How to Do Open Work Seat Weaving

Open work seat weaving is an ancient craft.

Seat-weaving is an ancient art that uses natural or man-made materials to construct a somewhat flexible bottom for chairs, stools or other furniture items. Of the many materials used for seat weaving, cane is traditionally woven in an open-work pattern. Chairs or other items for weaving are open in the seat area and have holes drilled around the inside perimeter to accept the cane. The traditional open-work seat is woven in seven steps.

Things You'll Need

• Spring-loaded needle-nosed pliers
• Golf tees or pointed dowels
• Clothespins
• Knife
• Ruler
• Bodkin or ice pick
• Glycerin
• Water
• Pan
• Cane
• Cane binding

Instructions

Preparation

1. Remove the old cane seat. Using an ice pick or an awl, clean all bits of cane from the holes. Repair any broken holes with glue. If a hole cannot be repaired with glue, use a small, hand-held rotary-blade saw capable of making a plunge cut to remove the damaged portion of the chair bottom. Replace the damaged portion with new wood. Drill holes to match the existing pattern. Use sandpaper, steel wool or a small hand-held rotary tool with a buffing head to smooth all edges of the chair seat.

2. 

   Cane is sold in bundles called hanks.

   Measure the size of the holes and the distance between the holes in the chair bottom. Holes range in size from 3/16 inch to 5/16 inch. Space between holes ranges from 3/8 inch to 7/8 inch. Purchase cane based upon the guide provided in "Tips" to this article.

3. Roll two or three strands of cane into a loop. Feel the cane as it is rolled and keep the slick side out. The slick side is the top side. Clip the roll of cane with a clothespin to keep it rolled up.

4. Immerse a cane roll in a pan with enough water to cover the cane. Soak the cane for 5 to 10 minutes to soften it for weaving. One or two caps of glycerin may be added to the water to make the cane slide smoothly during weaving.

Weaving

1. Find the central back hole in the chair seat. Place a tee in the hole to mark the spot. Find the central hole in the front of the chair. Mark with a tee. Locate matching side holes on opposite sides of the chair. Mark by placing tees in them.

2. Remove the tee from the central back hole. Push a strand of cane from the top of the chair down through the hole, extending approximately three to four inches of cane into the hole. Replace the tee in the hole to hold the cane in place. Push the opposite end of the cane strand through the central front hole. Pull fairly tight and secure with the tee. Pull cane to the right and push up through the hole to the right of the front central hole. Keep the top side of the cane on top. Push the cane through the hole to the right of the central back hole. Continue in this manner until the strand of cane is used up. Secure the cane with a tee. Begin a new strand. Work the left side of the chair in the same manner as the right.

3. Run canes across the chair seat from right to left. Use the same sequence as in the previous step, running canes from front to back. Right-to-left canes are on top of the front-to-back canes.

4. Add another layer of back-to-front canes to the chair seat using the same holes used in the first layer. Some cane weavers run the cane across the top of the first two layers of cane, keeping the second back-to-front layer slightly to the right of the first back-to-front layer. Others weave the second back-to-front cane layer over and under the right-to-left canes.

5. Weave a second right-to-left layer of canes. Use the same holes that were used in the first right-to-left layer. Weave over the top back-to-front cane and under the bottom back-to-front cane.

6. Create an open-work pattern with a diagonal weave. Push a cane down through the corner hole on the back right side of the chair. Weave over two strands and under two strands, working toward the corner hole on the front left side of the chair. Weave canes to the right until the right front corner of the chair is reached. Push a cane through the hole to the left of the corner hole on the back right side of the chair where this layer of weaving began. Finish this layer in the manner established for the layer.

7. Weave another diagonal layer. This last layer begins in the back left-hand corner and works toward the front right-hand corner. Work in the manner established with the last layer. Turn the chair over and tie off all cane ends by looping a three-to-four-inch piece of cane under a strand of cane that runs from hole to hole. Make several loops around the strand. Cut off the tag end of the cane.

Tips & Warnings

• Cane Size Hole Diameter (inches) Spacing between holes (inches)

• Common 5/16 7/8

• Medium 1/4 3/4

• Fine 3/16 5/8

• Fine-fine 3/16 1/2

• Superfine 3/16 3/8

• Wax finished chair bottom with paste wax for longer wear and ease of cleaning.

• Do not pull cane too tightly while weaving. Cane shrinks and tightens as it dries.

• If cane becomes too dry while working, wet a cloth or sponge in the soaking water and wipe the cane. This is especially important before tying off cane ends to insure a tight loop.

References

• Chair-Caning: Chair Caning Instructions
• Cane, Rush and Willow: Weaving with Natural Materials; Hilary Burns
• Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences: Weaving Chair Seats

Resources

• Carol's Rugs: Macrame Lawn Chair Patterns