Hammock Chair for Riley Blake June 29, 2015 – Posted in: Sewing

Hello Riley Blake readers!! I’m so glad to have you here today to make this amazing hammock chair!

I’ve got a friend whose kids are hammock obsessed this summer. Every time I hear about them I think to myself, “Dang! I wish I had an awesome hammock!” So I did what any DIYer would do–I made my own!

My kids are fully obsessed with this thing! And I’ll be honest, it’s amazing. It’s big enough that it’s comfortable for me and I may or may not have fallen asleep in it!

Are you ready to see how to make your own?

To make this hammock, you’ll need:

3 yards of Riley Blake home dec fabric
1″ x 36″ dowel
1/2″ drill bit
rope
1 quick link
1 spring link
1 screw eye
extra strong/upholstery thread
heavy duty needle (I used denim)

I got all my supplies at The Home Depot. They were a great one stop shop! The rope was a 50 foot package with a weight limit of 200 pounds. The dowel was precut and the perfect length! The quick link has a piece that screws open and closed to keep it safe, the spring link is essentially a carabiner, and the screw eye is a screw with a circle on the end of it. I’ll explain what I used them all for later.

To begin, drill a 1/2″ hole in either end of the dowel. I made mine about 2″ in from the end. After drilling my holes, I painted my pole to match the fabric. This is optional so I didn’t include the paint in the materials list.

Take your 3 yard piece of fabric and fold it in half, right sides together, matching raw edges. Sew the raw edges together. I made 2 lines of stitching, then serged the edge for extra durability. This seam runs across the top of the chair.

Turn the fabric right side out.

I decided I wanted to keep the selveges intact for added durability of the fabric. Fewer cuts mean fewer chances for the fabric to fray. So I matched the edges, and folded the fabric over on itself twice and pinned.

I made 2 parallel rows of stitching (for caution’s sake) to create my casing for the rope.

The package came with 50 feet of rope and I didn’t want to be trying lengths of rope together, so I cut my sides long. I used 17′ in each side of the chair. Once I got the rope through the casing, I bunched it together as tight as I could and tied a double knot at the top. Repeat for both sides.

(Once we started using the swing, the rope stretched and the fabric gathered on itself even more. This allowed the front of the seat to sit lower than the back, providing better back/neck/head support.)

Then I laid my chair on the floor, measured up about 12″, and tied a knot in each side of the rope. I then fed both ends through the holes in my dowel.

After that, I took it outside to do the rest. I brought the rope together in the middle of the dowel and tied a knot. I didn’t measure this, it was based on the height of my porch ceiling.

Then I used my quick link and spring link. I tied the rope to the quick link and screwed it closed. I attached the spring link to that so it would be very easy to take the chair down and put back up. I drilled a hole in one of the ceiling beams and placed the screw eye in it and attached the chair to the screw eye with the spring link. Then I just twisted the extra length of rope around itself symmetrically, trying to make it look pretty.

And that’s it! I did the whole project myself (with a little moral support) in about 3 hours. The first time I sat in it was a little scary, but it held great and now we all take turns occupying it throughout the day. I may have to figure out a way to move it inside while it’s so hot during the summer, we all just can’t get enough!