DIY Woven CANE & COPPER Art | Wall Decor Project

I've been wanting to make some kind of woven wall art for a while, and I've been thinking about how to combine different materials and textures into one piece of art. I finally came up with the idea of combining rattan cane and hammered copper ...as well as gold foil to add more sparkle :)

I initially wanted to make a more complex webbing design but the inflexibility of the copper meant that the cane pieces ended up deforming and not looking good. So I went for a simple weave instead, and I think the result is very effective.

In this weaving tutorial, I'll show you how to make your own frame (if you want or need to make one), how to texture copper with a hammer, how to weave with cane, and how to apply gold foil.

I hope you like this project!

- Chair Cane: I bought No.3 (2.5 mm wide) chair cane.

- Copper: I used copper tape/flat wire that measured 3 mm wide and 0.75 m thick.

- Ball Pein Hammer & Steel Block: If you'd like to texture the copper.

- Scrap wood, Drill & Clamps: If you want to make the wooden frame. Otherwise, you can either drill holes in a picture frame, or simply use masking tape & double-sided tape on a picture frame to keep the cane and copper in place.

- Cocktail Sticks (optional)

- Ruler

- A big bowl of water

- Scissors

- Wire Cutters

- Pliers

- Wood Glue

- Superglue (optional)

- Imitation Gold Leaf, Paintbrush & Glue for Applying Leaf/Foil: I used Zig 2-Way Glue.

- Shadow Box, White Card & Foam Pads: Or other method of displaying your weaving.

As I mentioned in the supplies list, you don't have to make the frame from scratch, but if you want to, it's very easy to do.

For my frame, I used some scrap wood I already had which happened to be 3/4" thick. I cut out 2 pieces that measured 1" x 6", and 2 pieces that measured 1" x 4".

Working from the centre outwards, I marked 5 points in the centre of each piece. These points were 1/2" apart.

I then drilled through the wood at these points using a 5 mm drill bit.

I joined these pieces together using Gorilla wood glue and clamps, as shown, so that they formed a square. The space inside my square frame measured 4" x 4".

To get the hammered texture that catches the light, you will need a steel block (on top of something that will protect your work surface), and a ball-pein hammer.

First, measure how long you need the copper pieces to be. This will be the distance between opposing holes in the frame, plus about 1". Cut out 4 pieces of copper that are this length. My copper pieces measured about 6" long.

Take each piece of copper, place it on the steel block, and carefully use the rounded end of the hammer to tap it all over. You don't have to texture the ends though, as these won't be visible in the finished weaving.

Simply use pliers to bend over the ends of the copper pieces to form [ shapes.

The distance between the bends needs to be the same as the distance between opposing holes in the frame. In my case, this was 5".

Insert 2 of these pieces into one side of the frame.

Cut as many lengths of the cane as you're going to need (using scissors). I used 16 strands.

These strands need to be the same length as the copper pieces.

Soak these pieces in a bowl of water for 20 minutes before you begin to add them to the frame.

- Then add 3 pieces of cane to the frame, parallel to the copper pieces, to form the first layer in the weaving. Just bend the ends of the cane down into the holes in the frame.

- For the second layer, add 2 more copper pieces and 3 more cane pieces to the frame, perpendicular to the first layer.

- And for the third layer, add 5 pieces of cane, parallel to the first layer (and using the same holes as the first layer too).

Note: if any of the strands keep 'popping out' of the frame, you can use spare bits of cane or cut-up cocktail sticks to wedge them into the holes.

The fourth layer of strands is where you need to do the actual weaving.

This layer consists of 5 strands of cane, and these need to lie parallel to the second layer of strands below.

Because these strands will be positioned directly above the second layer strands, you will need to pick a side that these fourth layer strands will go on; either to the right or to the left of the second layer strands. Whichever side you choose, stick to it as you move across.

You may notice I didn't do this for one of the end strands so it's woven in the opposite way, oops:)

Assuming that you are placing these strands vertically, like in the photos, you'll need to take them over the horizontal strands when the matching second layer strand goes under the horizontal strands, and vice versa. These strands basically need to weave in the opposite way to the second layer strands underneath.

Hopefully the diagram will help you here if you're unsure.

Before you remove the weaving from the frame, add little dots of superglue (or wood glue) where the strands cross, and then leave it to dry.

Once dry, remove it from the frame and trim the cane and copper pieces down to make them all nice and even.

Apply some of the foil/leaf glue to whichever strands you like; I chose 4 strands that crossed each other on the opposite sides to the copper.

Once this glue dries to a tacky finish, carefully lay the gold leaf sheet over the top and gently press down.

I usually wait a minute or so at this point, before using a soft paint brush to remove all of the excess gold leaf.

The weaving is now finished, so you just need to add it to your frame.

I personally attached the weaving to a piece of white card (using cut-up foam pads), and then placed this inside a shadow box.

And that's it!

I hope you liked this Instructable :D