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For people who love to craft and create things with their hands, macramé is a perfect option! Macramé involves generally simple knot tying that results in gorgeous - even intricate - wall art, plant hangers, and accessories! You can find ready-to-make kits that make creating works of art easier than ever: Solid Oak'sMake-ramé Collection has designs for everyone from beginners to pros! You can enjoy these great designs exactly as instructed in the kits. You can also add some personal touches if you're brave enough to stray away from our easy-to-follow instructions. Take a look at some fun customization ideas.
Many of our Make-ramé kits come with a natural wood branch to support your design. The natural look is organic and appealing, but the unfinished, natural wood branch can be modified or even replaced with another support of your choice. You can paint the included wood branch to match your decor, or find a metal pipe, rod, or other similarly sized item! Browse your local home improvement store, home-goods store, or antiques shop for novel ideas. You can also upcycle some items from your home. If you're a teacher, use an old ruler! If you love antiques, find an intricate dowel or leg from an old piece of furniture. Simply replace the wooden branch with your new rod and continue with the instructions as written.
Another simple way to personalize your macramé is to add a few charms and pendants to the finished product. Solid Oak Inc. has hundreds of options you can choose from to give your Make-ramé the finishing touches it needs to stand out from the crowd. You can keep it boho chic with some feathers or nautical charms, or glam it up with some rhinestone beads and pendants. To attach the charms and pendants to your macramé either string some of the cord through the metal loop as you work, or use a separate piece of string or wire once the design is finished. If you're making a macramé kit to give as a gift, consider adding some of ourIndi-Pendants filled with pictures that are meaningful to the recipient. Several of our Make-ramé kits come with antiqued copper-finish accent tubes. If you're not sure how to incorporate beads into your designs, try your hand at one of these kits!
A very common knot used in macramé is the square knot or Double Knot. This is a must-know before you try to get fancy. Some designs rely almost entirely on the simple square knot, but most designs incorporate a few different types to create more intricate and interesting designs. All of our macramé kits show and explain how to tie the different knots that you'll be using for the design. Once you have a few kits under your belt, you can get a bit more creative. Instead of sticking exactly to the instructions, you can use what you've learned from other designs and completely customize your project. We don't recommend straying from the instructions for beginners, but once you are comfortable with the basics, you may find it fun, easy, and satisfying to modify the kits. For more advanced macramé-ers, let your creativity flow and make any design your own! Keep your Solid Oak kit instructions and knotting guides to start your own macramé resource library. Supplement them with books or YouTube videos, and you will be well on your way to becoming a macramé expert.
If beads, charms, and pendants aren't your style, maybe feathers and tassels are!Tassels are a natural embellishment for macramé. You can create them with the same cord you use for the rest of the kit. If you love feathers as we do, you can also incorporate some of those into your design! Our Make-raméFeathers kit shows you how to make feathers out of cord, but you can also use real feathers and tie them into the design. Adding a few feathers can give your design a dream-catcher boho feel that many of our customers love. There are actually many different ways to create macramé feathers. Our Feathers kit utilizes a very simple method so that anyone can be successful. As we know, crafters are creative, and you'll be amazed at some of the macramé designs people come up with!
Last, we want to discuss the option of color! Most of our macramé kits include natural, off-white cotton cord. This is beautiful as it is, but the use of color can add a world of exciting new looks. A few suppliers are offering very nice, pre-dyed macramé cord, which is the easiest way to make a knotted piece with rich, consistent color. There's no mess involved and the color is evenly saturated. If you're feeling more adventurous, you can create your own color variants. Solid Oak cord takes regular fabric dye beautifully. Choose a color or colors, and follow the dye manufacturer's instructions to dye the cord. If you do this, be sure to dye enough cord all at once, to make sure it all has the same color intensity. However, if you want an ombré effect, dip dying a finished macramé piece is the way to go. In either case, mix the dye according to the dye package instructions, and then soak your macramé in it. The longer it soaks, and the more concentrated the dye, the darker the color. This makes it easy to create a gradation from light to dark for the ombré effect. For a basic ombré using a single color, soak the piece you want to dye in hot water for a few minutes. Add a little bit of the dye, and submerge your design up to the point where you want the color to start. Let it soak for a few minutes, then lift out of the dye bath and squeeze out the excess liquid. Add a bit more dye to the hot water bath. Dip your design into the dye bath again, but not as far. Repeat this process until you have the desired ombre effect. The top will be lighter, gently transitioning to a darker shade near the bottom.
For macramé items that include wood beads or wood rings, you can add a pop of color before you begin the project. The Solid Oak macramé kits that include wood beads or rings use a natural, unfinished wood that takes paint or stain beautifully. For example, we used a deep forest green stain to make the beads stand out in contrast to the unbleached cord in this plant hanger:
We hope this blog has inspired you to have a bit of fun with macramé. As we've mentioned, we suggest sticking to the instructions in your Make-ramé kit until you're more confident with the craft. All of Solid Oak Inc.'s designs are loved by our customers, and we've sold a record number of kits over the last few months! We are thrilled to announce the release of ourOld Glory Kit, an American flag to hang on your wall! We also have plant and bottle hangers that make perfect gifts! Check them out here:https://bsyl.ink/macrame. We love to see your completed projects! Tag us in your pictures: Facebook @SolidOakInc Instagram @solidoakinc! Happy crafting!