Hand Chair Caning Instructions, How-to Cane Chairs — FREE Directions

You’ve probably run across the lattice-look weaving on some chair frames that your grandmother had or you saw at a flea market or maybe you even have some yourself, that need repair.

The weaving method design and material used has not changed much over several hundred years and is a way to supplement your income and keep the craft alive, too.

And although there are other hand or strand caning designs, the “7-Step Method Chair Caning” or “6-Way” traditional strand cane weaving pattern seems to be the most reliable and strongest for everyday use.

Learning how to cane a chair seat by hand is not difficult, it just takes time and patience to perfect. Hole-to-hole traditional hand caning, sometimes called strand or lace chair caning, is a very valuable skill to have, especially during these economically difficult times.

Think of how much money you’ll save by doing the chair caning yourself when the seat falls apart. And at the same time you’ll learn a new marketable craft skill.

Chair caning is a very good and lucrative skill to possess, especially for the retiree or stay-at- home mom, or on a part-time basis to supplement your income! You’ll be able to recycle, reuse, restore and preserve your flea market finds and precious family heirloom antique cane chairs in the process.

CHAIR CANING INSTRUCTIONS–HOW-TO WEAVE A LACE CANE SEAT

Copyright © 2007 The Wicker Woman®–Cathryn Peters

Difficulty Level: Moderately Challenging Instructions

Things you’ll need for this caning project:

• trapezoidal shape (wider in front than in back), which is a chair with straight sides and pre-drilled holes around perimeter of wooden frame, much easier than a round seat
• 270 feet strand chair cane and 6 feet of binder cord, in appropriate gauge for project
• work table to place the chair on, make sure it’s the right height so you don’t have to bend over
• measuring tape or chair caning gauge tool and/or cane gauge conversion table
• 1-2 dozen chair caning pegs
• dish pan or water bucket
• scissors
• small hammer or tack hammer
• awl or ice pick
• 1/4″ diameter wooden dowel rod
• white glue, not yellow carpenter’s glue
• spray bottle
• bath towel

CHAIR PREPARATION FOR CHAIR CANING

(Click step photos below to enlarge)

For your first attempt, find a chair that is sound and not in need of refinishing or regluing, with holes drilled around the perimeter in the frame.

Your best first practice piece would be a square or rectangle footstool or, if you can’t find one of those, a trapezoidal shape chair (wider in the front than the back), is the next best thing.

Since the chair caning design is based on the square, the trapezoidal chair shape is closest to the square and the easiest to learn on.  Round chair seats and horseshoe shaped are much more difficult, and not good for your first attempt.

If old cane is in the seat, you will have to remove it using scissors and/or a utility knife or box cutter knife. Start with a good, sound chair with clean drilled holes.

DETERMINE CORRECT SIZE CHAIR CANE

To make sure you are using the correct gauge or size of strand chair cane for this project, you will need to measure the diameter of the drilled holes and take the measurement from center-hole to center-hole of its neighbor.

Use a measuring tape and take measurements from several places around the seat frame. Not all were drilled correctly or were evenly spaced. 

Write down the measurements so you can examine and compare the different readings with the conversion tables that the cane suppliers have on their websites and in their catalogs.

ALTERNATIVE QUICK MEANS TO SELECT STRAND CANE GAUGE OR SIZE

Measure a section of the seat rail for a six inche span, then count how many holes are in that six inch section. If a partial hole is within the measurement, then count that too.

Then for every six inches that has the number of holes below, buy the size cane listed on the right:

• 12 holes = Fine Fine Cane, 2.25mm
• 11 holes = Fine Cane, 2.50mm
• 10 holes = Narrow Medium, 2.75mm Cane
• 9 holes = Medium Cane, 3.0mm
• 8 holes = Common Cane, 3.50mm

ORDERING CORRECT GAUGE CHAIR CANE

Once you have determined the correct size cane to use for your project, you can purchase the cane and binder cane from the  cane and basket supply companies here on my website.
 

ASSEMBLE ALL NECESSARY TOOLS FOR CHAIR CANING

Most of the tools you’ll need to use weaving your cane seats are minimal and you probably already have several of them laying around the house or in your tool box or garage. Refer back to the list above before you begin to weave.

STEP #1  – LAYING THE VERTICAL CANE STRANDS

Remove a few strands of chair cane from the hank and loosely coil them in a dish pan of warm water to soak for about ten minutes. Periodically replace the soaked cane strands with new ones in the water, so you constantly have a supply ready and waiting. But don’t soak cane any longer than 15 minutes or it will start to deteriorate and discolor.

Meanwhile, find the center hole in the front and in the back of the chair seat and put a peg in each one to mark them. If there are two center holes, select the right hand side ones to peg.

Take a strand out of the water and examine it for any breaks or weak spots. Discard any inferior pieces or cut the blemishes off, especially if they are at or near the end of the strand. Select the longest strands you can comfortably use in these first three steps, while you are setting the foundation.

Place one end of the strand in the center back hole, leaving about two inches beneath the chair and put a peg in the hole to hold it in place. Make sure that the shiny, glossy side which is the right side, is always facing you or facing upward. Take the long end of the strand and insert it into the center hole in front and peg it.

Then take that long end that you just pegged and bring it through the hole to the right still on the front rail, coming up from the bottom. Then when it gets to the top, take the end of the strand and carry it over to the back rail again, in the next hole to the right side of the pegged hole.

Even when you turn the chair upside-down, the glossy side of the cane underneath and between the holes on the bottom of the frame, should always be facing you or upward. Make sure that the “right” side of the cane is showing, not the dull “wrong” side.

You will also have some short rows with a trapezoidal chair, so be sure to also add those rows and try to keep the lines as parallel as possible to the others. As you will see, there’s one short row on the sample chair I’m using here.

DO NOT PUT ANY CANE IN THE CORNER HOLES, they will be used later during STEPS #5 & #6 when you weave in the diagonals. Skip the four corner holes at this time. Continue threading the long end of the strand back and forth from front to back all the way across the chair to the right.

Then do the same thing with all the holes on the left side of the chair seat. Pull each strand taught, but not tight and keep the cane slack but not sagging. There should be a little give.

STEP #2  – LAYING FIRST HORIZONTAL CANE STRANDS

Now continue laying the horizontal strands from side to side, on TOP of, or OVER STEP #1 that you just put in. Add new strands just
as you did before and keep strands parallel, and do not add cane to the four corner holes.

STEP #3  – LAYING SECOND VERTICALS CANE STRANDS

With this step, begin laying the second vertical strands front to back, OVER the top of STEPS #1 & #2, and just slightly to the RIGHT of STEP #1, the first vertical.

Wondering what to do with all those “tails” when you quit one strand and start another? To avoid tying knots with those ends and ending up with a sloppy, messy underside of the chair seat like this:

Use an alternative method, such as my “No-Knot” System of Tying Off video to eliminate nasty looking chair caning knots. Discover the best way to finish off the ends of the cane strands, without tying knots.

And if there do happen to be any remaining “tails” after your seat is woven, you can pick those up too, when you apply the binder cord. So your chair cane seat will have vertually NO-KNOTS on the underside (or at most, one or two).

STEP #4  –  FIRST ACTUAL WEAVING-SECOND HORIZONTAL CANE STRANDS

The real weaving begins with the second side- to-side course, horizontally alternating under-over weave through the doubled front-and- back course.

Begin weaving in the front rail of the chair and have the strand run parallel with the horizontal of STEP #2, but below it, or closer to your body than STEP #2 was. Weave UNDER the strand on the left STEP #1, and OVER the one on the right STEP #3

STEP #5 — WEAVING THE FIRST DIAGONAL CANE STRANDS

Start the first diagonal course in the front left-hand corner of the chair. This step will be weaving ALL the diagonal strands and will slant from the lower left side to the upper right side. Begin this step by taking a new strand and inserting it into the left front corner hole. Leave a 2″ tail below the seat as before and peg off.

Taking the end of the long strand, begin weaving OVER the VERTICALS or front-and-back pairs, and UNDER the HORIZONTALS or side-to-side pairs. You will NOT end up in the corresponding corner hole on the top right of the chair. But where ever you end up, go down into the hole and come up in the hole to the right.

WEAVING THE CORNER CANE “FISH HEADS” — When you do come to the corner hole, end off the strand and begin a new one in that same hole, so there will be TWO diagonals in the upper RIGHT corner and eventually there will also be two corresponding diagonals in the lower left corner on this step.

Where those two diagonal strands meet going into the same corner, it’s called a “fish head.” You will need to make “fish heads” in each of the four corners, plus elsewhere a few times on the side rails.

STEP #6 — SECOND DIAGONAL CANE WEAVING

This course will complete the weaving of the opposite diagonal, which is at right angles to the first course. ALL the diagonals that slant from the lower right side to the upper left side will be finished here.

Begin this course at the lower right corner, leaving a 2″ tail as before, peg it and begin weaving upward to the left corner area. This time weave OVER the HORIZONTALS (and the strand from STEP #5) or the front-to-back pairs and UNDER the VERTICALS (and the strand from STEP #5), or the side-to-side pairs. You will be going over and under three strands at a time, not just the pairs.

Remember, when you come to the corner hole again, begin a new strand, making a “fish head” and continue weaving back and forth until you complete the entire second diagonal course.

STEP # 7 — APPLYING THE CANE BINDER CORD STRAND

The final weaving course is to apply the wider binding cane, covering the holes and giving a nice finished look to the woven cane chair seat.

Use separate lengths of binder cane for front, back and side rails with each piece running from corner hole to corner hole on this trapizodial chair seat. Cut them slightly longer than needed so can be put into corner holes at each end.

Begin by securing the front rail binder cord in the left corner hole with a peg. Then using a long length of weaving cane, put one end down the back side of the next hole to the right of the corner. Loop the long end of the weaver, over the binder cord and down into the front side of the same hole.

Then on the bottom side of the chair, bring the long weaver upward into the next hole to the right, backside of the hole. Loop over the binder again and down into the front side of that same hole.

Continue this looping process moving to the right one hole, each time and pick up any loose “tails” and incorporate them or “sandwich” them under the binder cord in the “No-Knot” fashion. Go around the entire four rails of the chair seat with the binder cord, adding the new length at each corner and securing with a peg to hold it.

EXTRA TIPS FOR STEP #7 — BINDER CORD CHAIR CANE & NO KNOTS

Also, pick up any loose “tails” or ends as you go around with the binder cord, so you don’t have so many to tie off afterward. Tie off any that weren’t caught by the binder and put a spot of white glue on the knot to hold.

See my Chair Caning Tips — Binder Cord video for more helpful hints and tips for working with the binder cord on hand caning.

EXTRA TIPS FOR STEP #7 — CANE BINDER CORD CORNERS

Corners can be pegged with a short piece of wooden dowel rod. No need for glue, unless it’s just a little spot. Or, you can just fold over the top binder strand over the bottom one inside the hole.

CONGRATULATIONS! STRAND CHAIR CANING SEAT IS DONE!

You’ve finished your first traditional hole-to-hole cane seat weaving project. And with good care, your new chair caned seat should last between 5-25 years.

See my Chair Caning Tips on The Wicker Woman YouTube Channel and be sure to SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss a single new video!

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Now that you have your cane chair rewoven you need to know how-to care for it, so see the article tip sheet, “How-to Care for Cane Furniture” to keep your cane chairs in tip-top shape. And see many chair caning hints & tips on TheWickerWoman YouTube Channel .

Visit the How-to Articles for great hints and tips on caring for your cane seat furniture, how-to paint wicker, and many more great articles!

 

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