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Chair Weaving Techniques

The rattan plant, which grows in Indonesia and Sumatra, is the source of cane. The skin of the plant is stripped to use for cane, while the remainder of the plant is used to produce wicker. Weaving the cane or wicker into chair seats, backs and arms is time-consuming but can results in a work of art that will last for years.

Chair Caning
- Strand or hand caning that follows a seven-step method produces the most commonly recognized patterns. The strands of cane are woven by hand through holes drilled on the inside edge of a chair seat's frame. In addition to the standard pattern, advanced patterns of caning can be made by hand weaving such as "Daisy and Buttons," "Spider Web," "Star of David" and "Snowflake." These advanced weaves offer a challenge to more adventurous seat weavers.
  
  In the 1870s, a mechanized process was invented and the cost of buying a chair with a woven seat became more affordable. The strips of cane (or rattan) are woven into sheets that are cut to fit the chair. The raw edges get pushed into a cut groove in the frame of the seat. Glue and a spline are inserted to keep the weaving in place.
Splint Seat Weaving
- Ash, oak, reed or hickory strips are used for this type of seat weaving. The weave produces a herringbone design and a thick, solid seat. This type of chair seat also is referred to as split seat weave. The strips are woven around dowels to form the frame of the seat.
Rush Seat Weaving
- Weaving rush seats can include various materials, but bulrush or cattails originally were used in this method. These were dried and broken so that they were easier to bend and weave. Woven around dowels to form the seat, the design formed represents four defined triangles. The cost and time to make these seats is extraordinary, so a paper twist or fiber has become more available to perform this technique.
Checkerboard
- Dowels or narrow strips of wood are used to make the seat base. Oriental sea grass or rush is used to weave the seating. As the name suggests, the design represents a checkerboard pattern.
Lattice Weave
- This open-weave design is quicker because it doesn't require a tightly woven pattern. Lattice weave, also called rustic weave, mainly is used for outdoor furniture and is woven around a roughly framed chair seat made of branches. Flat reeds or leather strips are commonly used to complete a rustic weave. The design produced resembles lattice fencing.

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