stickandtin Report post Posted June 20, 2016 Found these frames at a junk store and was thinking about trying to cover them in leather. I know nothing about leather, but I do have a juki 1541S to sew on. What kind of leather do you recommend trying to make the seats out of? Is my juki the right machine to sew seats for these frames? What would be the best way to attach the leather to the frames? asked these questions in another subgroup but didn't get any response. Thought maybe I asked in wrong area so trying this one. Thanks for any help or advice. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
leatherwytch Report post Posted June 20, 2016 (edited) You need lots of 8-10oz vegtan leather and you need to weave it to make it strong. You will have to sew it by hand onto the chair. You need a heavy leather like vegtan because you have no idea probably of the weight of people who may come to visit so it has to be strong. I wouldn't cut the strips wider than one inch each. Yes, it will be a lot of work. Do whatever design and stain or dye colour you want first before you attach to the chair. Edited June 20, 2016 by leatherwytch Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stickandtin Report post Posted June 21, 2016 Leatherwytch, thank you for the help. I have no idea how to weave leather to form a seat. Weaving never crossed my mind as an option, but that approach does make a lot of sense. I was originallythinking along the lines of sewing solid pieces to form the seat then somehow attaching that to the frame. Honestly, with my lack of knowledge about working with leather or leather weaving this project may be way over my head. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Colt W Knight Report post Posted June 21, 2016 I would use raw hide, you get it soaking wet so its plyable, when it dries it will shrink a kittle and make it taught and firm. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boriqua Report post Posted June 21, 2016 were it me I might be inclined to make a circle with veg tan but with spokes coming out of the circle. I cant tell What the diameter is from the pic but about 1.5 -2 inches wide and then sew them over the frame. Now if I wanted to get nuts I would braid leather around the entire top circle of the frame and then sew my tabs around the covered rod. I think it might look hot. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
leatherwytch Report post Posted June 21, 2016 (edited) If you were to do a circle then the veg tan would be creased when someone sits on it. It would then be very homely looking. Edited June 21, 2016 by leatherwytch Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JLSleather Report post Posted June 21, 2016 Course, doing it this way will require sewing by hand in place. Might be just as nice to punch holes evenly around a circle the same size as the frame, or 1-2 inches smaller, and then string in place with rawhide or latigo lace. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Boriqua Report post Posted June 21, 2016 10 minutes ago, JLSleather said: Course, doing it this way will require sewing by hand in place. Might be just as nice to punch holes evenly around a circle the same size as the frame, or 1-2 inches smaller, and then string in place with rawhide or latigo lace. kind of like a drum head .. I dig it! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stickandtin Report post Posted June 21, 2016 Appreciate all the suggestions, but how do you get this shape to the seat? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stickandtin Report post Posted June 22, 2016 I was digging around the internet trying to identify what type of seat material these frames originally had. Finally struck pay dirt. They are literally called basket chairs. A large woven tapered basket made out of some kind of cane material was inserted inside the ring. The only thing holding the basket inside the frame is the friction created by the taper. I can see now why the frames were bare. The cane had broken or rotted long ago. I have no idea how to weave a basket LOL. I am now exploring ways to modify the frames so I can create seats for them using leather. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stickandtin Report post Posted June 22, 2016 Did some more digging through pics on the Internet and found these two chairs. The chairs in the first pic are made from leather panels sewed together. Guy that made those claims he used "1/4 inch saddle leather", whatever that means. Second chair is laced with leather. Not sure how that is done either because I assume you can only make a leather strip as long as the hide is. Can my juki 1541 sew through 1/2 inch of leather?Does anyone have any idea how the lacing on the chair in the second pic was made? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
billybopp Report post Posted June 22, 2016 1/4 inch would be 16 ounce leather. Heavy stuff indeed! You'd be surprised how long you can make leather strips using a tool such as a lace cutter like this : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4y_R9ivP0_g . You'd probably want something thicker than the lace cutter can make, but the principal is the same regardless of the tool that you use. If you remember your mythology/history, when Queen Dido and her lot ended up in North Africa in what is now Tunisia. She asked the king there for temporary refuge for her folks .. Just as much as could be encompassed by an ox hide. being the smart gal that she was, she had the hide cut into a very thin continuous strip that marked out pretty big bit of land, which would eventually become the city/state of Carthage. Bill Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
