What is a Rush Seat, and can I do it myself?
You might have an old chair that’s been passed down through your family, or a new chair that you’ve decided needs a new look, and whilst you could put an upholstered seat there, why not look at a natural alternative?
Either way, as the skill is a rather uncommon one you’ve probably thought “well why don’t I try it myself?”. I’m here to tell you you can repair a rush seat yourself!
What is a rush seat?
If you haven’t read our previous post about rush seats, go do that now. I’ll wait…
Okay great, so you now that rush seats are an all natural fibre, woven together with methods dating back thousands of years. The first question is How?
Methods of rush seating
Being a traditional craft that’s passed down through generations, there’s so many different ways to get extremely similar results. There’s loads of books with much more in depth instructions than I can go into in a 2 minutes article. I’d start with “Weaving with Eight Makers” by the Basketry Association for a really good base.
Our method at The Marchmont Workshop is routinely proven to be the most efficient and gets the most attractive results. Rush seaters have come on our Rush Seating Course and halved the time it took them. However, it’s also a great place for beginners to get a solid understanding of the craft and be able to take it to other chairs in the home.
The most important aspect of seating is the strand consistency. A straight, even strand of rushes twisted together will make a seat so much more attractive than one with inconsistent strand sizes. The trick to this is selecting the right rushes as you twist them together.
The remainder is repetition, patience, and concentration. Add rushes when you need to, and don’t be afraid to discard rushes that aren’t up to the challenge of being a seat!
Where do I get rushes from?
You may have discovered they’re hard to come by to just buy. In fact, I believe there’s only one company selling them in any real quantity. Rush Matters. And for a single chair you’ll want at least 2 bolts to make sure you’re not caught short. This is going to set you back £100.
Let’s do it right, the first time
You might have worked out by now that being taught a skill like rush seating is probably better than working it out for yourself. I agree and luckily for you, we run a number of courses throughout the year. We have small class sizes of just 4 students, and all you material costs are included. So really £250 is a bargain for the skill your getting! Sign up here, or if you’ve got any more questions, why not shoot us a message on our contact page.