Vidar's Seat Wrap

In my first reproduction of Vidar's Chair in ash, I wrapped the seat with fiber rush. This time around, the client has selected a traditional Danish cord wrap that I know will look great with this chair. Danish cord makes an excellent chair seat, but Vidar's seat rails are quite thin and make fitting all the required "L"-nails a bit of a challenge.

All the cord counts, placements and nail locations have to be pre-planned to ensure symmetry of the layout. Then, the warp strands that span from the front to the back are wrapped.

After the pairs of warp strands are completed, it's time to infill the spaces between warp pairs.

The process starts in the center and moves to the outside; first the front and then the back.

Here's the completed warp wrap.

The weft is also wrapped in pairs.

This traditional technique is ingenious, in that it uses a continuous warp strand that is fed in from just one side; no cutting, no knot tying.

Here's the final seat.

In this view, the subtle curve in the diagonal pattern is seen, just as expected due to the "fan" shape of the warp strands.

Today, I will be applying two coats of extra blond shellac to mellow the brightness of the cord. This will offer a modest amount of protection for the cord as well. Then, it will be time to set up the photo studio to take a few shots before shipping this piece to the client!

Next... full-color photos of the completed piece.

Hej då!

Craig