Monday, June 07, 2010

How to Make a Hanging Chair

Make a Hanging ChairChairs on the ground are pretty boring. But chairs in the air?? Fabulous.

What's doubly fabulous is that hanging chairs are easy to make (I have a couple other patterns that we might attempt this summer if I can scrounge the supplies).

Here's what you'll need:
2 yards of strong canvas
rope
4 grommets
a thick dowl
2 yards of chain
2 "S" hooks
2 eyebolts and nuts to fit

Of course you'll also need a place to hang it--one where it can attach to a stud, not just into the sheet rock because it'll never hold that way.

1. Cut out your pieces
Here's an approximate design guide that seemed to work though you could make it even easier and omit the side pieces. One big long center piece could work. You'll need two pieces of each piece.

How to Make a Hanging Chair
2. Sew it up
Sew the two side pieces to each center piece then with the right sides facing sew the two section together, leaving a six-inch opening. Then using that opening turn them right side out and sew the opening shut.

How to Make a Hanging Chair
3. Attach the grommets
At each of the four corners trace the inner circle of the grommet in the place where you'd like to attach it. Cut the inner circle out with scissors or a razor then use a hammer and plate to attach the grommets in place. Make sure they're secure through both layers of fabric.

How to Make a Hanging Chair
4. Attach the chair to the pole
Run a length of rope through each of the holes, cutting and knotting them at the appropriate length so that it hangs as you see in the top picture. Loop each of the ropes over the pole. If you're using nylon rope don't forget to heat the ends to keep them from fraying.

How to Make a Hanging Chair
5. Attach chair to chain and then to ceiling.
Drill a hole through the dowl and screw the eye bolt in, securing with the nut. Attach the "S" hook as you see here and repeat for the other side of the dowl. Once you've got the chain attached to the wood you can use another eyebolt to secure it to a stud in the ceiling, suspending the chair from the middle of the chain as you see in the first picture. Easy!

How to Make a Hanging Chair
The biggest problem is deciding who gets to use it first.

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8 comments:

fagodi said...

Very interesting device for a child, well that as I understand it, these swings can be installed at home. The question arises without dangers.

Mom24 said...

How do you think it would do outside? Our hammock chair just died and there's no money to replace it.

Patricia L said...

I had a chair like that growing up and LOVED it. To Mom24, the one that I had was bought from a company and I know theirs were outdoor-friendly. I bet if you made one and scotchguarded it really good it'd be okay (or used a more weather resistant material).

jean said...

I love it. Great idea for the kids.

Heart2Heart said...

Michelle,

Our luck wouldn't be in creating the chair it would be finding the stud in the ceiling to hang it on where it would still be fun to hang.

Love this idea and perhaps will create some for our outdoor patio.

Love and Hugs ~ Kat

Akina said...

I love the hanging chair! Thanks for this post.. This will be very helpful since our place is not that big. Thanks!

Rachel@oneprettything.com said...

Oh wow! What a fabulous project, I love it! I'll be linking to this if you don't mind.

Megan said...

too cool, my daughter would have a hay day in this thing!