Learn How to Cane Chairs

Cane is manufactured in five or six widths, so that the first thing to do in preparing to learn how to cane a chair, is to decide what width is needed for the new seat, in case there is nothing left of the old seat for a sample. The width to choose depends on two things - the diameter of the holes in the chair rim that are to receive the cane, and their distance apart. If the holes are one-fourth inch in diameter they are large enough for the widest cane. But if they are close together as well as large, the widest cane will make an unpleasantly thick-looking piece of weaving. A medium-width or even finer cane will be more satisfactory in appearance and quite as strong. Indeed, the finest width is the most attractive of all when woven, if the holes are very close together. When a seat is designed for the finest caning, the holes are bored around the rim in a zigzag line. Much of the fine old French furniture was caned in this way, and finished without a binder.

The binder is a wide, heavy piece of cane that is sewed down over the holes to hide them after the seat caning is in. Binder comes in two widths only. The width and also the length needed can be easily measured. It is not so easy, however, to determine the necessary quantity of cane. The latter is cut in lengths of from twelve to twenty feet, for commercial purposes. Every chair caned with the simple cane pattern has six layers of cane crossing it when finished - four at right angles and two diagonal layers. To estimate fairly close how much cane will be needed, measure the distances across the chair in all three directions and multiply each of these by twice the number of holes on either side of the seat. Each hole means two rows of cane running parallel to the chair rim, and two diagonal rows. The sum of these three figures will approximate the number of feet of cane needed. But be sure to buy two extra lengths for good measure, and a third length for sewing on the binder. The average chair seat requires about three hundred feet of cane.

Cane is sold from the factory by the thousand-foot bundle - nothing less. Furniture dealers and repairers of furniture will usually sell it in the small quantities needed for a single seat.

The only necessary tools are a half-dozen wooden pegs that will fit the holes in the chair rim snugly. These can be whittled by the home chair-caner or she can use some of the wooden skewers with which the butcher dresses the roast.

Soak the cane in warm water until it can be bent without cracking, usually about ten minutes. Then, with the chair squarely in front of you, find the middle hole of the near rim and secure one end of a length of cane in it with a peg. Allow three inches of this end to stick out through the bottom of the hole. Carry the length of cane across the seat, put the end down through the hole exactly opposite the hole in the near rim, and bring it up again through the first hole on the right. Peg in this hole to hold the cane. Now carry the cane across to the near rim, put it down through the first empty hole, and bring it to the top through the next hole to the right. Remove the peg from the hole in the far rim and fasten with it the cane coming from the hole in the near rim. Continue back and forth across the chair in this way until the entire right half of the chair seat is covered. There are two things to remember to keep the tension even and not to keep it tight. Keep the rows of cane parallel, even if a hole must be skipped in order to do so. A skip is sometimes inevitable when the back corners of the seat are rounded and those in front are not.

When the right half of the chair is stretched with cane, leave the remainder of the cane hanging from the last hole and peg it there. Use a long length of cane and, coyer the left side of the seat, starting in the first hole to the left of the one from which the three-inch end is hanging. Tie this end and the end of the new length together with a flat knot. Wet the old end until it is pliable before attempting to tie to the new length. A cloth or sponge can be used for this purpose. It is also necessary to redampen the cane while working with it, as it becomes brittle when dry and is liable to snap off.

After one layer of cane is in the seat, stretch a second layer over it at right angles. Use the same method as was used when putting in the first layer. When this second layer of cane is completed, stretch a third across the second at right angles to it and parallel with the first layer. The seat is then ready for layer number four. This one runs parallel to the second, but must be woven in, going over the strands of cane that layer number two goes under, and under those strands that the second layer goes over. This fourth layer of cane will tighten the work.

Next come the diagonals. Use the long ends of cane left hanging from the holes on each side of the corner when the former layers were stretched in. Cane one-half of the seat at a time, just as before, but now it will be a diagonal half. Starting with a long end of cane hanging from the hole to the right of one of the seat corners, bring it up through the corner hole and weave it diagonally across the seat, going over the paired groups of cane that cross in one direction and going under the paired groups that cross the seat in the opposite direction. These diagonal strands of cane should slip in between the lengths of cane where they cross at right angles, as shown in the diagram. When one layer of diagonal weaving is in, weave in a second layer at right angles across it, weaving over the groups that the first diagonals wove under, and vice versa. Tie all ends together with the flat knot and cut them off close. If it should be necessary to piece the cane, do it with the same kind of a knot and have the knot come on the under side of the chair rim just as the other tyings did.

The diagonals must slip close against the little squares formed by the first four layers of cane.

The work is now ready for the binder, which must be soaked until it is very pliable before it is used. Shave one end thin and lay it over the holes near the center of the back rim of the seat. The piece of cane with which the binder is to be sewed in place must also be soaked. Start to sew on the binder about three inches to the left of its end. Bring the sewing-cane up through a hole from the under side, cross the binder, and put the cane down again through the same hole. Pull hard. If the holes are close together skip one and come up through the third hole to the left on the same side of the binder as before, cross the binder and go down through the same hole. Pull the sewing-cane very tight and be sure the binder lies smooth over the holes in the rim. Work all around the chair seat in this way and finish by lapping the binder three inches. Shave the finishing end thin, just as was done to the beginning end, so the three-inch lap will be no thicker than the rest of the work. Tuck the ends of the sewing-cane around some of the cross-stitches of cane on the under side of the frame to secure them and cut them off.

Chairs are not the only articles that can be restored to usefulness in the household by caning. A most serviceable and attractive tray can be made out of an old picture-frame, especially from the oval kind that linger on in the attic since Victorian days. Any carpenter will bore the necessary holes for the cane around the inner edge. If the wood is in good condition a thorough rubbing with boiled linseed oil will bring back a surface that has become dingy. If, however, the frame is battered, rub it with sandpaper, starting with a coarse grade and finishing with the finest. Be sure to rub with the grain of the wood. After the sandpaper treatment, either a good wood stain and then waxing, or two coats of flat-gloss carriage paint, will produce a result that is well worth the labor.

The cane should not be woven into the tray until the frame is refinished. Usually it is more attractive if left its natural color. But if the frame is very dark there may be an unpleasantly sharp contrast between the rim and the caned center. In that case the cane can be dipped in a dye bath. Commercial dyes marked, "cotton" will do if the special dye for cane, raffia, jute, and reed cannot be had.

When the tray is caned glue a layer of felt or heavy broadcloth over the rim on the under side, so that the ends of the cane will not scratch a polished surface. Handles are a matter of design. Some trays are complete in appearance without handles, and quite as convenient. Most hardware-stores, or hardware sections of department stores, carry handles of either all brass or brass and wood.

Restoring an antique wooden bedstead with cane is somewhat more ambitious, but not out of the reach of the home caner if she has the advice assistance of a good carpenter, The entire head and foot must be cut away, leaving only a structural frame about three or four inches wide. The caning must be done on separate rims that are then fitted into the openings. It will be necessary to have two rims for the foot end. These must be fitted in with their wrong sides together, so that both back and front of the foot will present a finished surface.

A caned window-seat for breakfast-room, hall, or small waiting-room is more sanitary than the usual upholstered kind, and a bit finer in appearance than the uncushioned wood. Have a carpenter make the seat ready for caning, but do not let him fit it into place until after the cane is woven in. The work can then be done out of doors or in a more convenient place and in the worker's leisure moments.

Continue: How to Make Baskets.