Shaker Tape and Danish Cord

Shaker tape

The Shakers wove chair seats from woven tape - wool, later cotton - in bright colors. Today’s cotton Shaker tape is strong, comfortable, and easy: the same kind of heavy cotton webbing used for military belts and packs ¹. Common widths are 5/8 and 1 inch.

Tools are minimal: a hemostat (surgical clamp) and a flat wooden weaving needle, which can be made from a scrap of chair slat ¹.

Warp: tack the end inside a side rail, then wrap the tape front to back around the front and back rails, top and bottom, edges touching, about 20 yards for an average chair ¹. On a seat wider at the front, fill the front corners with short wraps the way rush is done, then wrap the remaining rectangle.

Padding: slide a foam pad between the top and bottom layers of warp ¹.

Weft: weave side to side around the side rails, over and under the warp with the needle, on top and underneath. Pattern comes from how many warp tapes you go over and under:

Two colors give the classic look; Carlson puts the darker color on the warp, since it covers the front rail, where seats get dirtiest ¹. Join tapes by sewing or tacking underneath. Patterns are endless - check, herringbone, diamond, jeans twill ¹.

Danish cord

Danish cord is tightly twisted paper, typically three-ply ². It became famous on Danish modern chairs - Hans Wegner’s Wishbone chair (1949) and his CH25 lounge chair - and suits any frame with round or square rails.

The construction ²:

1. L-shaped nails are driven into the inside faces of the front and back rails at regular spacing.
2. Warp: pairs of strands run front to back, looped over the L-nails, and between each pair the cord is wrapped around the rail in a group - Caleb James wraps five times at the ends and four in the center sections - with the nails landing in gaps two cords wide.
3. Weft: double strands are woven over and under the warp pairs from side to side, wrapping the side rails, packed tight.
4. Finish: ends are joined with square knots under the seat and trapped under cord nails driven into the frame.

The Danish weave is slow but long-lasting, and the paper cord, despite being paper, wears for decades with care - keep it dry. The Caner’s Handbook covers repairs on old Danish cord seats ³.

What to take from this

Shaker tape is cotton webbing wrapped front to back as warp (about 20 yards), padded with foam, and woven side to side with a needle in checkerboard or herringbone, darker color on the warp. Danish cord is three-ply twisted paper wrapped in groups around the rails, hooked over L-nails as paired warp, woven with double strands, and tied off under cord nails.