The Keepsake Basket — Red Heart Moroccan Woven Gift Tote

Open it and it's lined in red.

That's the detail that decides what this basket is. An unlined basket is a bag. A basket lined in red satin, with three crocheted hearts on the front and leather handles, is a gift object — something you hand to someone with things inside it, and something they keep afterwards and put things back into.

Then look at the handle tabs, because they're the part most people miss. They're cut as hearts. Not squares, not rounds — heart-shaped leather, saddle-stitched in white thread and set with a brass rivet. Somebody took the motif on the front and repeated it in the hardware. That's a design decision, and it's the thing that separates a decorated basket from a designed one.

The hearts themselves are crocheted in chunky red wool, one at a time, and stitched on by hand. They're not identical — one sits a little fuller, another leans slightly. Anyone who has crocheted a heart knows they come out with their own character however carefully you count the stitches.

The basket underneath is woven from natural reed in a tight vertical structure, and it's built square rather than tapered, with a flat base. It stands up on its own and holds its shape when it's empty — which sounds minor until you've tried to fill a basket that collapses inward every time you let go of it. Filled with chocolates, candles, bath things or flowers, it sits open and presentable on a table.

The handles are rolled cognac leather, long enough to carry comfortably, and they'll darken with handling the way leather does.

The reason we like it as a gift: what happens on the 15th of February. Flowers die, chocolates get eaten. This is still there — a proper basket with leather handles, lined in red, holding whatever it holds next. Shopping, bread, toys, magazines. A gift that survives its occasion is a better gift.

Three sizes, so choose by what you'll put in it: small to fill as a gift; medium as a gift and then an everyday basket; large for a substantial hamper or a real market basket.

Woven and crocheted entirely by hand in Marrakech. Heart placement, weave and exact dimensions vary between baskets.

Features & Specifications

• Material: Hand-woven natural reed with hand-crocheted wool hearts and genuine leather handles
• Detail: Three crocheted red hearts, applied by hand; heart-shaped leather handle tabs with white saddle stitching and brass rivets
• Handles: Rolled cognac leather on heart-cut leather tabs
• Interior: Fully lined in red satin-finish fabric
• Structure: Square-built with a flat base — stands upright and holds shape when empty
• Sizes: Small, Medium and Large (exact dimensions per size — see note below)
• Closure: Open top
• Handmade: 100% handcrafted in Marrakech, Morocco. Ships direct from our workshop.
• One of a kind: Weave, exact dimensions, heart placement and shape all vary between baskets.
• Care: Keep dry where you can; natural reed is water-resistant but not waterproof. If it gets wet, air dry naturally away from direct heat. Dust the reed with a dry brush. Spot clean the wool hearts and the lining gently with a barely damp cloth — do not soak, as red dyes are the most likely of any colour to run onto pale fibre. Condition the leather handles with a neutral balm once a year.
• A note on wool: Chunky wool can pill or catch slightly with heavy handling. Trim any loose fibre with scissors rather than pulling it.

Ships from our warehouse in Marrakech with DHL or FedEx. Free over $100 (EUR 100 in Europe). Five to eight business days to Europe, the UK, the USA and Canada; seven to fourteen to Australia and New Zealand. Thirty days to change your mind.

Cut and stitched by hand in our Marrakech workshop. Because every hide is different, no two pieces are identical.