Simple Step-by-Step Macrame

Macrame is a craft involving knotted ropes or string.

If you have a knack for crafts involving yarn, rope, string or twine, macrame may also hold your interest. Consisting of twine or other string knotted in a specific design, macrame is a relatively simple way to exercise your creativity and create personalized gifts for friends and loved ones. Bracelets and anklets, necklaces, key chains and plant pot hangers are among the many applications for macrame designs. What you choose to make will determine the amount of cord or twine you need.

Things You'll Need

• Hemp or nylon cord
• Scissors
• Wooden or glass beads
• Key ring

Instructions

1. 

   Cut your hemp or jute cord into several lengths. Depending on the design you choose, cut between four and six lengths of cord. Knot them together at the top if you're making a freestanding bracelet or anklet. To make a key chain, attach the ropes to the ring by folding the cord in half, then pulling the ends through the loop so it tightens around the ring.

2. Take the two outer -- first and fourth -- lengths and use them to make square knots around the middle two. You can also do a "spiral staircase" design. This requires six lengths of cord. Take the first length and wrap it in a group around the remaining five lengths. Knot it in place, then repeat with the other five lengths in succession.

3. Add beads to your design. In a square knot pattern, loop the cord lengths through the bead and fasten it to the design using square knots. Try working in different shaped beads, or other objects like pebbles, gems or bits of polished bone available for craft purposes.

Tips & Warnings

• Macrame is all about creativity. There are literally dozens of designs to choose from. Once you get comfortable with some of these designs, try creating your own.

• Once you have chosen a design, be consistent. Mixing and matching knot designs works if you stick with one design for an extended length of the macrame, then switch to another. But going back and forth between designs rapidly makes the macrame look muddled.

References

• MakingFriends.com: Macrame Key Chain

Resources

• Free Macrame Patterns