Make a Woven Seat Stool

Making a woven seat stool is a fun and satisfying project that can produce a family heirloom piece of furniture. This project will also give you bragging rights because most woodworkers have not attempted incorporating weaving into a woodworking project.

There are several new things to learn as your endeavor to make a woven seat stool, so give yourself some additional time to do the research, practice before you start on your actual project, and cut yourself some slack as you learn this new skill.

As you plan for your woven seat stool project, a few things to keep in mind:

Choose your weaving material. There are multiple options for weaving a seat, so choose based on what you want to learn, how want your stool to look, and durability. Some common options for weaving a seat include strand cane, cane webbing, rattan reed, paper fibre rush, natural rush, leather, oak or hickory bark splint, Danish Modern cord, Oriental seagrass, and paracord. George chose to use paracord for this application because it’s durable, it makes a comfortable seat, and it's relatively easy to work with.

Uncoil the paracord and cut a workable length. George suggests cutting the paracord into lengths of 30 feet, and uncoiling it as your wrap it onto a dowel length. The dowel will make it easier to work with as you pass it through while you are weaving. Uncoiling it ensures that it lays down flat and does not introduce unintended twists into the seat’s surface.

Use the right arsenal of knots. There are special knots used for three different applications during this project, and George will demonstrate each one to make sure that you have the knowledge to apply the right knot at the right place in each phase of the process.

This could be a game changing project for you. Take your time and enjoy the process.