My adventures in macrame continue and I am loving it. It’s fun, it’s easy, and surprisingly quick so I decided to knot up a pretty wall hanging for a friend. In my first macrame post, I taught you how to create a diagonal clove hitch knot and used the knot to create a cool mini macrame masterpiece. Building on to that knowledge, this post offer an illustrated how-to demonstrating the square knot.
The full tutorial offers step-by-step instructions to create the cool wall hanging pictured above using both knots. This wall hanging measures about 17 inches wide by 3 feet long but you can adjust the size by using larger or smaller materials and/or trimming the ends to a different length. Let’s begin…
Dip-Dyed Macrame Wall Hanging Tutorial
For this project, you will need:
5/8″ dowel or comparable stick, 17″ long
16 5-yard lengths of 1/8″ cord (I found mine at Home Depot)
4 3-yard lengths of 1/8″ cord
fabric shears
yardstick or tape measure
Optional:
hack saw
sandpaper
craft paint
washi or painter’s tape
small paint brush
fabric dye
stainless steel bowl
1. Use a hack saw to trim your dowel to 17″ in length. Alternately, you can ask someone at home depot to do this for you. If you are using a stick, you can just snap it off at the right length.
2. Smooth the cut end with a bit of sandpaper.
3. You can use craft paint and small brush to paint your dowel if you feel like it. I used washi tape to mark off 2.5″ at either end and painted just the outer bits. Balance it on a glass or bowl to dry.
4. Meanwhile, use your tape measure and fabric shears to cut your cords. You’ll need 16 measuring 5′ long and 4 measuring 3′ long.
5. Attach the 5′ lengths to your dowel (once it’s dry, of course) using a lark’s head knot. Remember how to do that? Here’s a reminder…
Pretty easy, right?
6. Flip the dowel over and add two 3′ lengths on either side.
Ok. Now, we are ready to learn how to tie a square knot! Check it out:
Note: This is a left-facing square knot. You will use 4 cords. The two in the center are filler cords; the outer cords are the ones you will actually tie.
1. Fold the cord on the left over the filler cords and under the cord on the right.
2. Fold the cord on the right under the filler cords, up through the loop, and over the left cord.
3. Gently pull to tighten.
4. Repeat in the opposite direction: Cord on the right folds over the filler cords and under the cord on the left. Then the cord on the left passes under the filler cords, up through the loop and over the right. Gently pull to tighten.
Now let’s see it in photo form as we return to our tutorial:
7. We will start by creating the hanger with the shorter cords on the outsides. Working with the main piece upside down, tie a square knot about 3″ from the dowel with the 4 outer cords as shown.
8. Tie a second square knot another 3″ from the first.
9. Repeat with the 4 shorter cords on the opposite side.
10. Tie all 8 cords together with an overhand knot at trim the excess.
11. Now you can hang this baby up while you macrame the pattern. So, find yourself a hook. I used one on the back of my bedroom door. You should have 32 cords hanging down to work with.
12. For the first row, skip the first 4 cords then tie square knots using the next 6 sets of 4 cords.
13. Second row: Take the 2 right side cords from the first square knot and the left two cords from the second knot, and use these 4 cords to create a square knot. This will create an alternating square knot pattern. Do this 4 more times for a total of 5 square knots.
14. Keep going in this manner, creating alternating square knots. Always start with the right 2 cords hanging from the first knot and the left two cords from the second. Row 3 will have 4 knots, row 4 will have 3 knots, row 5 will have 2 knots, and row 6 will have 1 knot.
Now we are going to emphasize the triangle shape with diagonal half-hitch knots. If you don’t know how to tie this knot, complete illustrated instructions can be found here.
15. Hold the first cord on the left diagonally across the piece. This will be your filler cord
16. Pick up the next cord, adjacent to the filler cord and tie your first right-facing double half-hitch knot at the same height at the first square knot.
17. Repeat the knot with all the cords on the left until you reach the center.
18. Now do the opposite on the other side. Hold the cord on the far right in a diagonal across and tie each cord from right to left in left-facing double half-hitch knots until you reach the center.
19. Use the filler cord from the left side to tie one more double half-hitch knot to join the two sides.
20. Complete one more row of double half-hitch knots.
21. Repeat the entire pattern again to create a second triangle shape.
22. Use your fabric shears to trim the ends. You can do this straight or in a point to mimic the triangle. I used washi tape to hold the ends in place before I cut.
Optional: Dip-dye the ends
Mix up some fabric dye according to the instructions on the package. Hang the wall hanging so just the bottom 5″ or so are submerged. Leave it to sit for 45 minutes or so. You’ll notice the dye starts to travel up the strands for a pretty ombre effect. Rinse, wash, rinse again, then hang it outside to dry.
