The Seat Weaver's Workshop Blog

It's almost time to bring out the porch furniture and get the 3-season room opened up. In some areas of the US, spring is well underway. Living in Erie, along the lakeshore of Lake Erie, winters tend to stick around. Like most of my neighbors, we are well over the snow and are getting primed for the spring season. We got one of the late season snows yesterday. Just a nuisance snow. They say that we can expect 3 snows on the crocuses before the spring is here to stay, but I haven't even seen the crocuses yet. Despite what folks think, we do get four seasons in this area of the US; Almost Winter (fall), Winter, Still Winter (spring), and Road Construction (summer).

I am starting to get some calls about wicker and summer furniture that needs to be repaired. This is a good time to inventory what needs to be done in order to ready the summer furniture for the upcoming grilling and outdoor occasions you and your family enjoy.

Wicker and Rattan furniture are wonderul pieces to showcase a welcoming porch, 3-seson room, or entryway in a home. This furniture is woven with natural fibers, so there...

There are times when I come across a weaving project and I have trouble finding the right materials. Today, I got a beautiful chair that probably belongs on a 3-season porch. It is woven with a flat leaf that have been braided into a 1 inch flat weaver. The entire chair is woven in a traditional basketweave design, with this leaf weaver, and it is a big arm chair.

To be honest, this is the second time I have worked on this chair. I am being asked to repair the top corners of the arms of this chair. It seems a pet dog has enjoyed teething on the edge of the arm. The damage this time is limited to the round reed braiding that makes up the edging of the chair. The first time I saw this chair, I pulled my hair out trying to find out what this flat braided weaver really was.

I was able to narrow my search with the help of a couple of reed and caning supply specialists. Franks in Huntingdon Beach, CA was able to identify the flat weaver as Banana Leaf that had been braided and 'ironed' flat. I was able to come...