One curbside find + an idea + three days of stitching = my favourite upcycled furniture project ever. This unwanted cane weave chair was given a colourful update with some simple cross stitch.
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There is something so satisfying about finding a discarded object, giving it some special attention and turning it into something covetable. Apart from my time, this project cost me nothing at all.
I had all the supplies left over from other projects, which is the best kind of crafting I think.
Here are more upcycle projects you may enjoy:
Here’s how I made a Cross Stitch Chair
1. I found this beautiful hand woven cane web chair on the side of the road, it was nice and solid but a little weathered.
2. I gave the wood a light sand with some fine sandpaper and a light coat of danish oil.
Danish oil is a lovely alternative to varnish as it conditions the wood and gives a lovely silky satin finish, as well as bringing out the woods natural colour.
3. Using some yarn I marked out the center line of the weave on both the seat and back of the chair to help me center the design.
4. The cross stitch technique was exactly the same as that used for a tapestry canvas, being conscious to keep the back of the stitching as tidy as possible.
Here is what the back of the stitching looks like, as you can see I haven’t used any knots to fasten the yarn, but rather let the stitching itself hold the loose ends securely.
Some close ups…
and the final reveal. Ta da!
Do you love it? I love it. A LOT!
Update: It’s an honor to see my work in print. This project has been featured in a new book by Rebecca Proctor, an expert on sustainable design, showcases projects from 24 international product designers with step-by-step instructions so you can create your very own piece of high-end upcycled design for your home.
You can purchase UPCYCLE: 24 sustainable DIY projects here, or request it at your local book seller
Oh yes, I love it! A chair with WOW! ~ Christine xx
i LOVE it! your patience and attention to detail are skills i wish i had. it looks amazing – def worth 3 days of stitching!
WOW! What a great idea and it turned out fabulous! 🙂 ~Stephanie
now this is an amazing idea! this chair looks so beautiful and inspiring!! <3
Love it, love it, love it!!!!!!
this is one of the coolest things i've seen in a long time. seriously.
gorgeous!!!
xxxx Alessandra
What a gem 🙂 You have an eye for greatness potential!
35 Pins… but only 8 comments! I shall COMMENT! This chair is beautiful! How gorgeous and clever and totally lovely. Congratulations on being amazing!!! x
Thank you. We must be old fashioned all us hair netted, slip wearing commenters lol.
(Now it's showing zero pins! Well… my point is that we should all comment MORE! Especially on amazing things like this!!) x
Love this – so clever!
I love it, so simple but amazing, if I found a suitable chair I would love to do this!
Woow! This is such a great find and an even better project! I love the colours you've used. I wish my curb-side finds were this good!
Totally love this! Looks amazing and love the colours.
Smart idea! You find it, you grab it and along comes the idea what to make with it… Isn't this exactly what a crafty person wants? :-)))
I love it…its gorgeous
My grandma has these types of chairs around her house, I must remember to “borrow” one and give this a go. I'm sure she'd love the surprise make-over.
Laura x
I'm sure she'll love it. Why not try a more traditional floral design?
this is so utterly fantastic! i feel like getting my car and roaming the side streets to try to find one of these chairs!
i was so lucky to find this one just behind my house
How very creative and what a beautiful result.
BRILLIANT!!!
Stop it, this is GLORIOUS!! OMG, i love love love it, Love Posie
Its sooo lovely!!! What a creativity! Love it!
I can't believe you had time for that! It looks amazing!
I LOVE this. Take one traditional chair and turn it into a ROCKSTAR design piece. You're making my fingers tingle with a desire to be crafty (which I'm not so that's a pretty big achievement).
Love this!!! What a great way to add pizzaz to those ugly 80's chairs I see on the curb.
That is awesome…. Just makes me want to go out and find me two of those chairs for my little dinette set/ Thanks for the brilliant idea and instructions.
What a beautiful way to revamp the chair! Love it.
I want to do something like this! 🙂 The chair design is a solihiya weave which shouldn't be difficult for me to find here in the Philippines.
I love it! And what I like the most is that you can change your design when you want and it has infinity possibilities!
So nice! Great idea, thanks for sharing it!
I love it. I love it! I think I’ll try to do some thrift store baskets.
Oh your chair looks amazing, nice job!! I’ve got this linked to my DIY chair s inspiration post too today, well done!
he vist a Reciclat l’enllaç de la teva cadira i m’ha agradat molt Jo vinc d’una nissaga de ebenistes i he fet i restaurat seients i respatllers de reixeta com la teva Un consell:no envernissis mai la reixeta ja que se’t cremaria i se’t trencaria Bona feina
Wow… What a great idea ! The nicest cane chair I ever seen 🙂
I think I’ll have to look for a cane chair now… 🙂
Cinti, this is amazing! I don’t know how I missed this when it was originally posted. You’re a genius! I want a whole set of these now.
Thanks Diane
Absolutely lovely! This project makes me want to scour my local thrift stores for a whole set of these chairs for my dining room table.
I love everything about this and since I first saw it, I have been trolling the classified ads looking for a chair that I could cross stitch! Thank you for sharing. I have included this project on my blog.
just beautiful love the colors. i would love to do this with the Autism puzzle piece awareness colors
This is way crazy cool! SO original.
AWESOME, this truly is one of a kind, BRAVO, Love & Blessings to you/yours
Oh my goodness! Are you staying up late reading all of your comments!?! So very creative and colorful, who wouldn’t want to sit in this chair? What is fascinating to me, is that “square” type designs are not my first choice -but this design speaks to me. 🙂 Great photos, I felt like I was sitting next to you while you were creating the chair’s second life.
thanks, I was inspired by giant pixels
I recently spray painted some chairs like this but I love the idea of adding more color by cross stitching on it. Great idea!
Absolutely amazing! I would never have thought to do this! I am going to have to try this out when I get a place for the chair. 🙂
I love this! I hope you post an update later– I’d love to try it, but I’m worried about the yarn coming out and undoing all my hard work. Please post about how it holds up under wear and tear. 🙂
I use it as my clothes pile chair in my bedroom so it doesn’t get a lot of sitting action.
Awesome Idea love the colors did you use regular yarn or did you use cotton yarn. So want to do this to my rocker now so I can not only have some nice coloring but protect it as well
Mostly wool yarn, some acrylic (what I had on hand). Cotton may get dirty easier I think.
thank you so much can’t wait to get started
Love love love this!!! I have had this on my Pinterest for some time while I have looked for a chair. Well I finall found the perfect adorable chair!! Can’t wait to start!! Thank you!!
This is such a great idea! I was wondering though if you could use cross stitch thread? Also another thing I was wondering was did you have to tie a big knot at the end of the thread or did you do something else? I would really love to do this project and by answering these questions it would really help me.
I used yarn because it was chunkier and easier to see, embroidery thread may be a little thin.
No knot. You need to pass the start and end through the back of the stitches, I think I’ve included a photo there.
just found this chair at thrift shop for 10 $ . Can’t wait to start stitching it !
Great! I’d love to see a picture when you finish it.
This is so beautiful. I’ve never done very much cross-stitch but I really do want to try this and maybe give it away next Christmas. Beautiful. M. Esquivel
Wow! These are a fantastic idea! Thanks for the detailed pictures! It is really great post how to cross stitch chair…
Love this!!! What a great way to add pizzaz to those ugly 80’s chairs I see on the curb.