Do you want to learn how to make the basic macrame knots? Are you searching for the best tutorials & tips to learn beginner macrame and the basic macrame knots? Well hey, you’re in the right place – these macrame tips will take you from beginner to confident crafter in a matter of hours.

First things first: What this post will cover:

• Is macrame easy to learn?
• The most basic macrame terms you really should know
• Basic macrame supplies even beginners need (and where to get them!)
• 5 basic macrame knots
  • Lark’s head 
  • Clove hitch
  • Vertical clove hitch
  • Half knot
  • Square knot
• Continue learning

Learn macrame – is it easy?

I get this question all the time and the answer is YES, YES, YES! Macrame is the easiest to learn out of all the fiber arts, such as crochet, knitting and weaving. So it’s great for beginners! And why do I think so? First and foremost, it’s because with macrame you do not need to learn to use any extra tools such as hooks, knitting sticks or looms – you use just your hands!

Even if learning macrame at home is fun, I recommend attending an in-person workshop, because it’s social, you’ll connect with like minded people, and make new friends while having fun! So do it, open a new page on Google and check if there are any workshops in your area. I know, I’m basically telling you to get out of my page and into the real world, but hey… I believe in communities!

Ready to get started?? 

The most basic terminology you should know to learn macrame

There are a few important macrame terms you’ll need to know before you can get started. 

• Macrame cord: Also referred to as macrame rope, yarn or string. Macrame cord usually comes in 3 forms – braided, 3 ply, and single strand.
• Working / knotting cords: The cord or set of cords you use to make the actual knots.
• Filler cord: The cord or set of cords that your knots wrap around.
• Mounting cord: Mounting cords, dowels, and rings are the terms used for the items that you can attach the vertical “knotting” cords to at the very beginning of the work.
• Row: One row in a macrame pattern is a sequence of knots that goes horizontally from one side of the work to the other, from left to right or vice versa.

And that’s it – easy right? You got this! Let’s move on.

Basic macrame supplies even beginners need (& where to get them!)

Cord

No need to go fancy here, I’ll let you in on a little secret. You can use just about any kind of cord, twine, or rope in cotton, hemp or synthetic materials to learn macrame! What about the size of the cord? Again, you choose, small, medium or big all work! That said, keep reading:

BEGINNER TIP:

If you’ve never ever done macrame before, I recommend you choose a cord that is a bit bigger, around 5mm thick. Also, get a harder cord that is easy to unravel if (or when!) you make a mistake. Harder cords like polyester or braided hemp or cotton cords don’t get ruined so easily when unraveled.

WHERE TO GET THE CORD?

To get you practising without investing anything or very little, you can probably find some type of cord lying around your house no? In your office or kitchen? No? Well, the next fastest thing, go to your closest super market (!) – they will have some type of rope used in the kitchen, office, garden etc.

If you want a real macrame rope, a nice cotton cord or string, I recommend you check out Ganxxet if you’re in America and Bobbiny for my fellow Europeans. For thinner cords, suitable for jewelry, Etsy is a great place to look!

Support

You’ll need something to tie your knots to.

For home decor items such as wall hangings and plant hangers popular support choices include dowel rods, branches, hoops, or rings. You’ll also need somewhere to attach these to, like a clothing rack and S-hooks. For all this, I recommend to head over to your local hardware store, like Home Depot in America and Leroy Merlin, Bauhaus or Home Base in Europe. I find everything I need usually at Leroy Merlin.

For smaller macrame pieces like jewelry you can use any pinnable board. If you’ve seen my work, you know I like making contemporary macrame jewelry. I still haven’t invested on an actual macrame board like this one, but I simply use a flat piece of styrofoam! And sometimes I pin my little macrame work onto my trousers – especially when watching (listening to?) TV.

Scissors & measuring tape

Again, no need to go fancy if you’re only dipping your toes into making macrame.

Get your kitchen or paper scissors out! Then if you want to be precise, cut clean lines and make pretty fluffy fringes, you will need a pair of very sharp scissors that could cut air. For big fringes I recommend big dressmaker’s shears/scissors, and for small items like jewelry you should get the smallest sharp pointed scissors you can find (look for “thread scissors”). 

You can use a normal ruler, or a dressmaker’s tape measure, to measure out your cords.

5 basic macrame knots

Yo, you made it this far! So proud of you!

Now comes the best bit obviously – the knotting! This is why you’re here right, to learn macrame? You will soon realise just HOW EASY it is.

But first, let’s get real. My number one tip for beginner is this: Before starting you first macrame project (let it be a bracelet, a wall hanging or a keychain), get some yarn out and practise these knots. Familiarise yourself with these knots and all the basic macrame terms before starting a bigger project, cutting up some expensive cord, and then get frustrated at the difficulty level. One step (or knot?) at a time.

Check out my FREE ever-expanding KNOT LIBRARY that includes even more knot tutorials, created for Macrame Makers Club. Just join my newsletter and I’ll mail you the link. It’s completely free!

Prepping

Like mentioned above, you need three things to start off with: cord, support, scissors. Got them? Since we’re just practising, go ahead and cut two pieces of cord, roughly around 50-80 cm / 20-30 inches long.

If you’re a complete newbie, I hope you followed my advice and got a big (5-8mm) and tough (braided cotton, hemp, or even polyester) cord to practise your first knots with! Here we go!

Lark’s head 

This knot is the most basic mounting knot, because it’s great for adding cords to start off your work or for adding cords in the middle of your work. 

First, start off by folding the cord in half and place the loop over the filler cord or dowel. Second, bring the loop around the back and pull your two cord ends through the loop to tighten.

TIP: Turn your work around to see what it looks like on the reversed side. Looking at it this way, the knot is called… “Reversed Lark’s Head”.

Clove hitch  

Also called a cow hitch or a double half hitch (which is a mouthful), this knot is formed by making two half hitches.

Start by using one cord as the filler cord and place it above the working cord. With the working cord, make a loop around the filler cord and tighten. This is one half hitch. 

To continue and complete the second half hitch, repeat the process: using the same working cord, make another loop around the filler cord and pull the end through the loop and tighten.

In order to create a row of clove hitch knots, keep using the same filler cord and change the working cord.

Clove hitch rows are simply gorgeous. It is probably my favorite simple knot out there, because you can make beautiful clean lines, horizontally or diagonally, to add that little oomph to your work. I also wrote a blog post entirely dedicated to these beautiful knots, which you can find here.

Vertical clove hitch

As you can probably guess, the vertical clove hitch is a unique variation of the normal clove hitch. They are tied very much the same way, but there are two things that make them different:

• The two half hitches are stacked on top of each other vertically instead of next to each other. 
• When creating rows of vertical clove hitch knots, one working cord is used to tie the knots onto several filler cords. 

Place your horizontal working cord under your vertical filler cord and loop the working cord around the filler cord. This is called a half hitch, just like with the normal clove hitch.

To finish your vertical clove hitch, repeat the same half hitch underneath the previous half hitch and tighten.

NOW, to really show off your row of vertical clove hitches, make another one. Pass your working cord underneath the next filler cord and repeat the knot. Here’s what your work will look like with three vertical clove hitches in a row:

Half knot

Wait, what? How is a half knot a complete knot? Well… If you just make one half knot it probably would not hold too long, but many half knots repeatedly make a pretty cool looking braid, almost like a DNA string, see:

PREPARING YOUR CORDS

For half knots you need to have four cords: two working cords and two filler cords. To start practising this knot, I recommend you attach two cords onto a dowel or a filler cord with two lark’s head knots. These two cords folded in half create the four cords you need to make a square knot.

KNOTTING

Number your cords from left to right. Number one and four are your working cords, aka the left and right most cords. The middle cords (2 and 3) are filler cords and they do not move at all. 

First, move cord 1 to the right, over cords 2 & 3 and under cord 4. Then move cord 4 to the left, under cord 2 & 3 and over cord 1 (in a way cord 4 goes through the loop cord 1 creates with cord 2).

This is called a half knot, and cords 1 and 4 have now switched places. To continue to make your DNA braid, renumber the cords from 1 to 4 from left, and repeat the half knot many times. The braid will continue to twist right away.

Square knot

Square knots are one of the most widely used macrame knots out there. With them you can create wonderful textures and they are rather quick to make! Square knots can be created as left facing or right facing.

How to make a square knot? Make two half knots in opposite directions. 

PREPPING YOUR CORDS

For square knots, just like half knots, you need to have four cords: two working cords and two filler cords. To start practising this knot, I recommend you attach two cords onto a dowel or a filler cord with two lark’s head knots. These two cords folded in half create the four cords you need to make a square knot.

KNOTTING

Number your cords from left to right. Number one and four are your working cords, aka the left and right most cords. The middle cords (2 and 3) are filler cords. 

Move cord 1 to the right, over cords 2 & 3 and under cord 4. Then move cord 4 to the left, under cord 2 & 3 and over cord 1 (in a way cord 4 goes through the loop cord 1 creates with cord 2).

This is called a half knot and cords 1 and 4 have now switched places. 

Let’s make another half knot to complete the square knot. Move cord 1 to the left over the two filler cords and under cord 4. Then move cord 4 to the right under the two filler cords and over cord 1.

Pull cords 1 and 4 to tighten, but keep the filler cords straight. Voilà, you have completed a left facing square knot!

If you’d prefer the little vertical bump to be on the right, then you have two options: Turn your work around (I know, magic!), or make the two half knots in reversed order.

Want to continue learning?

I really hope you liked this post, learned a few basic macrame knots and you’re now inspired to embark upon your very own macrame journey!

If you’re a macrame enthusiast trying to navigate your way to macrame mastery and you’re looking for a supportive, loving community to lean into while you’re at it, then you’re going to want to check out Macrame Makers Club. Here are some of the goodies that await you inside the club:

• An ever-growing library of macrame tutorials. One new full-length tutorial per month
• Step-by-step roadmap for beginners to learn macrame
• Live Q&As and chat calls so you can get all your questions answered
• Different teachers to learn from
• Monthly giveaways
• Thriving, supportive community of creatives (and I’m not talking about a FB group!)

See you on the inside!

xo

Tuija

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