Larger Than Life....

I am not sure why these photos came out so big, but as they say, "The better to see you with...."

When we last parted, I had just threaded all of the wires through the seat and glued them in place.

I couldn't get Tessie to leave the chair, so you have to put up with me.

To start the weaving, I glue the end of the thread between the first two wires on the left front of the chair.

Then I bring the thread around the front of the first wire and over the back of the second one. I keep doing the same thing until I get to the other end of the front.


I want all of the loops to go in the same direction, so I do a row of plain weaving back to the other end. When I get there, I go over the end wire and back under to get in the right position to do the loops again. Only the end loop will be different. The rest will be done the same as the first row.

I flip the chair over and I do a plain weave back and forth across the front wires, bending gently as I go. When I get the weaving even with the bottom of the seat piece, I start looping at the right front corner, facing me, and go around all of the wires on the bottom with two rows of loops. This time you won't have to go back. Just keep moving forward until you have two rows of loops all around.
After that, start weaving plain for 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch. With the thread that I was using, that was about 8 rows. You can count the number of rows by looking at two, side by side, columns in the weaving. I will not hold you to that exact number, but make sure that you go all the way around to your starting point or your weaving will be lopsided.

It is easier to see on the inside. You can clearly see my eight rows at the bottom, next to the seat board.

Next, do two more rows of loops.then work down for two rows of plain weaving.

Now comes the hard part. I am going to make a point at each corner of the front and sides and straight weaving across the back section....One step at a time.

I forgot to take photos, but I think that I can talk you through this. You should be starting at your right front corner. All of the rows should start and end here. Refer to the photos to see what I am talking about. take one loop around the next wire and then weave back to the first wire on the other side of the leg. Loop around that one and reverse. Weave over to the second wire on the other side of the leg and loop. Come back, with plain weaving and loop around the second wire on the front. Keep doing this, turning around when you get to the next unused wire on either side of the leg.

You should do this over five wires. When you hit the fifth wire in the center front, turn and keep going up to the leg, down to the unused portion and continue weaving plain until you hit the THIRD leg. I will be the back right leg, facing you, if you turn the work as you go.

Now for the two back legs. You are going to do the same thing that you did for the first leg...Only you are going to have plain weaving across the back( see above photo). Loop around the first wire following the third leg. Reverse and weave back to the left back leg and loop around the first wire beyond that. You will be on the same side as the first leg that you worked.

Now turn and plain weave across the back to the second wire beyond the leg. Loop and reverse.

Weave back to the second wire on the other side. Again, keep going until you hit the fifth loop on the left side. Reverse and plain weave until you are at the last, un-worked leg in the front. Do this one the same as the first one.

When you finish the last leg, simply work your way back over to the right front, starting point and the points and the back panel should all be about the same depth.

Next, do two rows of loops and finish where you started.

If you wish, you can stop here. Or you can go on with more plain weaving and two more rows of loops.If you want to do something a bit more challenging, you can try the wrapped open section that is shown in the photo.

I reversed the looping. Starting with the leg, I wrapped the thread around the leg three times and then moved to the next wire with the thread behind. You do this by wrapping your thread from right front to left and around. Keep doing this all the way around.

Then pull the thread back to the front and do two rows of loops to finish off.

The first leg can be wrapped and a bit of glue put at the bottom to hold it. Wait until it is completely dry to cut it close. The other legs are worked separately, gluing the end inside the bottom and working to the end of the foot. Glue and cut.

It is not necessary to cut the wires at the bottom yet. I just did it so that the photo would be more easily readable.

Turn the chair upside down and put some glue on the bottom two rows of loops to keep them from coming off of the wire when you do cut.

I forgot to mention wire cutters in yesterday's post. You will need them for cutting wires to start and for trimming at the end.

OK...I am stopping here for today. Next comes the top of the chair.

Some people like to do the top first. I do it bottom first because I find that, if I do the top of the chair first, I am more likely to mess it up while doing the bottom. Just a personal quirk....I seem to have a lot of them.

I am off to play with the top of the chair now.

See you tomorrow.