For over 30 years Judith Larkin’s home-based business, Raising Cane, has provided expert hand and pressed cane; paper rush; and splint seat repairs. She is willing to tackle any unusual assignments or weave unique patterns.
You’ll see Judith at area heritage festivals giving demonstrations – always promoting the craft of chair seat weaving!
Check us out now recently relocated from Medina, New York to the southern part of Alabama in Repton, not far from the Florida border, ya’ll!
(5/01/23)
REDUX FOR YOU–Bring your cherished chairs back to life!
Sue does hand-cane, press-cane, fiber rush, natural rush, seagrass, splint, porch weave, wicker repair, and more.
Custom-made baskets on request. Backpacks, market baskets, purses and everyday baskets.
Email, text, call or go to the website to fill out a quote request.
We have online and in-person classes available for seatweaving, basketry and crafts. Check the schedule on the website for what is coming up next.
We work with many local furniture restoration companies and can give you a referral for other repairs.
Our studio is open by appointment only. Follow our work on Facebook and Instagram.
When not weaving chairs, Sue can be found behind a camera or keyboard, with her photography, website design, social media management and graphic design skills.
Thank you for considering Redux For You to repair your chairs!
Member and Webmaster of The SeatWeavers’ Guild, Inc.®
(SUB-TCGF-2/28)
Rick’s Wood & Wire, a family business, offers chair caning and seat weaving services as well as 30+ years of full-service professional furniture refinishing and repair.
We are located in northwest Ohio in Pemberville, servicing northwest OH and southeast MI. Pickup and delivery services are available on request.
Does your chair have some damage? We are a full-service shop, meaning we can take care of repairs and refinishing and the routine gluing and tightening of those wobbly chairs.
Whatever type of weaving your chairs need, we offer hand caning, press caning, porch cane weaves, rush and Danish cord patterns and techniques. Want a splash of color – try having your chair woven in Shaker Tape.
We see all the possibilities and can make creative suggestions for you, too!
Charter, Cottage, & Newsletter Editor Member of The SeatWeavers’ Guild Inc.®
(8/03/TC)
Rodney Stearns, owner of Rodney’s Caning, has recently relocated from Priest River, Idaho to Alliance, Ohio to be close to family.
With over 50 years in the seat weaving business, Rodney’s Caning provides a variety of seat weaving techniques such as; hand cane, machine cane, blind cane, reed and ash splints, Shaker tapes, slab rattan, Danish cord, and fiber rush services.
Rodney can also give your chairs, rockers, and couches a bit of TLC with light chair repair and re-gluing in the new and fully equipped workshop.
Reasonable rates and free estimates are provided through submitted photos with adjustments made after actual examination if necessary.
Call or text today to schedule an appointment to get your pieces back in tip-top shape so you can enjoy your furniture again!
(7/10-TC)
Saggy Bottom Girls Caning has moved location! In August 2022 we moved our residence and business from Greenwood, Indiana to Salem, Alabama! We are now offering our chair seat weaving services in and around the Salem, AL area, which is 1 1/2 hours south of Atlanta between Columbus, GA and Auburn, AL.
We specialize in cane, fiber rush, seagrass, flat reed, binding cane, and others. We are a home-based family business and I personally weave each chair. We also work with local restoration companies should your chair need structural repairs.
I started this business several years ago as a way to spend time with my dad. People began asking me to fix their chairs with saggy bottoms and that is how the business began.
This is also how I came up with the name. It’s a play on the movie “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” starring George Clooney, and my Saggy Bottom Girls Caning seemed like an interesting twist to their Soggy Bottom Boys band.
Business Member of The SeatWeavers’ Guild, Inc.®
(4/01/23)
Richard Saunders is the author of five books on antique wicker furniture, a former wicker furniture restoration specialist, and one of the only certified wicker furniture appraisers in the country.
Richard and his wife Paula, relocated from California to Savannah, Georgia several years ago. Richard has over 45 years of hands-on experience in repairing and restoring wicker furniture and writing about and appraising antique wicker furniture.
One of Richard’s books, Collecting and Restoring Wicker Furniture — was the first book published with a how-to chapter on wicker repair. Several other books explain the history of the wicker furniture industry, give general pricing estimates, illustrate the different types of wicker furniture, and show examples of manufacturing methods and company warehouses.
Thinking of selling or throwing out your old wicker furniture? STOP! Don’t throw out a potentially valuable and irreplaceable piece of our American wicker history.
Before you toss your wicker–get an appraisal from Richard first! His appraisals include historical information, notes on style and design, dating the piece, and either proving the manufacturer or giving a likely manufacturer of the piece.
Richard provides certified, fee-based wicker furniture appraisals at $35 per piece. His appraisals can be used to establish the value of your wicker pieces for a variety of purposes:
- establish family heirloom/inheritance value
- estate resale value
- resale value
- insurance value
- moving damage claims
- and even court cases if necessary
Richard Saunders is one of only a few appraisers whose appraisal certification specialty is antique wicker furniture. Certified appraisals are given only after a physical inspection or through a series of good-quality photos sent to him via email or postal mail.
Contact Richard today for an appointment so you will be knowledgeable about your wicker furniture.
Mr. Saunders is also offering BRAND NEW copies of WICKER FURNITURE: A GUIDE TO RESTORING AND COLLECTING (Crown Publishers; 1990), which has been out of print for many years.
This is a 245-page, large-format paperback book that includes an 8-page color photo section, hundreds of black and white photos and lots of fascinating information on antique wicker furniture. It’s a perfect addition to anyone’s personal or seatweaving business reference library.
This book went out of print several years ago but Richard has a limited supply of NEW copies which he purchased from the publisher’s warehouse. He would be happy to personally sign your copy, just ask. The price of this special book is $30.00, which includes shipping and handling.
Contact Richard today to order your signed book, WICKER FURNITURE: A GUIDE TO RESTORING AND COLLECTING or to get your wicker piece evaluated and appraised for its proper value.
Directions to his shop will be given when your appointment is booked.
Honorary Lifetime Member of The SeatWeavers’ Guild, Inc.®
(11/1/24/CK-TC)
Schuler Reed Furniture, owned by Morgan Schuler is dedicated to quality repairs on cane furniture. Serving both Indiana and Ohio since we are located just ten miles from Brookville, IN, between Cincinnati, OH and Indianapolis, IN.
My idea to start caning came from my grandparents who had a shop in Cincinnati called Lewis Reed Furniture, and I want to continue that in my own way the best I can.
Self-taught with the help of many people from around the world, I intend to grow my business as large as I can in the coming years.
I specialize in:
- hand cane
- pressed cane
- fiber rush
- flat reed
- binder cane
- light wickerwork
I also do small repairs and if I have not done a particular type of repair before, I will typically try to figure it out so I can perfect it.
Color-matching wood repairs on chairs is also a service I can provide, and I am able to get those pretty close but have not taken on any large refinishing jobs. At this time, I am not looking to tackle that challenge.
Before reweaving the seat, I always round the edges of the opening and the cane holes to prevent premature failure in the future. I then tighten any loose joints that I am able to, and then after the seat repair I oil the wood to bring it back to life. This is all included in one estimate to make things simple.
The easiest method of getting an estimate is to send pictures through text message to the phone number listed. That estimate is typically very accurate, but in-person estimates may differ a little depending on damage unseen in photos.
If needed, I also offer a fee-based pick-up and delivery service, within a reasonable distance from my shop.
Thank you, and I look forward to bringing a new life to your cane furniture.
Corporate Member of The SeatWeavers’ Guild, Inc.®
(8/13/25 OH-TC) (2/3/24 IN)
Welcome to Seats on the Beach. We are a small family chair caning and seat weaving business, providing chair caning and other seat weaving services primarily in Charleston, South Carolina, also including the Midlands and Lowcountry of SC.
We work with most weaving media, rattan strand hand caning, press cane mesh, fibre rush, pre-twisted natural rush (which is a good substitute for cattail rush and bulrush), Danish cord, Kevlar cord, and twisted seagrass.
We provide basic chair repair services of replacing broken rails and rungs and tightening loose joints. We also provide minor touch-up staining and refinishing but we are not skilled in full refinishing.
We do not do upholstery and wicker but will occasionally rewrap wicker joints on a chair-by-chair basis.
Call or email today for an appointment and to discuss your chair seat weaving needs!
We now have two locations for drop-off: 2995 Highway 174 Edisto Island, SC, 29438 and 10 Warren Ct, Sumter, SC 29150 (Appointments required)
We are a proud Cottage level member of The SeatWeavers’ Guild, Inc.®
(11/26/TC)
Sherman Chair Caning–I have been in business since 1995 and specialize a wide array of caning services: Hand and Pressed Caning, Fibre and Natural Rush, Danish Cord, Splint Weave, Shaker Tape, Binding Cane, Specialty Caning and Wicker Repair.
In addition to working with my own customers, I have been called upon to work with some of the top furniture restoration businesses in the region, fulfilling any or all of their chair caning needs.
Therefore, if you bring me a chair that is in need of chair caning as well as restoration, you should know that no matter what condition it may be in, I have resources available to ensure that you will have many more years of enjoyment left in your chair.
(12/9 GFSUBTC)
***Update–Due to the flooding in North Carolina following Hurricane Helene on September 27, 2024, Silver River Center for Chair Caning lost their River Arts District location along with 80% of the neighborhood and 3/4 of their shop.
Consider donating to or sharing their GoFundMe fundraiser. Thanks for helping them rebuild in a new location (Spring/Summer 2025):
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-rebuild-our-chair-weaving-school
Silver River Center for Chair Caning is operated by two chair nerds on a mission to cultivate and inspire a reverence for a worldwide chair caning legacy.
Our vision is to promote an enthusiasm for the craft through education, published work, restoration, and travel. Be on the lookout for our instructional manual to be published by Blue Hills Press in 2025! Watch our @SilverRiverChairs YouTube channel for virtual tours, weaving guides, and lots of nerdy goodness.
After decades of attempting to dispel the myth that chair caning is a dying art, we now see how quickly it can get swept away. The catastrophic flooding in the Appalachian mountains was devastating to a community rich in craft. We are so grateful to the chair nerd community for reaching out, sending words of encouragement, and donating to our rebuilding efforts. We want to honor your generosity and kindness in our new location on Main St. Weaverville, just 10 min North of Asheville.
We empower everyone to restore their own chairs and to encourage makers to incorporate woven seating in their designs. We will be teaching small classes at our shop in Weaverville as well as offsite at John C Campbell Folk School & Arrowmont. We are building an online school (with a potential launch date of late 2025) so that we can expand our reach and offer classes at a lower cost than traveling to North Carolina.
Silver River is an official education center of the Southern Highland Craft Guild. Memberships include The SeatWeavers’ Guild, The Furniture Society, The American Craft Council, The River Arts District Association, and we are a heritage member of the Southern Highland Craft Guild (Brandy is a 4th Generation Chair Weaver). We are proud to honor a family tradition, the craft, and all chair nerds (past, present, and future) with Silver River Center for Chair Caning.
Silver River is open Mon-Fri 10-5 by appointment or chance in our new location Spring 2025–
- MUSEUM UPDATE: Our new location has limited space for a museum display as large as it was in the River Arts District but we will be showcasing the diversity of the craft in a new way – stay tuned for our online gallery and our traveling chair weaving exhibit. Our new location will have fun displays of #canespotting, historic WNC chairs, and ephemera.
- Our classes range from beginner to advanced tutorials, and we will eventually be accepting apprenticeships once we get properly settled in the new space.
- Watch a virtual tour on our YouTube channel. Learn about materials, history, and process of 8 styles of chair seat weaving.
- You can still enjoy the reference library and educate yourself on ancient and global traditions.
- We launched over 30 small chair weaving businesses during our 10 years in the River Arts District. We are excited to continue training and advising aspiring weavers in our new location.
- Due to our focus on education, we will be doing selective restorations. We are glad to refer you to a couple of our students who operate their own businesses in WNC.
- We will eventually be accepting donations of chairs for student practice. If you want to donate, please text us a photo of your chair.
- We are glad to give remote advice on chair weaving projects – cost depends on level of assistance needed. Email us a photo along with your questions.
- Sales of chair nerd t-shirts, stickers, postcards, and bookmarks support the proliferation of chair nerd culture.
- Hire us to speak and demonstrate at museums, craft shows, schools, woodworkers associations, etc. A Brief History of Chair Caning is a slideshow timeline that covers 5,000 years and spans the globe. It is rich in historical images, astonishing displays of weaving materials, and contemporary makers with woven seating.
- We love hosting field trips and group classes/demos/tours
Note: Our restoration waitlist is often 6 months-1 year out. Restoration inquiries should be emailed to [email protected] and should include photos of the chair attached to the email.
Corporate & Board Member of The SeatWeavers’ Guild, Inc.®
(4/1/NCHG)
Sissel’s Chair Renewal provides furniture repair, cabinetmaking and chair seatweaving with quality work and attention to detail, since 1988. Specializing in Danish cord, hand cane, pressed cane, splint, Shaker tape and rush weaving. Pick up and delivery service available.
Minneapolis-based Norwegian artisan with 20+ years experience in repair and renewal of chairs with wicker & cane seats and backing, especially those from Scandinavia.
If you need an authentic restoration/reweaving of a Wegner chair or a Møller, perhaps? I work in conjunction with other woodworkers, cabinet makers, and high-end craftsmen in the area to offer the finest quality work on seating and related projects. Call or email today and we’ll work together.
Business Member of The SeatWeavers’ Guild, Inc.®
(11/10/TC)
Diana, owner of Sit-A-While Seat Weaving has over 30+ years experience offering custom chair seat replacement using cane, splint, fibre rush, Shaker tape and seagrass. Pick-up available within a 75-mile radius.
Diana travels throughout Missouri demonstrating at events and also offers weekend classes. Stay at local B & Bs in the historic community overlooking the Missouri River.
Charter and Cottage Member of The SeatWeavers’ Guild, Inc. ®.
(2/01/25)
Step-In-Time-Antiques is a home-based business specializing in hole-to-hole chair caning, pressed/machine/spline cane, and binder cane in various patterns (e.g. herringbone, New England Porch Weave, Finger Lakes Fan Weave, etc.), paper fiber rush and Shaker tape weaving.
Will do some minor structural repair. Free estimates and local pickup/delivery. Good rates!
Charter Member of The SeatWeavers’ Guild, Inc.®
(SUB 1/21/24)
The Caning Lady is nestled in the quaint Mississippi river valley town of Winona in southeastern Minnesota, but not too far south of Minneapolis/St. Paul to enjoy the drive.
Since 1986, I’ve been restoring precious family heirlooms; bringing your cherished treasures back to life is my passion and what I love to do!
I specialize in traditional hand caning, pressed cane, porch weave, Spiderweb, Daisy, Button and other unique patterns. I also weave with hickory bark, splint, Shaker tape and paper fiber rush.
You may contact me via phone or email for quotes, but please put “Chair Caning” in the subject line when emailing and be sure to leave a message with your phone call so I know how to help you. I’m looking forward to working with you.
Member of The SeatWeavers’ Guild Inc.®
(11/15/SUB-TC)
Chair Caning, Splint, Rush, Danish Cord, Rawhide, Rattan and Wicker Repair are the specialties of The Caning Shop Restoration since 1969. Chair caning and basketry classes are available, too.
Jim Widess, owner of The Caning Shop in Berkeley, CA sells chair caning and basketry supplies and is the author of two best-selling weaving books: The Caner’s Handbook and The Complete Guide to Chair Caning.
Honorary Lifetime Member–The SeatWeavers’ Guild, Inc.®
(11/01/23)
Two shops in one–The Chair Man specializing in antique chair restoration; chair caning, fiber and natural rush, splint, Shaker tape and regluing the joints of chairs. The Tea Lady specializes in antique and vintage porcelain, pottery and glassware.
Over 20+ years of seatweaving experience and service. Pickup and delivery available for local Boston area.
Keeping wonderful (sometimes very old) chairs in use and circulation is our goal. We love the stories of how many chairs have been handed down within families or found on the side of the road.
Visit our website, see our work samples and us at antique shows!
Business Level Member of The SeatWeavers’ Guild, Inc.®
(12/24 GFSUBTC)
Stephen Ambrose -“The Chair Seat Weaver” is a 4th generation professional chair seat weaver. After a recent move in early 2021 from York, Pennsylvania, where he lived and worked for many years, Stephen is now providing chair seat weaving services in Hanover, PA.
Stephen uses natural materials in the hand-weaving techniques of hole-to-hole cane or lace caning, press-in cane fabric or spine caning, and also does handwoven splint seats.
Stephen takes on minor furniture repair too, so if your pieces need some TLC in that area be sure to inquire about those services.
“Please call or email and I’ll get back to you to schedule your appointment and give directions to my shop. Looking forward to meeting you!” – Stephen Ambrose, The Chair Seat Weaver.
To put a face with the name, check out this Youtube video! Stephen’s chair caning talents were featured on the local TV station where he used to work as a broadcasting engineer before retiring!
Steve Ambrose-Retired Broadcasting Engineer now Chair Caner
A few years ago, ABC27, a local broadcast station in Pennsylvania, did a spot on Steve on their newscast, too.
Steve Ambrose, Pennsylvania Seat Weaver on ABC Channel 27
(10/22/TC)
The Chair Shop providing seatweaving since 1960, hand or pressed cane, splint, rush, Danish cord, and Shaker tape. We also do chair re-gluing and have free pick up and return and give free estimates, too.
Servicing all 5 boroughs of metro New York City, NJ, also greater Poughkeepsie area Millbrook, Rhinebeck, Cold Spring, greater White Plains, NY area. Call 1-800-980-8344 for details and ask for John.
(8/3 TC)
THE CHAIRMAN–Taught to weave by my grandmother at a very young age, I have made restoring our history by reweaving chair seats, my goal.
Services offered in the central Florida area include; 7-step hand cane, blind/French cane, cane webbing, fibre and natural rush and more.
Pick-up/delivery available, house calls, repairs and refinishing, and classes too! Call or email today for your appointment.
Business Member of The SeatWeavers’ Guild, Inc.®
(11/01/24/CK-TC)
The Crooked Rim Chair Caning & Seat Weaving, located in Massillon, Ohio, is a home-based business owned and operated by the husband and wife team, Jeff and Robbin Huss.
Robbin has been weaving baskets and chair seats for over 30 years and Jeff has been weaving for over 15 years.
The Crooked Rim offers traditional 7-step hand cane, fancy cane patterns, pressed cane, woven patterns, natural and fiber rush, seagrass, splint, reed, and Shaker tape.
Pictures of your project can be sent via text or email for a rough estimate. A final quote will then be given upon physical inspection of the chair.
If you want to learn to cane your own chair seats, we also teach FREE classes in Cuyahoga Falls at the Quirk Cultural Center alongside Master Caner Janet Noall.
Contact us today for caning class schedule dates and times or to make your seatweaving repair appointment.
Members of The SeatWeavers’ Guild Inc.® (TSWG)
(11/4/TC)