Chair Tape
For the Shakers, fabric tape was the preferred material for finishing chairs. Flexible and yet strong, it provided a comfortable form of seating that continues to be highly desirable today.
Unlike wood splint, cane or rush, tape does not become brittle or snag on clothing. It is extremely flexible and also, relatively simple to weave.
Made of heavy-duty 100% cotton canvas webbing, we believe our Shaker chair tape to be the finest available. The fade resistant colours pay homage to the original dyes used by the Shakers and offer a wide variety of single or checkerboard combinations.
We will happily reweave chairs or why not reweave them yourself? To complete this hugely rewarding task, calculate the length of tape required by following these steps
Step 1 Measure the front rail of your chair between the posts, in inches
Step 2 Measure straight across from the centre of the back rail to the centre of the front rail, in inches
Step 3 Multiply these two numbers together (e.g. 16 inches x 16 inches = 256)
Step 4 Divide the resulting figure by 9 (256 divided by 9 = 28.44)
This total indicates the number of yards of 1" tape you will need.
To create a two-colour checkerboard design, order half the total number of yards per colour.
We recommend ordering in 5 yard increments, rounding up, so you do not accidentally run short (in our example that would be 30 yards of a single colour or 15 yards each of two differently coloured tapes).
To help you complete the task
Weaving instructions will be included with your tape order.
We can provide replacement seating foam and upholstery tacks if required.
