At home, my decor is simple and the colour scheme is natural. I use a lot of textiles and different textures; woven fabrics, baskets, rattan, wood. I use a lot of second hand furniture, that I repaint, revarnish and modify if needed. All of this creates a cosy cocoon, where macramé gives its final touch to my decoration. From home decor to accessories and bags, macramé is now very much on-trend, and it is very different from the 1970's macramé that my parents used to know.
I only recently started knotting and creating macramé. I find it relaxing, and it hardly requires any specific tools other than your hands. Of course you can buy some rings and dowels, but you could also find all the materials outside; branches are perfect with cotton cords. More importantly, you have an unlimited number of ways to combine knots, techniques and colours, and you never have too much macramé at home (not sure my boyfriend agrees with that though). The good news is that it is not too tricky. You have around 30 different knots you can do, but for a start you will be good to go with only three simple and basic knots - square knot, clove hitch and lark's head knot. You could start knotting at home yourself after learning these three basics, and a lot of tutorials are available online (youtube, blogs and Pinterest mainly).
It is amazing how much you can create with just knotting cords in different patterns. From plant hangers to bags, accessories and wall hangings, I will share with you my home decor and my macramé ideas!
As my first attempt at macramé, I started doing feathers. I see it as the easiest start, where you don't need a lot of cord or a lot of technique. The sizes can vary from a full wall covering feather, to very small ones. This is also the perfect time to talk about my inspiration book: Macramé, the craft of creative knotting for your home, by Fanny Zedenius. Fanny is a Swedish fibre artist, who has decided to share her passion for knotting in order to inspire others to start creating. In her book, she describes all the macramé secrets you need to know before starting. How to find rope, how to fray, how to dye, and most importantly, how to knot! She also shares some of her patterns and projects.
Another easy but beautiful macramé decor is coasters! I tried three times before actually making the perfect one. Coasters are a bit more difficult than feathers only because of the risk of not having a flat coaster (pointless if not flat really)... and that's what happened on my first tests. The more cord you use for this pattern, the better, so don't be shy and keep adding small amounts of cord while knotting. I went for Avocado Green to match the tones of my existing home decor, but more coasters could appear one day, especially as a plant coaster (which looks so lovely by the way)! Lots of tutorials are available online for those who want to try themselves, but I am also selling coasters in many different colours on my Boutique for those who prefer to buy finished ones!
Going for a more difficult project: my very first summer bag! For many years, I have been thinking about creating my own bag. I had lots of different ideas, with fabrics, leather, even baskets! Never started one until a few months ago when lockdown started. The process to create this kind of bag is time consuming; it takes many hours to knot and knot and knot the many meters of cotton cord... but the result is so beautiful! It actually worked out better than I expected, and I am completely in love with it! I chose to make a black bag to fit most of my outfits for summer, but to be really honest with you... any colour is beautiful! What I also like about these bags is that you can create so many different patterns with the same base, as it is always the same knot that you repeat (except for the pattern in the front). You could also do a mix of colours, or have half one colour and the other half another colour. Basically everything is possible with that same base! I am selling them at the moment on my Boutique, and they are available on request.
The main reason why I started macramé was actually for wall hangings. I am obsessed with big wall decor! I wanted to make sure that I was fully able to use the basic knots before starting my first wall hanging, as most of the patterns I wanted to try seemed complicated. At the end of the day, when you know how to make your first row, all the others are easy. And I am so happy with the result on the white wall. I particularly like to combine abstract pictures in a black frame or dried flowers with black macramé wall hangings. I love the Bohemian and natural vibe that it brings to my home. So many patterns look pretty on the wall, in so many different sizes and colours. Again, I would say that there is never too many at your place! Macramé is a never ending story...
Talking about natural vibe, I love having vegetation at home! It makes your place so much more alive. It obviously meant that I was going to make a plant hanger with cotton cord. I found so many different tutorials online, but my favourite pattern was from the book I mentioned earlier: Macramé, the craft of creative knotting for your home, by Fanny Zedenius. She made a plant hanger for two plants, but as I didn't have two plants for this purpose, I made only half of the pattern. This plant hanger is very long but that's exactly why I am so in love with it!
As I said earlier, macramé is a never ending story and you have an unlimited number of ways to create whatever you want! Macramé is truly a craft for everybody, no matter your ability. With your hands, a bit of cord and some patience, you can make so much! If you need help finding the perfect tutorial to start with, feel free to contact me!