Don't be Afraid -- It's Only a Lawn Chair

When Mr. KV and I were newlyweds (37+ years ago) we lived in a wonderful little house built in 1912 (still my favorite house, though subsequent owners have remodeled all of the charm out of it).  We rented it (and eventually bought it) from a family friend who'd been born there and whose parents had lived there for their entire married life.  He was an ancient 63 (hmmm...doesn't seem so old now) and could remember when it had an outhouse and no running water.

When we moved in, he'd left his mother's webbed rocking chair on the front porch.  He told me it was her favorite chair and her favorite place to sit.  It had alternating green & cream webbing, like so many back in the day.  It quickly became MY favorite place to sit, too, and in a few years, I had to reweb it.  It's one of the few pieces of furniture we've had since day one of our marriage!

We've moved it to 5 different states and now it lives on our back screened porch.  Last week it finally gave up and most of the webbing tore (right under a son who shall remain nameless -- we all got a good laugh.)
Time to reweb it!

 If you've never rewebbed a chair, don't be afraid to take it on -- it's easy!  Here are some tips to help you get started:

1.  Find good webbing so you don't have to do it again in a few months...
Sometimes hardware stores have it, and it's available on Amazon, but most of that webbing's pretty weak and will tear fairly soon under regular use.  I ended up getting mine at Lawn Chair USA -- it's a GREAT online shop!  The webbing I got was really heavy and was less expensive per foot than the packages on  Amazon.  Because my rocker has a high back, I needed more footage than for a standard lawn chair.  The small packages at Amazon were $7.99 plus shipping for 39 ft (which they estimate will do a standard chair).  The reviews on that webbing noted that a) it wasn't enough for lots of people and they had to buy more and b) it tore quickly for lots of people.  At Lawn Chair USA, I got 150 ft for $20 with free shipping!   Enough to do my rocker plus another small chair.

2.  Use online resources...
I hadn't rewebbed a chair in over 30 years, so I went out online and found lots of resources.  This youtube video is really helpful.

3.  Measure twice, cut once...
I took one of the broken lengths of each size I needed and taped it to my table.  I know it sounds silly, but it made cutting the pieces super-fast and foolproof.

4.  Keep an example...
Keep one of the ends you remove with the clip still in it until you learn exactly how to orient them.  It's easy to get the clips twisted around and then they won't go in.  I left one for each end intact so I could double check it until doing them was automatic.

5.  If possible, leave the old webs in place and remove them one by one to replace...
It's easier to know which way to weave them and also to get them spaced right if you add them one at a time and just remove the old ones as you go.

6.  Stretch it as tightly as possible,..
The webbing gives a little over time, so you'll want to stretch it as tightly as you can.  An added bonus is that you get a workout pulling it tight to get the bracket hook into the seating hole!  I bracketed one end and then, after weaving, pulled it tight and used the tip of a scissor to mark the spot for the other bracket.  Because the clips have a little thickness, it makes the webbing really tight once you double it over.

Here's my chair, all finished (and tested, of course)...