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How to Macrame

Macramé (MAC-ruh-may) is the art/craft of tying cordage into knots in such a way that they form a useful or decorative shape. This was a very popular craft in the 1970s in the USA that is now being revived in the form of jute jewelry and knotted purses. Using all types of knots and additional decals such as beads, you'll be able to create your own macramé crafts in no time.

Steps

Assembling Your Base

  1. Find an object to use as an anchor. This will most commonly be a ring or horizontal bar. Though macramé is designed to stay on its anchor permanently, it’s a good idea to practice with a pencil.

    • You could avoid an anchor entirely and tape your cord to a flat surface -- just make sure the tape keeps your cord anchored and parallel to your surface.
    • If you're making a necklace or bracelet, use a connector or charm as your anchor! If it can be threaded through, it'll work!
  2. Begin tying your larkshead knot. Place a loop of cord over your anchor and bend it over. This is a standard way to start any macramé project.

    • If you walk into any craft supply store, there will be a section dedicated to macramé cords. These are great materials, but the art of macramé lies in the knotting. You can use rope if you please.
  3. Pull the length of the cords through the loop. The reverse larkshead knot is simply pulled from the other side.

  4. Pull gently to snug the knot down. That's the larkshead knot! That's the basic start of any project, with a few variations that are also standard:

    • Most projects use at least four cords. If this is the case, use either two larkshead knots next to each other or a larkshead knot inside another larkshead knot.
      • For two larkshead knots next to each other, the color pattern will be, for example, red-red-blue-blue. The center red-blue cords will be your anchor cords; red will be what you're working with on the left and blue will be what you're working with on the right. Therefore, with this method, the colors are different.
      • For the larkshead knot that inside the larger larkshead knot, the color pattern will be red-blue-blue-red. The blue cords will be your anchor cords; reds will be what you're working with on all knots. Therefore, with this method, the colors are the same.

Tying the Square Knot

  1. Bend the right-hand cord over the left-hand cord. You could start with the left, too -- as long as you alternate sides, your result will be a square knot. This is the basic knot that is present in most macramé projects. If you want to macramé, this is the first knot you should learn!

  2. Feed the left-hand cord up, over, and through the loop formed by the right-hand cord. Basically, you're tying your shoes. It's the same, simple, overhand knot.

  3. Snug the knot. Be sure to pull evenly on both cords to keep the knot centered. If you stopped here, you would have a half knot. Repeating this over and over gets you a spiral weave.

  4. Bend the left-hand cord over the right-hand cord. That is, if you started with the right. Your pattern should be right, left, right, left, right and so on and so forth.

  5. Feed the right-hand cord up, over, and through the loop formed by the left-hand cord. Yet again, a simple overhand knot -- just started from the other side (to form the "square" shape).

  6. Snug the knot again.

  7. Repeat until the pattern is the desired length. A row of knots is called a "sennit." How long do you want your sennit(s) to be?

    • A variation of the square knot is the switch knot. This takes four cords. Start with your outside cords and do a standard square knot. Then, take your anchor cords and make a square knot around your previous outside cords. Leave a little space between each knot to clearly see the interesting criss-cross pattern.
    • The more cords you use, the more interesting it gets. The alternating square knot forms a fascinating, interwoven-ring shape with 8 cords. You knot your standard cords, then you take the right of one pair and the left of another and knot those. Then you knot the standard cords, and go back to the other pair. Then you knot the standard cords....

Tying the Alternating Half-Hitch

  1. Loop cord 2 over cord one. For this knot, you only need two cords. Cord 1 (on the right) will be referred to as the "holding cord." Cord 2 should be looped in a counter-clockwise fashion.

    • Bring it over the holding cord, then looped under it, then over itself. That's your first tie.
  2. Loop the holding cord over cord 2. For this, you'll be moving in a clockwise direction. Loop it over, under, and then over again, with the end of the cord pointing to the left.

  3. Repeat until desired length. Now, that's the basic of the alternating half-hitch. It may seem ridiculously simple, but knowing it can lead to a number of more intense knotting.

    • With three and four cords, this pattern gets much more interesting. When you have three, simply loop the left and right cords in an alternative pattern around the anchor cord. With four cords, take the leftmost and rightmost cords and wrap them around their anchoring partner, alternating wrapping them around both anchoring cords. One hitch will be around one cord, the second around two -- alternating sides, of course.

Tying the Josephine Knot

  1. Make a loop with your leftmost cord. Don't loop it with another cord, just a loop unto itself. The lower end of the cord should be under the upper end, not over. The loop should be on the right-hand side.

  2. Take the right cord and lay it across the loop. Then, take the end and put it under the lower part of the looped cord.

  3. Bring cord 2 around the top of the looped cord. Don't bring it around the loop, just over the top of the (un looped section of the) cord. Then, bring it under the top of the loop, over itself (what you did in step 2) and under the bottom of the loop.

    • You should see a wonky figure 8 forming -- like two Olympic rings gone bad.
  4. Tighten. Make sure both sides are even! Gorgeous. To make it even more noticeable, do it with four cords. Just do a two-for-one, keeping the cords together. Repeat as desired.

Using Beads, etc.

  1. Form a clasp. If you're making a necklace or bracelet, you're gonna need to have some sort of staying-put device. The simplest way is to make a button clasp. There are two things you need to consider: the beginning and the end.

    • For the beginning, don't start your knots flush up against the larkshead knot. Leave a space to slide your button/bead/clasp through.
    • For the end, simply add an object through all of your cords, tie in a knot, and secure with a dab of glue. Cut off the remaining excess and slide it through the space you left at the top!
  2. Add some embellishments. While macramé is beautiful on its own, if you're making jewelry, you may want a few more ways to jazz it up. Beads do just that!

    • With a square knot, all you need is four cords to add on your bead(s). Slide your bead onto the two center, anchor cords and do a square knot around it. Easy as pie.
    • Use a bead as your anchor. Then, start knotting in two different directions. With your two sets of string, knot as much length as you need and tie them together when you're finished!
  3. Make a sliding clasp. Making a bracelet that you can take on and off easily seems like a task for the bracelet pros, but it's easy! Just take your length of knotted cord and overlap it into a circle. Take an extra length of cord (about 4" or 10 cm) and start square-knotting over both ends.

    • After about half an inch of square knots, thread the ends through the backside of the closure. This is easiest done with a small knitting needle. That's it! The length of square knots keeps your ends together and it slides up and down the cords. Huzzah.

Staying Untangled

  1. Gather up the long ends of cordage. If you're working with a ton of cords, you risk feeling like you're dealing with Christmas lights you haven't used in 5 years. Yikes. To keep from getting swallowed up and accidentally strangled, you'll want to tie up your ends.

    • Beginning a foot or so from the attached end of the cord, loop the cord around your thumb. Criss-cross over your palm by looping the cord around your pinkie.
  2. Repeat until you reach the end of the cordage. You're making figure 8 after figure 8 after figure 8. Cat's Cradle, anyone?

  3. Tie a knot or place a rubber band around the “butterfly” of cord. Though it will be easy to pull additional cord out as you need it, it won’t get in the way while you work. Like a hardened pro, you are.

Tips

  • A crown sinnet is a good method to use for making keychains.
  • Choose a simple pattern for your first project. Items such as a key chain or bracelet are good beginner level projects, while items such as a plant hanger or owl are intermediate. Purses, hammocks or chairs would be advanced.
  • Purchase macramé-specific cordage for your early projects and move on to other cordage only when you've got the knot tying principles well mastered.

Things You'll Need

  • Macramé-specific cordage such as jute
  • Scissors
  • Pattern for your chosen project (see sources for links to sites with selections of free patterns)
  • Anchor (pencil, wooden dowel, etc.)
  • Beads and/or other embellishments (optional)

Related wikiHows

Sources and Citations



from How to of the Day http://ift.tt/1FYMqVK