Trash to Treasure - Ladder Back Chair Gets New Life

A couple of weeks ago, I was out doing a bit of junkin’ on a Saturday morning and ran across this little treasure:

When I bought it, the lady asked if I was going to make it into a planter.  That idea had crossed my mind, because I like container plants, but it quickly became my backup plan.   I decided that I would put a new bottom in it, and it wasn’t going to cost me anything but my time.

Growing up, my Granny had a few of these straight back / ladder back chairs.   I can remember sitting in them and leaning back against the wall, trying to balance just so.  She must have had them a long time, because I don’t remember them ever having cane bottoms.   She used old nylons in a basket weave pattern to make the seats.   So, I thought, if she could use old nylons, surely there were other materials that could be used as well. 

I did a bit of googling to confirm that my first plan had been used before – old tshirts.   We had recently replaced several of the hub’s undershirts, and the bag of old shirts had not made it to the trash can yet.  Normally I would not have wanted to use white (or dingy white) for this type of project, but with the paint job on the chair, I thought I would give it a try.

First job was to finish dismantling the chair bottom.  That took about 15 minutes.

Next, I cut up the tshirts.  I laid them flat on a craft table and using a rotary cutter, I trimmed the hem off of the shirt.   Then I put a yardstick on the shirt and used it as a guide for cutting the strips. Actually they are still loops at this point.    

I had plenty of shirts, so there was no reason to cut strips past the sleeves.  Plus, that length may have been a bit short.  I probably cut 30-40 loops.  I do recommend using a self-healing cutting board instead of a table.

Measure the chair bottom width and double it.  That is what length strip you will need.   For instance, if the seat bottom is 18” at its widest point, then the strips will need to be 36” long.   Depending on the size of tshirt, you may be able to get two strips from each loop.  Remember that tshirt material will stretch and curl when you pull it tight.

Wrap the strip around one side and pull tight to the other side and tie a knot.  Leave the extra length so that each one can be tied to the one next to it at the end of the project.

Continue wrapping and tying until the bottom is covered completely.  I used 38 strips. The second photo shows where I pulled the knots toward the bottom so that both sides are smooth.

 

The next step is the weaving.  I used a plastic ruler with a hole in one end as a shuttle.  I wrapped the strip around the front round and then pulled it tight, stuck both ends through the hole in the ruler, and weaved it between the other strips.  Pay close attention for the first few runs, so that you get UNDER both pieces and not BETWEEN.  Remember to alternate the over/under pattern on each run.   When it is pulled through to the back, tie it tight, but don’t tie it in a knot yet. Here is what my first four looked like.

  As you weave, it will become tighter and you will be weaving in a not-so-straight line and then have to scoot it over each time to get it in a straight line, or as straight as possible.  For the last two or three, I couldn’t use the ruler because there was not room for it.  I just tied the strip in a knot and fed it up and down by hand.  Occasionally I had to use the eraser end of a wooden pencil to push it through or make the hole more obvious. 

Once all of the strips had been weaved through, then I went back and pulled those good and tight and tied a knot at the back for each strip. 

Next I tied the strips to each other, side to side.

Then I trimmed the ends to neaten things up a bit.

 TADA!

And the last step was weight testing.

Although the cat, myself, and the hubs tried it successfully,  I think we all know who is going to claim this chair for himself.

If I run across another one of these treasures, I will definitely try some different colors next time to make the weaving go a bit faster. And I might be tempted to cut the strips a bit wider and use thicker material than undershirts.  All in all, I consider it a successful attempt!