As you can see from these pictures, the one handle had come completely apart. I had to replace some of the needles. There is also a piece of wire to help form the handles, and I had to wrap them totally to hide the wire and keep the needles all together.
All in all, this was a scary but rewarding experience for me. Just knowing that this basket was over 100 years old and was a prized possession of the man who owns it, I was hesitant to try to repair it.
After getting started, it wasn't as difficult as I had anticipated, and the results were dramatic. Mr. and Mrs. Grissom were very pleased, and loved the fact that I gave them copies of the before and after pictures.
My thanks go out to Jeanne Williams, who provided me with some very nice raffia to work with on this project.
