Making wicker furniture with your own hands

Wicker furniture made from natural materials (vines) has recently become fashionable. This is due to the fact that the idea of ​​environmental friendliness of home furniture has become popular, in addition, it is not only beautiful, but practical. At the same time, both a comfortable chair and more complex furniture, the homeowner has the opportunity to weave independently to suit his needs.

Wicker furniture is in vogue lately

Making wicker furniture with your own hands involves, at the initial stage, the selection of suitable materials for weaving. So, for example, today they include:

1. Banana leaves or abaca. Leaves for weaving are suitable for a length of 75 to 350 cm. Not only ropes, but also furniture, as well as various ropes, can be made from them. This is a very durable and lightweight material that has a natural brown color.

Wicker furniture from banana leaves

2. Bamboo. Due to the difficulties with weaving various products (due to rigidity), this material is not widely used, but if you master the weaving technique using bamboo shavings, you can make very original decor items from it.

Wicker bamboo furniture

3. Water hyacinth. Despite the fact that we are accustomed to considering this plant just a decorative flower, it is quite possible to weave very interesting furniture from it. To do this, the collected material is dried, and then pressed and rolled into rolls. The advantage is that it is not subject to fading in the sun, but its preparation for weaving takes at least six months.

Wicker chair made of water hyacinth

4. Rattan. It is considered a fairly popular material for the manufacture of wicker furniture. Rattan is durable and highly resistant to wear and moisture, which is why it is often found in saunas.

Rattan furniture

5. Furniture woven from seaweed can be quite unusual. For all its unusualness, it is very durable, as the wooden frame of the furniture is braided with algae ribbons. So there is nothing surprising here, because some originals even manage to make such a product as do-it-yourself wicker furniture from newspaper tubes.

Furniture woven from seaweed can be very unusual.

6. The most popular weaving material in Russia is willow. Despite the fact that it is prone to cracking and does not have a high degree of strength. Willow grows everywhere, so it is available to everyone who wants to do willow weaving. To perform weaving, rods 50 cm long are usually used, and before weaving they have to be steamed in hot water.

The most popular material for weaving in Russia is willow.

There are other materials from which you can weave furniture. This is a hollow, alder, bird cherry and even nettle. Bird cherry lends itself best to weaving because of its increased plasticity and flexibility.

Advice! In the event that you are interested in do-it-yourself wicker furniture for beginners, it makes sense to start with weaving from the more common alder.

Wicker frame furniture

Varieties of wicker furniture

Do-it-yourself wicker furniture can be of several types:

1. Frameless type. Here, when creating furniture, only strong branches are used, which play the role of rigid ribs to support and form a structure of rods.
2. Frame furniture. In this case, the chair has a base of steel and iron rods, the weaving itself is carried out on top of such a frame.
3. Frame wooden, which differs from the above type by replacing metal with wood.

For eco style, wicker furniture will be very relevant.

At the same time, wicker furniture of any type has both its advantages and disadvantages. Benefits include:

1. Light weight, making it easy to move from place to place and lift.
2. No need for special care, as well as ease of operation. Here it is enough to gently wipe it with a damp sponge in order to prevent cracking of its surface.
3. The ability to fit perfectly into almost any interior, for example, for eco-style wicker furniture will be very relevant.
4. Strength and durability with proper and high-quality weaving.

Wicker products do not tolerate moisture very well.

As for the shortcomings, they include the following:

1. Wicker products do not tolerate high humidity very well, so you need to be very careful to ensure that chairs and tables woven from wicker do not fall under the influence of precipitation.
2. Also, the braid is equally afraid of drying out and direct exposure to solar radiation, which makes it possible to use it not in all cases.

On a note! You can decide whether or not you need such furniture only when you decide what type of interior will be used in your room.

So, for example, the use of such structures is uncharacteristic for a classic interior. In addition, they are not suitable for high-tech rooms.

For a classic interior, the use of such structures is uncharacteristic.

If you still want to have a set of wicker furniture, you should pay attention to rattan products that are not afraid of the sun, humidity, are very strong and durable. However, it is worth working with such material only after you have mastered the basics of weaving, before that it is better to work with a simple willow or alder first. They are readily available as they grow almost anywhere, and there is a large set of weaving instructions freely available for them.

Fundamentals of the technique of making wicker furniture

If you are a beginner and you need DIY wicker furniture, you should watch a video on how to create it. At the same time, it is worth starting such work with the preparation of the material that is right for you.

So in order to properly cut the twigs of the vine, it is necessary to collect them before the appearance of buds on the branches of willow or alder. A branch of suitable length and curvature is cut exclusively at an angle of 40 °. This is due to the fact that it is necessary to take care that new ones grow in place of the cut rods in the near future. This will allow you to have your own material base for your crafts.

The best material for weaving is harvested in the fall.

It is best to harvest material for weaving in the fall. If the dose is cut at a different time, it may germinate already being woven into the furniture. For this reason, you should not use freshly cut wicker for work. It is better to wait a little while not allowing the wood to become too hard.

After you cut the vine, you will need to bend it in order to determine the degree of its flexibility. Only those rods that do not break during this procedure are suitable for work. Those that break are to be discarded.

On a note! Experienced wicker weavers advise choosing a rod with a thin core, since branches with a thick core bend very poorly.

Small details and elements of wicker furniture are especially good from them. Thicker branches with a dense core are best used to frame your furniture.

Directly to weaving, the finished vine must be prepared in the spring

If we talk about the time of the year, which is best to choose for harvesting, then it is best to do this in the fall, when the movement of sap in the trees has stopped, but before the onset of severe frosts. If you cut the rods at this time, the leaves from such a branch will be perfectly cleaned, then they will be stored dry for a long time. The finished vine should be prepared directly for weaving in the spring, when it becomes the most flexible and elastic.

As for other materials for weaving, they are usually purchased in special stores, since seaweed or banana leaves do not grow in Russia. Therefore, if you need do-it-yourself wicker rattan furniture, try to find the appropriate specialized site on this topic. There, by the way, you will be able to find tips on working with this unusual material.

Wicker furniture in the interior

Wicker furniture manufacturing

In order to understand how to make wicker furniture with your own hands, before starting work, it makes sense to consult an experienced wicker weaver on this topic. The fact is that he can suggest some subtleties of working with a vine that you cannot find in the public literature. As a result, your furniture will be made with high quality, and its service life will be long.

Wicker furniture made of wicker, made by hand, is very original

Wicker furniture made of wicker, made by hand, is very original. The process of its creation begins with the fact that the finished rods are placed in a container and boiled in boiling water, covered with a lid. The water should boil for at least an hour, and for about an hour it should be on medium heat. It is worth noting that the dark-colored vine will need to be boiled a little longer than the light-colored vine (3 hours). At the same time, as the vine boils, immediately remove it from the fire.