Welcome to Weaving by the Sea 2026!
We are delighted to announce the details of Weaving by the Sea Spring School and Weaving by the Sea Autumn School 2026.
These together comprise a varied programme of 15 workshops at our
favourite venue, the Hotel Cesar
in Vilanova i La Geltru near to Barcelona, Spain.
Please find course descriptions below.
Please find booking, pricing and accommodation details on the neighbouring page here: Booking Details 2026
Booking opens on Saturday 10th January 2026 at 14.00 CET (Central European Time)
You will be notified of your course reservation within 24 hours
No pre-booking will be accepted. Weaving by the Sea 2026 -
Spring School
1st Courses: 3 days - Friday, Saturday & Sunday 17-19 April 2026
Mai Hvid Joergensen - Introduction to Willow Bark Basketry
Mònica Guilera - Nansa Beach Baskets
Tim Johnson - 'Nesting Season'
Day off and special evening event - Monday 20th April 2026
2nd Courses: 3 days - Tuesday - Thursday 21-23 April 2026
Mai Hvid Joergensen
- Mad Weave - round trays in Willow Bark
Mònica Guilera - Date Palm Basketry
Tim Johnson - Round Basket with a fitted lid in Neolithic Braiding
Mònica Guilera - Date Palm Basketry
Tim Johnson - Round Basket with a fitted lid in Neolithic Braiding
Weaving by the Sea 2026 - Autumn School
1st Courses: 3 days -Tuesday - Thursday 22-24 September 2026
François Desplanches - Round Fitched Waste Paper Basket
Mai Hvid Joergensen - Frame Baskets with Rush & Bark
Tim Johnson - Orkney Cubbies & Caishies
2nd Courses: 3 days - Saturday - Monday 26-28 September 2026
François Desplanches - Wire Staked Baskodenns
Mònica Guilera - Willow Platters in Nansa technique
Tim Johnson - Portuguese Cofinho Basket
François Desplanches - Wire Staked Baskodenns
Mònica Guilera - Willow Platters in Nansa technique
Tim Johnson - Portuguese Cofinho Basket
3rd Courses: 3 days - Wednesday 30th September - Friday 2nd October 2026
Mònica Guilera - Catalan ShoppersTim Johnson - Knotted Netting Shoppers
Mai Hvid Joergensen - Mad Weave - round & oval trays in Willow Bark
Venue: Hotel Cesar, Vilanova i La Geltru near Barcelona, Spain.
Followed by Salt International Basketmakers Fair near Girona,
Saturday & Sunday, 3rd & 4th October 2026
Followed by Salt International Basketmakers Fair near Girona,
Saturday & Sunday, 3rd & 4th October 2026
Weaving by the Sea 2026 - Spring School
Workshop Details 1st
Courses: 3 days - Fri-Sun 17-19 April 2026
Fri – Sun 17-19 April 2026
Willow bark is a beautiful soft and flexible basketmaking material, with many species and varieties commonly cultivated it comes in a wide variety of textures and colours.
This three day workshop will give you an introduction to willow bark basketry. You will learn about harvesting and material preparation, selecting and cutting the bark to size with special tools, followed by plaiting techniques to create pockets, square and round bark baskets with a variety of folded and stitched borders.
You will work with bark grown and harvested on Mai’s own withy bed in Denmark and combine this with pine roots gathered in her local forest for structural details.
This course suits beginners and those with some basketmaking experience.
Languages of the course will be English, Danish and Norwegian.
Fri – Sun 17-19 April 2026
The Mediterranean is home to a beautiful and distinctive technique of weaving used by fishermen to make a variety of fishing baskets and traps. In Catalonia ‘Nansa’ fish traps were made in a variety of shapes and sizes depending on the kind of fish they wanted to catch, the traps were usually made in the winter with Sharp Rush (Juncus acutus), this can be seen growing in the sand dunes not far from the hotel in Vilanova as well as split cane (Arundo donax) and olive stems.
In this workshop you will learn to make beautiful, lightweight and strong beach baskets ideal for a swim or picnic on the beach. The basket combines a traditional tied grid base with the 'Nansa' fishtrap technique siding, bundle border and leather handles. Working with willow, this workshop will provide you with a good grounding in this technique and a useful basket to treasure for years to come.
This course is suitable for both beginners and those with some experience.
This course is suitable for both beginners and those with some experience.
Languages of the course will be English, Catalan, Spanish and French.
Nesting Season with Tim JohnsonFri – Sun 17-19 April 2026
It’s nesting season in Catalonia! - create your own contemporary sculptural baskets inspired by nest forms and animal architecture. Following a close look at examples from Tim’s collection of nests, natural objects and his own contemporary pieces you will work with a variety of natural soft materials and recycled fabrics to create organic contained spaces.
Combining techniques borrowed from the natural world, the contemporary Polish fibre artist Tadek Beutlich and traditional basketry techniques including cordage making, ply-split darning, knotting and twining we will have a broad palette of both materials and techniques to create a variety of forms and textures of your own design.
Expect to experiment with different combinations of materials, scale and colour leading to a variety of creative pieces rooted both in nature and basketmaking traditions.
This course is suitable for both beginners and those with some experience.
Combining techniques borrowed from the natural world, the contemporary Polish fibre artist Tadek Beutlich and traditional basketry techniques including cordage making, ply-split darning, knotting and twining we will have a broad palette of both materials and techniques to create a variety of forms and textures of your own design.
Expect to experiment with different combinations of materials, scale and colour leading to a variety of creative pieces rooted both in nature and basketmaking traditions.
This course is suitable for both beginners and those with some experience.
Languages of the course will be English.
Day off and
special evening event - Monday 20th April 2026
Weaving by the Sea 2026 - Spring School
Workshop Details 2nd
Courses: 3 days - Tues-Thurs 21-23 April 2026
Mad Weave - round trays in Willow bark with Mai Hvid Joergensen
Tuesday - Thursday 21-23rd April 2026
Tuesday - Thursday 21-23rd April 2026
Mad Weave is a special and beautiful form of triaxial plaiting traditionally found in baskets from Malaysia. Weaving in three different directions simultaneously it has become renowned for driving you a little mad! All the more reason to join a workshop where its complexities will be demystified and you can enjoy the beautiful colours and contrasts in Mai's home-grown willow bark.
During the workshop you will make two round willow bark trays with sewn borders and learn how to prepare your willow bark into accurately measured strips and make decisions about colour combinations to suit your design.
During the workshop you will make two round willow bark trays with sewn borders and learn how to prepare your willow bark into accurately measured strips and make decisions about colour combinations to suit your design.
This course suits beginners and those with some basketmaking experience.
Languages of the course will be English, Danish and Norwegian.
Date Palm Basketry with Mònica Guilera
Tues - Thurs 21-23 April 2026
While the leaflets of the Date Palm have been used for braided baskets since ancient times, the weaving of the uniquely textured inflorescence stems is a relatively recent innovation. Having made these baskets with basketmakers Herzel Oster and Raya Reich at the Vallabrègues basket fair in France several years ago, Mònica now gathers palm stems near to home in Vilanova i La Geltru and uses them in several of her baskets today.
In this workshop you will make the new 'classic' Date Palm basket, that includes the thick inflorescence stem at its centre, in combination with a sewn bundle border. You will then go on to combine the palm stems with willow to create round baskets featuring the palms distinctive wriggly winding tips.
This course is suitable for both beginners and those with some experience.
While the leaflets of the Date Palm have been used for braided baskets since ancient times, the weaving of the uniquely textured inflorescence stems is a relatively recent innovation. Having made these baskets with basketmakers Herzel Oster and Raya Reich at the Vallabrègues basket fair in France several years ago, Mònica now gathers palm stems near to home in Vilanova i La Geltru and uses them in several of her baskets today.
In this workshop you will make the new 'classic' Date Palm basket, that includes the thick inflorescence stem at its centre, in combination with a sewn bundle border. You will then go on to combine the palm stems with willow to create round baskets featuring the palms distinctive wriggly winding tips.
This course is suitable for both beginners and those with some experience.
Languages of the course will be English, Catalan, Spanish and French. 
Round Esparto Basket with a fitted lid in Neolithic Braiding with Tim Johnson 
Tuesday - Thursday 21-23 April 2026
In this workshop you will start with the basics of the Neolithic braiding technique working with beaten Esparto grass to make a small pocket or shoulder bag with a straight start. Then you will move onto a round start working with the stronger unbeaten Esparto grass to make a round basket with a fitted lid and integrated handle.
Neolithic Braiding may understood as a spiralling braid or plait where elements are added in and left out on each stitch, elements left out on each round are then picked up on the following round creating connections between the rounds without additional stitching. This technique dates back at least 8000 years and is also variously called ‘continuous plaiting’, ‘Burkina technique’ and in Spain ‘Punto de Cofin’, the stitch of the Olive pressing mat.
This course is suitable for both beginners and those with some experience.
Languages of the course will be English.
Round Fitched Waste
Paper Basket with François Desplanches
- base diameter 26 cm
- height without handles 37 cm
- inside top diameter 30 cm
Frame baskets with Rush & Bark with Mai Hvid Joergensen
Tues - Thurs 22-24 September 2026
In this workshop you will learn how to explore the creative possibilities that frame baskets offer creating a variety of basket forms from flat platters to baskets and larger handbags. You will learn how to weave in contrasting ways with the weaving elements using both traditional and contemporary ‘random’ weaving techniques and combine willow, rush and bark to create a wide variety of textures and colours according to your own design. Leather straps in a variety of colours will be available to complete your design if required for wearable baskets.
This course suits beginners and those with some basketmaking experience.
Wire Staked Baskodenns with François Desplanches
Languages of the course will be English and French.
Willow platters in Nansa Technique with Mònica Guilera
Sat - Mon 26-28 September 2026
In this workshop you will learn to make a round nansa platter, combining willow with different coloured threads you will start with a traditional nansa grid base attached to a willow hoop, then move on to the sidings and bundle border.This course is suitable for both beginners and those with some experience.
Portuguese Cofinho
basket with Tim Johnson
Catalan Shoppers with Mònica Guilera
Knotted Netting
Shoppers with Tim Johnson
Mad Weave – round and oval willow bark trays with Mai Hvid Joergensen Weaving by the
Sea 2026 - Autumn School
Workshop Details 1st
Courses: 3 days -Tues-Thurs 22-24 September 2026
Tues - Thurs 22-24 September 2026
In this
workshop you will focus on classic French fitched openwork basketry using the
stake and by-stake method, for François one of the most beautiful objects in
willow basketry!
Starting with a
round randed hoop base, stakes and by-stakes are scallomed in place, each stake
and by-stake coming from the same rod. This is followed by four rounds of fitching,
the top wale and border and finished off with two side handles made from
cranked rods.
Dimensions: - base diameter 26 cm
- height without handles 37 cm
- inside top diameter 30 cm
Main
focuses: preparing scalloms (around 80 stakes and by stakes), staking up
evenly, control of the flare (diameter increasing by 1 cm at every fitch).
This course is for intermediate or advanced makers.
Languages of the course will be English and French 
Tues - Thurs 22-24 September 2026
Frame baskets are made in a different way to all other baskets, working with a hoop and a series of ribs the frame or skeleton of the basket is made first and then completed with the addition of the weaving elements. This unique system offers many possibilities for exploring shape and proportions according to the length, number and curvature of the ribs.
In this workshop you will learn how to explore the creative possibilities that frame baskets offer creating a variety of basket forms from flat platters to baskets and larger handbags. You will learn how to weave in contrasting ways with the weaving elements using both traditional and contemporary ‘random’ weaving techniques and combine willow, rush and bark to create a wide variety of textures and colours according to your own design. Leather straps in a variety of colours will be available to complete your design if required for wearable baskets.
This course suits beginners and those with some basketmaking experience.
Languages of the course will be English, Danish and Norwegian.
Orkney Cubbies & Caishies with Tim Johnson
Tues - Thurs 22-24 September 2026
This workshop will focus on the twined basket tradition of Orkney, using different combinations of hand plied cordage with bundles of soft materials we will make round baskets of different sizes. These baskets feature an uncommon openwork base perfect for sand or soil to fall away from your foraged harvest and strengthening bundles both at the base and the border.
Following several research trips to Orkney, Tim will share his researches and contrast the Orkney tradition with the perhaps more familiar Shetland Kishie tradition. Using a variety of locally available materials Orkney crofters had a diverse basketmaking tradition that supplied baskets for many daily needs around the croft and along the shore and at sea.
This
course is suitable for both beginners and those with some experience.
Languages
of the course will be English.
Weaving by the
Sea 2026 - Autumn School
Workshop Details 2nd
Courses: 3 days - Sat-Mon 26-28 September 2026
Sat - Mon 26-28 September 2026
The baskodenn is a
famous basket historically produced for the sardine fishing industry in
southern Brittany, France. Baskodenns were originally made with willow,
while this version, first appearing in the middle of the twentieth century, combined
wire stakes with imported whole rattan cane creating a lightweight strong
basket very handy for everyday use. In this workshop you will combine wire
stakes with whole and split white and brown willow.
Dimensions: There are two models of
the wire staked baskodenn with quite close dimensions,
the larger being:
maximum diameter 30 cm
inside top diameter 28
cm
height without handle 23 cmFrançois will prepare the wire stakes in advance for the
course and all the
necessary jigs and tools required. For safety François will supply
special devices that screw on to the end of each wire stake during the making
process to prevent any cuts or scratches.
This course suits beginners and those with some basketmaking experience.
Sat - Mon 26-28 September 2026
The Mediterranean is home to a beautiful and distinctive technique of weaving used by fishermen to make a variety of fishing baskets and traps. In Catalonia ‘Nansa’ fish traps were made in a variety of shapes and sizes depending on the kind of fish they wanted to catch, the traps were usually made in the winter with Sharp Rush (Juncus acutus), this can be seen growing in the sand dunes not far from the hotel in Vilanova as well as split cane (Arundo donax) and olive stems.
Languages of the course will be English, Catalan, Spanish and French.
 |
Above: original Cofinho in the excellent book 'Cesteria Tradicional Iberica' by Bignia Kuoni 1981 |
Sat - Mon 26-28 September 2026
The Cofinho is a traditional fisherman’s
basket from the coastal town of Figueira da Foz in Portugal used both for
taking their lunch out to sea and for bringing home eels for the popular local
dish of ‘Enguias fritas’.
This local heritage basket combines fine rush with a
special form of openwork Neolithic braiding. Unlike the related Caithness
Hayve, a fisherman’s bait collecting basket that Tim has spent several year’s
researching, the Cofinho spirals from the base upwards and then combines all of
the remaining sticks into four sections of a plaited border leading into a
thick rounded handle.
During this course we will start with learning the
basic structure of Neolithic Braiding then progress on to the special details
of the Cofinho.
This course is suitable for both beginners and those with some experience.
Languages of the course will be English.
Weaving by the
Sea 2026 - Autumn School
Workshop Details 3rd
Courses: 3 days - Weds 30th Sept - Fri 2nd October 2026
Catalan Shoppers with Mònica GuileraWed 30th Sept - Fri 2nd October 2026
In this workshop you will work
with a variety of different coloured Spanish, French and German willows to
create deep, lightweight and strong traditional Catalan shopping baskets. Combining an oval Catalan base
with willow sidings, a decorative diamond pattern, three strand rope borders
and a choice of wrapped or rope handles this basket gives a good grounding in
Catalan willow basketry techniques. Selection of the correct material is important for
these baskets as the finer willow gives the possibilities of strength, pattern
and finely made rope borders.
This course is suitable for
those with some experience.
Languages of the course will be
English, Catalan, Spanish and French.
Wed 30th Sept - Fri 2nd October 2026
One of our most ancient technologies, knotted netting
has been used for thousands of years to make a wide variety of traps, bags and
clothing.
In this workshop Tim will introduce the basic
techniques of knotted netting making a flat sheet of netting working down from
a top line. Once you are familiar with the basic techniques of making knots,
controlling shape by increases and decreases, and adding additional string
lengths, we will move on to make a a string shopping bag combining braided
handles with spiral knotting working from the top of the string bag down to the
base.
This course is suitable for both beginners and those
with some experience.
Languages of the course will be English.
Weds – Fri 30th Sept – 2nd Oct 2026
Mad Weave is a special and beautiful form of triaxial plaiting traditionally found in baskets from Malaysia. Weaving in three different directions simultaneously it has become renowned for driving you a little mad! All the more reason to join a workshop where its complexities will be demystified and you can enjoy the beautiful colours and contrasts in Mai's home-grown willow bark.
During the workshop you will make oval and round willow bark trays with sewn borders and learn how to prepare your willow bark into accurately measured strips and make decisions about colour combinations to suit your design.
This course suits beginners and those with some basketmaking experience.
Languages of the course will be English, Danish and Norwegian.
Monica Guilera
is a Catalan basketmaker with many years making and teaching experience, she makes her
living making baskets, teaching and demonstrating and has taken part in
many exhibitions both in Spain and internationally.
Monica's work continues to
evolve, while rooted in Spanish and Mediterranean tradition she brings
colour and contemporary style to her baskets.
Monica's Instagram page: Monica Guilera
Mai Hvid Jørgensen is a Danish Basketmaker with many years experience as a maker and teacher, she combines excellent traditional making skills with a flair for good design. Her contemporary functional works add warmth and detail to many Scandinavian homes.
Mai
grows and uses a wide variety of willows which gives her a deeper
understanding of its uses and potential for creative making. Her current
work explores the possibilities of diverse international weaving
techniques to create texture, form and functionality.
Mai’s Instagram page: Mai Hvid Jørgensen
Tim Johnson - never happier than when he's out discovering a new basketry plant or extracting fibres for his latest work, Tim is an artist and basketmaker with many years of making, research and teaching experience. Tim combines a creative approach with great respect for traditional crafts and his fascination and extensive knowledge of the natural world.
Tim’s Instagram page: Tim Johnson
We are delighted that our good friend and excellent basketmaker François Desplanches joins the team again for Weaving by the Sea 2026.
François
specialise in willow basketmaking rooted in his research and making
practice. With an exceptional eye for detail, an engineer's mind and a
good sense of humour you'll be in for a treat if you join his
workshops.
François's Instagram page: desplanches vannerie
See you at Weaving by the Sea 2026!
