine project. You are going to love learning from her.

What Will We Learn?

Anne will cover a lot! The lesson plan includes:

1. Introduction to Basket Making: Discussion of coiling technique

2. Discussion of Materials: How to work with raffia

3. Beginning the Basket: How to bundle the raffia and create the internal coil

4. Stitching Technique: How to sew through the coils using simple wrap technique

5. Adding Raffia: How to add raffia as your lengths start to end, maintaining your bundle size, finishing ends

6. Color Changing: How to alter color range during basket making

7. Managing Tension: How to maintain desired shape, flat in the beginning

8. Shaping the Basket: How to manage tension and shaping to create and mold basket

9. Finishing the Basket: How to finish the basket edge

Inquiring minds want to know

Can a total beginner participate? Absolutely. The Calliope Basket uses simple, intuitive techniques that you’ll catch onto quickly—the trickiest part is getting started.  We’ll take our time, repeating steps and making certain everyone’s with us. The Zoom chat will be monitored so that your questions are communicated to Anne.

How should I get ready for the workshop? Make sure you order your kit and class by June 24. Download the PDF with the Zoom link and join us on July 19—that’s it!

When will the camp kits ship out? Kits will ship from Nashville, Tennessee the week of July 8. Please note that shipments to addresses outside the U.S. may not arrive in time for the live workshop on July 19.

What’s the format? With Anne’s instruction and an overhead camera focused on her hands, we’ll begin weaving the Calliope Basket. Participant mics will be muted most of the time, and the chat box will be monitored constantly for questions from participants. 

Will a 3-hour class be long enough to complete the basket? Not quite! You’ll get a good start during class, though, and you’ll leave with the confidence to finish on your own.  We’ll start a thread in the MDK Lounge to share follow-up questions and basket beauty shots.  Warning: you may not be able to stop making baskets until you run out of raffia.

I can’t make it to the live Zoom. May I still participate? Sure! All MDK Summer Campers will receive a link to the event recording and all resources we share, including Flax & Twine’s video tutorial and written instructions.

Do I have to order the kit in order to participate in the MDK Summer Camp Zoom? Yes, it’s a complete experience, sort of like when you had to pack five washcloths for camp even though you only ever used one. It’s just the way it is.

We can’t wait! See you on the camp bus!