Saturday, October 23, 2010

How to (NOT) cane a chair

Jeremy inherited this lovely rocking chair from his grandparents.



Actually, it's kind of a sad rocking chair. As you can see, the caning is coming out.


The arms are a bit high. And I'm not sure what happened to the rockers. It kind of looks like someone attached slightly warped boards to the bottom of a regular chair to make it a rocker - meaning, it doesn't really rock much. But hey, it's got loads of character!

We've talked about re-caning it someday, but frankly I'm not interested in spending the time/money/energy to learn that skill. (Does that make me a bad homesteader?) Besides, I've got some crazy sewing skills and I'm starting to think just about any problem can be solved with a needle and thread (or duct tape).

So I grabbed a steak knife from the kitchen and cut out the rest of the caning. (I'm sure that's how the professionals do it.)





Then I made up a canvas seat that wraps over the top on all four sides and ties together under the seat.






Flash!



It seems to work just fine. I might make a nicer one someday, but at least we don't have to worry about falling through the seat anymore!

3 comments:

Anna Dunford said...

well if the arms are a bit high maybe you just need a bolster cushion on the seat? or would that then make the back too short?!

Aimee said...

It's true that a pillow would probably do the trick. I really thick one for the seat, and one for the back because it's not too comfortable either...and cutting off the bit on the rocker that makes that part not work. Like I said, it's a crazy chair! =)

Karin McAdams said...

That always was a beastly uncomfortable chair, though no one ever had to sit in it, because the caning was always shot, as long as I can remember. But it was also revered, so I'm sure all the ancestors who remember it would approved, and they probably wouldn't say no to a cushion, either!