Reweaving Open Frame Seats With Other Materials
The ancient and most recognizable woven pattern on open frame seats is the diagonal cross pattern using rush, aka cattail. Because it is so time consuming to do and so expensive to have done, many alternate materials and patterns have been developed. On this page we introduce a few materials that don't fit on any of the other pages.
RAWHIDE
Rawhide is woven from one long strip of 1/2" wide untanned leather in its own unique pattern. This material is best on more rustic appearing pieces, such as the stick chair below. It is the fastest weave to accomplish but with the most expensive of materials.
SHAKER TAPE
Shaker tape is a cotton canvas strap, offered in various colors. It is most often woven with two colors in the checkerboard pattern shown below right but can be woven monochromatically, or in a diamond or herringbone pattern, or in any pattern and color combination appealing to the eye of the beholder.
We did not do the shaker tape work on this chair. Our task was to replace two missing back spindles. No way you can correctly guess both of them.
Seems to us a boring choice of colors for this seat. But, the customer is king–if you like it, we like to get it done for you.
Interesting choices of seat coverings for these two chairs. Rawhide would be more historically correct for the stick chair, shaker tape for this simple chair. We advise but don't make the decisions.Your priorities for your furniture are our priorities for your furniture.
This is flat reed, which we have introduced on another page. We show it here because of the very different way it is used, not as a natural looking material but as a definite design statement. There are limitations on the colors that can be created on reed, and it is not easy to create rich colors. But if you are interested, we will do our best to find a way.