It's a while since the Crafty Crew enjoyed a macrame session and this time they made some bright or natural coloured leaves instead of the pot holders they'd made previously. This turned out to be a much easier make, which is just as well as the Crew will be leading November's main meeting. As you can see, the results are great! Read on for the Crew's top tips...
The key to success is one simple knot repeated down the central macrame cord 'spine' as shown in the photograph below. Note that it's two pieces of cord knotted together as a square reef knot around the central one. There are step-by-step photos here if you need them (in the Method 1 section)
We found it much easier to tie the knots with the central spine taped down onto either a cutting map or a formica style table (i.e. not wood). Note, there is very little cutting involved, so the cutting mat is used to protect the table's surface from the tape used, plus it has a useful ruler along the side for measuring.
Our other top tips:
Use a piece of cord of around 50cm in length to form the central spine, folded in half as shown.
Tie a knot to at the top of the central spine to form a hanging loop
The individual pieces used for the leaves are 20cms long. Use the first 20cm piece cut as a rough measure for the rest.
You will need 13-20 x 20cm pieces of cord (we varied quite a bit amongst ourselves, hence this bit is rather vague) - we found halving the strands in each initial piece made it much easier to knot the cord, i.e. cut 13 pieces, then divide each into two to give 26 pieces to knot. It's probably best to cut 13 pieces first, then top up if needed
Work downwards from the top of the loop. Once one set of knots are tightened make sure they lie snugly against the ones above it
Leave an unknotted part of the central spine at the bottom to form the bottom part of the leaf - it's time to leave it when the strands along the central spine are around the same level as the bottom of the spine itself
Once all the pieces are in place, use a pet brush to brush the strands out so they become more leaf-like. NB this creates lots of fluff! Don't have a pet brush? We found a rounded hair styling brush worked almost as well, or the finer part of a comb. The latter takes much longer to achieve the desired result, though we did get there in the end!
Once happy with the results of the brushing, trim the macrame into a neat leaf shape, just like the ones in the top photo.
For the main meeting the Crew will provide the macrame cord and the tape for securing the 50cm piece for the spine. You will need to bring a pet brush/hair styling brush/comb, scissors and optional cutting mat.
As you can see, Diane has the macrame cord ready to go!
Note: there is the option to back the leaf with fabric or card so it stays in shape when hung up. This won't be covered in the session, there are instructions here for you to do that at home if wanted. The instructions are for cloth backing which can be adapted for card if preferred.
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