Anyone know how/if I can repair this?

[NigelDebster]

The seat for my hanging chair has ripped and I'm wondering if it's possible to repair or will it just need to be replaced?

That's a really tough one because it's weight-bearing so might rip again, but if it was mine I'd patch it sturdily from underneath either something tough like denim, and then really oversew the top. It won't be pretty but it might work, (and if not, at least it's bumped your thread 😆)

I would contact that programme The Repair Shop and say your grandad loved this hanging chair, and now he's gone (😭) you can't bear to look at it in it's sorry state. They will repair it for you AND you can appear on the telly dabbing your eyes.

I think if you patched it, it would fail again. The only way I could see to do it would be to insert new eyelets further into the fabric. However, it looks like that is where the padding starts? Probably not an easy one.

It looks from the picture as if the fabric itself has weakened and given way rather than tearing along a seam line or other stress point. If that's so then the fabric will likely be equally weak all over and may not be substantial enough to support a repair. I think your only chance would be to do as @HerNameIsDebbie suggests, so that the underneath piece is doing the work.

I would also consider how people normally sit down in it. People without much core strength and/or awareness can let themselves drop into chairs instead of lowering themselves into them, and this puts a much greater strain on the chair. If you want a repair to last on fabric that's already weak you may have to ask people to get into the habit of taking some weight on their arms as they sit down.

Thanks all, you've pretty much summed up what I thought. Dh suggested threading some extra cord through the eyelets where the tear is across the bottom to create a base so I might try that.