SOME INDIAN STITCHES : Page 162

The coiled baskets of the Apaches, Pai Utes, Navajo and Pimas are made of coiled osiers, or bundles of yucca whipped or wound with split osier or splints of pine. We can follow the stitch if not the rigidity and strength of these baskets by using single coils of No. 5 round rattan, or bundles made up of three or more strands of No. 2 rattan, coiled and wound with raffia. The rattan should be wet until pliable. It is then coiled into the smallest possible ring, and sewed over and over with a strand of raffia in a No. 19 tapestry needle. Beginning with the second coil, each time the raffia is wound around it is brought through the stitch just below it (see Fig. 43). Ornamental bands are