This traditional chair seatweaving method is woven by hand with individual strands of cane, through holes drilled in the perimeter of the seat, thereby creating the familiar octagon (8-sided), pattern. Many different gauges of cane are used to suit the design of the chair and size of the drilled holes, but all woven in the same 7-step pattern. The 7-step method of hand chair caning tedious and time-consuming to weave, but a lovely, strong and durable pattern when completed. There are also many other designs that can be woven through the holes, but this one has proven to be the most durable and long lasting. Please take a look at the Free Hand Chair Caning Instructions page if you’d like to try your hand at this rewarding craft! These are all names for cane that is prewoven on a loom, forming “sheets” of cane, pressed into a “groove” and held in place with reed “spline” and glue. This caning technique looks similar to hand caning in pattern, (and also comes in many variations), but the cane sits in a groove, rather than being woven through a series of holes in the frame.
This loom woven technique of caning and mechanized groove cutting into the chairs was invented in the 1870s, so has been around for a very long time. And although sometimes thought to be a relatively new process, it is not, and has rivaled the traditional hand chair caning in popularity. If you’d like to do this yourself, here are some Free Instructions How-to Install Press Cane Webbing These are all names of different fancy, intricate and advanced cane weaving designs. Since these weaves are not as durable as others, they are usually applied only to backs of Victorian chairs and rockers, rather than the seats. All are woven using at least two different gauges of cane to complete pattern. Save these complex designs for the experts, they are not for the novice weaver! This type of chair caning is woven in the traditional 7-step method design, with regular strand cane, but the holes drilled in the framework do not go all the way through the wood. Blind Caning is usually reserved for use in the backs or under the arms of chairs rather than in the seats, because it’s a delicate weave and not very strong.
Since the holes do not go through the frame, each length of cane must be cut to the exact length needed and fixed in the holes with a plastic peg and a small spot of glue until set. Only one step can be done at a time, so the glue can set, making this a very tedious job indeed. Leave this one to the experts! This type of seatweaving is done with 4, 5 or 6 MM cane, or the larger slab rattan, in a basket weave or herringbone twill pattern around the four rungs or dowels that make up the seat. Sometimes the backs in rockers and chairs are also woven in this pattern with this material to match the seats. The cane strands look similar to hand cane strands, but these are much wider, and woven in a different pattern than traditional hole-to-hole cane. Splints, sometimes referred to as Splits, are prepared strips of ash, oak, reed or hickory bark, woven around the seat rungs or dowels of chairs and rockers. Usually the pattern is either a herringbone twill or basketweave design.
Splints are typically woven using a 3x3 or 4x4 herringbone twill design on the top side with a wider twill weave on the bottom. The rush seatweaving technique uses either natural cattail leaf rush, bulrush or man-made paper fibre rush and is woven around the four seat rungs or dowels, forming four distinct triangles in the seat pattern. Can you see the subtle differences between the cattail leaf rush and the bulrush when you examine the bottoms of the chairs? Natural Rush–Museum pieces or fine old antique chairs are typically woven with bulrush or cattail leaves for authenticity, but because of the degree of difficulty in weaving, extensive time involved, and cost/availability of materials, it is quite expensive. Paper Fibre Rush is a man-made twisted paper product for use in weaving chair seats, that’s cheaper and easier to use than cattail leaves or bulrush. Usually used newer chairs, not of museum quality. Paper twist or paper rush comes in a continuous strand and is very durable, lastly considerably longer than natural rush.
It’s frequently used to weave seats on Colonial style, mule-ear style and other post and rail modern chair seats, and also used in weaving wicker furniture from the 1910s-1940s. Checkerboard patterned seats are usually woven with Oriental seagrass, Danish cord or other types of cording materials. Both the stool and chair in these photographs were woven in a checkerboard pattern using Oriental seagrass. But of course, there are many other designs, patterns and cording materials that also could be used to create the same affect. The rustic or lattice seatweaving technique uses rawhide strips or sometimes flat reed splints that are woven on chairs, rockers, and couches in a very open weave. It looks similar to lattice work fences or panels and is found frequently on rustic, Adirondack, or cowboy style furniture. This picture shows a Danish Modern teak chair, made popular in the 1950s. It’s woven with 2-ply laced Danish cord in a special basket weave design, sometimes called a checkerboard.
The strands may be looped around special “L” shaped nails on the inside side rails. Some Danish chair designs incorporate a cord-woven back as well as the woven seat. Another material frequently used in weaving Danish Modern chair seats is wide binding cane in either 4, 5 or 6 MM, woven on both the seat and back. That pretty well covers the most popular types of chair seatweaving techniques, patterns and materials used. I certainly hope you’ve found this helpful and will Share with your friends and family. Please visit the rest of the site using the navigation links at the top of every page to read more FREE helpful hints and tips about chair seatweaving. Be sure to Bookmark this page so you can come back again often to see what’s new! If you’d like to reweave the seats of your chairs and need the materials to do so, please visit the suppliers on the National Cane & Basket Supplies Directory™ page, since The Wicker Woman® does not sell supplies to the general public.