I meant to make this post yesterday under the WEDNESDAY WICKER WISDOM category, but the day got away from me!
Well, let me rephrase that, the entire day, week and month have sped by at an alarming speed! How about you? Did you get everything done that you wanted to before Christmas?
Anyway, on to the post about Weaving with Wide Binding Cane… There have been many questions lately on the Seatweaving & Chair Caning Forum, regarding aspects of weaving a chair or stool using wide binding cane, specifically how to join strands.
Just overlap the two strands while doing the warp or setting the foundation strands for about 6-8″ and then using an office stapler, staple three times down the length of the overlapped strands. Be sure that the points of the staples go into the center pocket weaving and curve them over so you don’t get poked or stuck by the ends.
Using a pair of needle nose pliers, remove any staples that show through on the bottom.
And there you go! Now you too, know how to join the warp strands when setting up and weaving a wide binding stool or chair seat.
Keep in mind that with the weavers, all that’s needed is the long overlap, no need to staple as the tension and friction alone will keep the weavers in place.
Congrats and Happy Weaving!
I am really hoping that you can help me. A number of years ago, I wove a large footstool using binder cane (what appears to be about 1/4″ wide) in a 5/5 herringbone pattern (top and bottom weave match). I want to make two more of these stools for the pastors of my church who are retiring after 30 years, but I can no longer find my pattern. Unfortunately, I am a novice at this so I cannot determine from looking at my stool how I actually wove it, especially how to start it and finish it. I am really hoping that you can help me with instructions on how to do this, or point me to where I can find them. I actually purchased two “complete” chair caning, weaving books, but they were of no help. I have looked high and low on the internet, but also have not found anything specific enough to be helpful to me. Please help me Wicker Woman, you’re my only hope!
Hi Jean,
Nice to hear you’ve done chair caning in the past, but sorry that you are having problems with the herringbone pattern. Did you get my reply by email that I sent? Since my response was pretty long, I decided to email you instead. But I am posting a bit here for the benefit of others.
Whenever weaving a wide binding cane footstool in the herringbone or twill design, I always choose a 3×3 twill weave on top and then a 4×4 twill on the bottom side or a 4×4 on top and 5×5 on the bottom. It’s really just my preference but looks the nicest in my estimation.
Most of the time I choose the easy one of 4×4 on top and 5×5 on the bottom. I never do 5×5 on the top though, feeling the 4×4 looks better and stays together a bit better, too.
I wrote a couple blog posts about weaving with wide binding cane that you might find helpful, although I still haven’t posted full instructions for them yet on my site. That’s a project in the making, however.
https://www.wickerwoman.com/loosen-up-use-caning-tension-rods.html
https://www.wickerwoman.com/weaving-wide-binding-cane-stool.html
What books did you purchase that are not working for you? My suggestions are posted on the Seatweaving FAQ page. Good luck and let me know how things turn out.
https://www.WickerWoman.com/seatweaving-faq