Make a sketch in color from some plant or seedhead. Under the sketch, arrange in little oblongs the colors you found in the plant.
Using one of Nature's Color Schemes.
Nature's color schemes become most interesting to us when we use them in some work of our own. The brush-broom holder on this page shows in its coloring the scheme found in the plant growth on [page 92].
In making a holder of this kind, choose materials that will be strong, and that will look well together. Pasteboards should be cut in good proportions, of a size and shape to fit a particular broom. These should be covered on both sides in the same way that you covered the sides of your portfolio on [page 91]. The material for this covering may be stout paper, linen, plain gingham, or leather, colored to suit one of the colors in the scheme you have chosen. A simple design may be placed on the holder in another color chosen from your scheme. Then holes for lacing are to be punched in the sides. The cord for lacing should harmonize in quality and color with the rest of your design. The color of the broom itself may be brought into harmony with the holder by painting it with water-color, or by dipping it in a mixture of water-color that matches one of the colors in your scheme. A few Indian beads of bright color strung on the lacing strings will add greatly to the effect.
A Raffia Basket.
Many of the baskets made by the American Indians are so beautiful that they deserve to be classed as works of art. We wonder that a race of people so savage in their tastes and so wandering in their habits could have produced articles of so much beauty from the materials they found in the wilderness of nature. Many of these materials it is impossible for us to find or to use, but we can make with raffia and rattan, baskets that are something like those made by the Indians.
The sketch on this page is from a "soft coil" basket, made entirely of raffia. The amount of raffia used depends entirely on the size of the basket. Before beginning the basket, make a sketch showing its height, the width of the top and bottom, the shape of its sides, and a simple decoration in color. The bottom of the basket is to be made first, beginning the coil at the center. The coil should measure about a quarter of an inch in diameter, and is to be made of a number of strands of raffia, placed with the large ends together, forming a blunt point. Wind the strands tightly together with a strand of raffia, one end of which is threaded through a large needle. Work back from the end until you have a firm coil about half an inch in length. Start the spiral with this end, doubling it back, and sewing it firmly in place. Wind the raffia strands with the strand carrying the needle, sewing the coil thus made to the center. After the first time around, the stitches should be made about a quarter of an inch apart, and should be fastened through the upper part of the last coil. Strands of raffia must be added to the coil, to keep it of uniform size.